‘Approach and Sensibility’: A personal reflection on analysis and writing using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis

Abstract

This article offers an experiential account of an exploratory first journey through the use of Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) to investigate the psychological impact of retirement on men. Concentrating on the analysis and writing up stages involved in the method, and using data from an in-depth case study, it describes the affective and cognitive impact on the researcher, and the result of following suggested steps as laid out in Smith, Flowers and Larkin’s (2009) new book on IPA. These steps comprise: first impressions, initial notes, descriptive, linguistic, conceptual/psychological comments and emergent themes. Deeply existential concepts which emerged through the analysis, many of them related to the work of Heidegger, are described. Some recommendations are offered: encouragement to those embarking on an IPA study for the first time to employ this very thorough method at least once, because it lays bare the skeleton, the underpinnings, and the means by which the ‘emergences’ can be drawn forth; a call to undertake the not inconsiderable work involved in getting to grips with IPA’s epistemological underpinnings as an enrichment of the understanding of the methodology; and a reminder to first-timers neither to fear ‘mundanity’ nor conformity. Finally, adventurous interpretation is encouraged since genuinely inductive interpretation, facilitated by the disciplined use of consecutive stages, is the pathway to Smith’s (2003) ‘double hermeneutic’ or ‘two-stage interpretation process’, involving both participant and researcher.