Exploring tensions of using interpretative phenomenological analysis in a domain with conflicting cultural practices

ABSTRACT

The philosophical foundations of interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA)—phenomenology, hermeneutics, and idiography—guide its practice and use. However, this foundation is often at odds with cultural practices of disciplines that value post-positivist perspectives emphasizing that reality can be objectively known. The conflict between the philosophical underpinnings of the methodology and the cultural practices of particular disciplines can serve to limit the use and acceptance of IPA. This article highlights ways researchers can use IPA even when the underlying tenets of that methodological approach may be in conflict with disciplinary norms. As such, we have set out to explore the tensions that accompany the choice to use IPA in the context of engineering education research within the United States. As a group of engineering education researchers, we drew upon collaborative inquiry to systematically examine our use of IPA. Our exploration of using IPA, as connected to everyday practice in a discipline that takes a postpositivist stance toward knowledge generation, provides examples for the use of IPA in tension with these disciplinary norms.     

“I've Been a Long Time Leaving”: The Role of Limited Skill Transferability in Increasing Suicide‐Related Cognitions and Behavior in Veterinarians

Barriers to occupational mobility were investigated to determine whether they increased reported suicide‐related cognitions and behavior over 12 months. This was explored in a two‐wave longitudinal study. Intention to leave, depression, perceived skill transferability, and suicide‐related cognitions and behavior was measured at both time points approximately 12 months apart. Results indicated that when there was a high intention to leave at T1, reported suicide‐related cognitions and behavior increased over 12 months only when skill transferability to other professions was perceived to be limited. Findings support the role of limited occupational mobility in suicide‐related cognitions and behavior.