Essentials of Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis

The brief, practical texts in the Essentials of Qualitative Methods series introduce social science and psychology researchers to key approaches to to qualitative methods, offering exciting opportunities to gather in-depth qualitative data and to develop rich and useful findings. 

Essentials of Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis is a step-by-step guide to a research method that investigates how people make sense of their lived experience in the context of their personal and social worlds. It is especially well-suited to exploring experiences perceived as highly significant, such as major life and relationship changes, health challenges, and other emotion-laden events. IPA studies highlight convergence and divergence across participants, showing both the experiential themes that the participants share and the unique way each theme is manifested for the individual.

About the Essentials of Qualitative Methods book series: Even for experienced researchers, selecting and correctly applying the right method can be challenging. In this groundbreaking series, leading experts in qualitative methods provide clear, crisp, and comprehensive descriptions of their approach, including its methodological integrity, and its benefits and limitations. Each book includes numerous examples to enable readers to quickly and thoroughly grasp how to leverage these valuable methods.

Jonathan A. Smith, DPhil, is Professor of Psychology at Birkbeck University of London, United Kingdom, where he leads the Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) Research Group and teaches qualitative methods at all levels. Previously, he held academic positions at the universities of Keele and Sheffield after completing his doctorate at the University of Oxford. He developed IPA as a particular experiential qualitative approach in psychology, and he has applied it to a wide range of research questions, many in health and illness. He was elected Honorary Fellow of the British Psychological Society in 2020. 

Isabella Nizza, is a qualitative researcher who specializes in researching the lived experience of chronic health conditions using IPA. For many years a corporate trainer and consultant, she is now part of the Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis Research Group within the Department of Psychological Sciences at Birkbeck University of London, where she also teaches qualitative methods. At the moment she is working on a randomized controlled trial testing a psychological support intervention for young people with epilepsy, using IPA to assess the intervention's psychological outcomes and process.