Resource repository

Welcome to a repository of carefully curated resources to support you in your research journey

The Birkbeck IPA website

This is the most obvious and no-brainer resource  

It helpfully lists news and events and multiple useful reference lists

I would like to draw your attention to the ‘Doing good IPA’ list specifically – this includes the papers that were evaluated as good examples in Smith, J.A. (2011). Evaluating the contribution of interpretative phenomenological analysis. Health Psychology Review, 5, 9-27

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The IPA discussion group

Another feature of the IPA website is the opportunity to sign up to the email discussion group forum

This forum enables people involved in IPA to pose questions and share information and guidance about their IPA research dilemmas. The group is hefty, weighing in at nearly 2000 members. To join, use the link found on this page

I really encourage you to join the IPA discussion forum if you have not already

All the ‘big names’ are super generous with their time and contribution in this group, and there is a search function so you can search the archive for any query you may have – super useful as pretty much every question has been asked over the years and a wide range of topics can be mined through this resource

UK Regional and International IPA groups

The IPA website provides contact details for UK-wide regional IPA groups and international contacts

These are informal national and international support groups for researchers conducting IPA at all levels

They offer a hugely valuable opportunity to both seek and support, guidance and feedback to fellow research students employing IPA for their projects.

I cannot emphasise the usefulness of regional groups and drew heavily on the London Regional Group for support during my doctorate – see my blog post on this and a brief reflection on my experiences on my Meet Elena page

Mike Larkin’s IPA Community YouTube channel

Mike Larkin has generously posted some fantastic, short and to-the-point recordings on his IPA Community channel that are absolutely essential viewing if you are doing an IPA (in my humble opinion)

Dig in!

Watch Smith and Nizza talk about IPA and their book 'Essentials of Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis'

Watch Professor Smith and Isabella Nizza outline IPA and discuss their 2021 text ‘Essentials of Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis’ in this thirty-minute webinar hosted by the American Psychological Association (APA)

The Post-Graduate Proof-Reader

This is our very own Johanna Spiers and her wonderful team who provide a transcription, proofreading and formatting service

They also offer specialist feedback on written draft – ideal for some supplementary input for your IPA write-up!

Get in touch for a quote via their website

The British Library EThOS e-theses online service

Search over half a million (Yes! You heard that right!) doctoral theses!

You can also download them instantly for free!

What’s not to like about this wonderful resource? There is surely something for everyone here

Find out how it all works here

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The QMiP Bulletin and how to access it

This publication is well worth getting to know as it often contains underrated IPA gems!

To access, visit the new BPS shop platform BPS Explore and put ‘QMiP Bulletin’ in the search bar

You will get a slightly weird selection of results but hold your nerve… Scan these and choose the Periodical option for the QMiP Bulletin and click on it

Then choose the All issues tab and finally a list of back issues should appear, ready to click on and purchase.

Issues are low cost to buy, coming in at under £5 for non-BPS members

Please note that you will need to create an account to purchase the QMiP Bulletin if you are not a BPS member

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Other British Psychological Society (BPS) resources

The BPS has a range of useful guidance documents on research ethics that are freely available from their website

The most useful and relevant are:

Code of Human Research Ethics (2021) which has recently been updated

Ethics guidelines for internet-mediated research (2021) have also recently been reviewed and are not to be missed

In October 2020 the BPS also published new best practice guidance for research psychologists working with human participants during Covid-19, including a new statement for independent researchers on ethics reviews

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