Longitudinal Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (LIPA): A review of studies and methodological considerations

ABSTRACT

This paper presents a review of studies that have employed Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) longitudinally to capture temporal aspects of phenomena by analysing data gathered over multiple time points. Sixty-six eligible articles from peer-reviewed journals were obtained by searching the Web of science, Medline and Psychinfo databases up to March 2018. A description of the corpus is provided, followed by an in-depth review of the methodological choices made by authors. The paper describes the range of approaches used to capture and convey experience over time, including data gathering decisions and types of thematic structure used to present findings. Finally, a selection of common features of good quality studies is illustrated using examples taken from articles in the corpus and their potential merits are highlighted.

KEYWORDS:

• Longitudinal
• interpretative phenomenological analysis
• review
• qualitative
• change

Acknowledgements

Both authors would like to thank Professor J A Smith for his generous advice in the writing of this article. I E Nizza wishes to thank Birkbeck University of London for financial support through their Anniversary Studentship.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Joanna Farr

Joanna Farr is a PhD candidate in the Department of Psychological Sciences at Birkbeck University of London with an interest in mental health and treatment. Her research uses Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis longitudinally to explore the experience of bipolar disorder. She is also a researcher at Roehampton University of London using qualitative methods to evaluate mental health services.

Isabella E. Nizza

Isabella E. Nizza is a PhD candidate in the Department of Psychological Sciences at Birkbeck University of London with an interest in qualitative methods and Health Psychology. Her project combines interviews with drawings, using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis longitudinally to investigate the experience of chronic pain.