TY - JOUR
T1 - Making sense of participant experiences
T2 - interpretative phenomenological analysis in midwifery research
AU - Charlick, Samantha
AU - Pincombe, Jan
AU - McKellar, Lois
AU - Fielder, Andrea
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2016 Informing Science Institute. All rights reserved.
PY - 2016
Y1 - 2016
N2 - Selecting the most appropriate methodology for research as a doctoral student is one of the most important yet difficult decisions. Not only should the methodology suit the research question, it is important that it resonates with the philosophy of one's discipline and produces needed results that will contribute to knowledge. Interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) is an approach to qualitative enquiry. IPA seeks to explore how individuals make sense of their major life expe-riences and is committed to the detailed study of each particular case before moving to broader claims. In the field of midwifery, midwives work with women throughout pregnancy, childbirth and the early postnatal period, offering individualized care based on the unique needs of each woman. IPA aligns with this women-centered philosophy as it offers a methodological approach that considers the individual in a local context. By capturing context specific situations, IPA al-lows broad-based knowledge to be contextualized within a social and cultural context, producing relevant findings. Thus the access to IPA studies will enable midwives to better care for women and their families through understanding the experiences and perceptions of those in their scope of practice. This paper presents the theoretical framework leading to practical guidelines on how to conduct a doctoral-level IPA study, as experienced by the first author. It also addresses the advantages and challenges around utilizing IPA, illustrated through examples from the doctoral student's study on the journey of exclusive breastfeeding in Australia.
AB - Selecting the most appropriate methodology for research as a doctoral student is one of the most important yet difficult decisions. Not only should the methodology suit the research question, it is important that it resonates with the philosophy of one's discipline and produces needed results that will contribute to knowledge. Interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) is an approach to qualitative enquiry. IPA seeks to explore how individuals make sense of their major life expe-riences and is committed to the detailed study of each particular case before moving to broader claims. In the field of midwifery, midwives work with women throughout pregnancy, childbirth and the early postnatal period, offering individualized care based on the unique needs of each woman. IPA aligns with this women-centered philosophy as it offers a methodological approach that considers the individual in a local context. By capturing context specific situations, IPA al-lows broad-based knowledge to be contextualized within a social and cultural context, producing relevant findings. Thus the access to IPA studies will enable midwives to better care for women and their families through understanding the experiences and perceptions of those in their scope of practice. This paper presents the theoretical framework leading to practical guidelines on how to conduct a doctoral-level IPA study, as experienced by the first author. It also addresses the advantages and challenges around utilizing IPA, illustrated through examples from the doctoral student's study on the journey of exclusive breastfeeding in Australia.
KW - Doctoral studies
KW - Exclusive breastfeeding
KW - Individ-ualized care
KW - Interpretative phenomeno-logical analysis (IPA)
KW - Midwifery
KW - Qualitative research
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U2 - 10.28945/3486
DO - 10.28945/3486
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85044634382
SN - 1556-8881
VL - 11
SP - 205
EP - 216
JO - International Journal of Doctoral Studies
JF - International Journal of Doctoral Studies
ER -