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Phenomenological research is concerned with exploring the lived experience of health, illness and disability. Its aim is to understand these phenomena from the perspective of the particular participant. This in turn has to be interpreted by the researcher. A technique that addresses this challenge is interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) (Smith, 2004). IPA focuses on the cognitive processing of the participant. Smith (2004) argues that it accords with the original direction of cognitive psychology that was concerned with exploring meaning-making rather than information-processing. IPA provides a guide to conducting the researcher’s making sense or meaning of reported experiences. It begins by accessing the participant’s perceptions through the conduct of an interview or series of interviews with a homogeneous sample of individuals. The interview is semi-structured and focuses on the particular issue of concern.

Data analysis in IPA goes through a number of stages. Initially, the researcher reads and re-reads the text and develops a higher order thematic analysis. Having identified the key themes or categories, the researcher then proceeds to look for connections between them by identifying clusters. At this stage, the researcher is drawing upon his/her broader understanding to make sense of what has been said. Once the researcher has finished the analysis of one case, he/she can proceed to conduct an analysis of the next case in a similar manner. Alternatively, the researcher can begin to apply the analytic scheme developed in the previous case. The challenge is to identify repeating patterns but also to be alert to new patterns. Further details of this form of analysis are available in Smith et al. (1999) and Smith and Osborn (2003).

A few examples are as follows: Conroy and De Visser (2013) studied the importance of authenticity for student non-drinkers; Mackay and Parry (2015) studied two perspectives on autistic behaviours; Burton et al. (2014) used an interpretative phenomenological analysis of sense-making within a dyadic relationship of living together with age-related macular degeneration; Ware et al. (2015) used IPA to study the experience of hepatitis C treatment for people with a history of mental health problems; Levi et al. (2014) investigated phenomenological hope among perceptions of traumatized war veterans.