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.

KEYWORDS:

• Collaborative inquiry
• engineering education
• interpretative phenomenological analysis

Acknowledgements

We thank the PRiDE, BPI, STRIDE, Ross Research, and Cass Research groups for their tireless efforts and work to adopt IPA. Finally, we thank the reviewers for their comments and efforts toward improving this manuscript.

Additional information

Funding

The work in this paper was supported through funding by the U.S. National Science Foundation (EEC-1531586, EEC-1531174, EEC-1329225, EEC-1752897, EHR-1535453, and EHR-1535254). Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this paper are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the funding body.

Notes on contributors

Adam Kirn

Adam Kirn is an Assistant Professor of Engineering Education at the University of Nevada, Reno. The main focus of his research has been on understanding the intersection of student motivation and engineering culture. He has worked to develop an understanding of how student motivation influences problem solving; how student motivation influences navigation through engineering culture; and how motivation can influence student perceptions of diversity. Furthermore, he has been working to develop qualitative methodologies for use in engineering education. He graduated with a BS in biomedical engineering from Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, an MS in bioengineering from Clemson University, and a PhD in engineering and science education.

James L. Huff

James L. Huff is an Assistant Professor of Engineering Education at Harding University. His research focuses on the individual phenomena of identity and emotion in professional contexts. Along with his undergraduate research group, Beyond Professional Identity (BPI), he conducts IPA investigations that examine these experiential constructs. Additionally, he has been active in promoting IPA as a research method within engineering education research in the United States. He earned a BS in computer engineering from Harding University, an MS in electrical and computer engineering from Purdue University, and a PhD in engineering education.

Allison Godwin

Allison Godwin is an Assistant Professor of Engineering Education at Purdue University. Her research focuses on what factors influence diverse students to choose engineering and to stay in engineering throughout their careers and how different experiences within the practice and culture of engineering foster or hinder belongingness and identity development. She graduated from Clemson University with a BS in chemical engineering and a PhD in engineering and science education. Her research focusing on characterizing latent diversity, which includes diverse attitudes, mindsets, and approaches to learning, to understand engineering students’ identity development earned her a National Science Foundation CAREER Award.

Monique Ross

Monique Ross is an Assistant Professor of Computer Science Education at Florida International University. The main focus of her research has been on understanding the intersections of race, gender, and identity in the context of engineering and computer science to better understand pathways to and through these disciplines for women of color. She graduated with a BS in computer engineering from Elizabethtown College, an MS in computer science in software engineering from Auburn University, and a PhD in engineering education from Purdue University.

Cheryl Cass

Cheryl Cass is a Teaching Associate Professor in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at North Carolina State University (NCSU), where she has served as the Director of Undergraduate Programs since 2011. She earned a BS in biomedical engineering from NCSU and MS and PhD degrees in bioengineering from Clemson University, where she also served as a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Engineering and Science Education. Her current research focuses on the intersection of science and engineering identity in postsecondary and graduate level programs.