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Mixed Methods Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (MMIPA) is a qualitative-dominant framework that integrates the idiographic depth of Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) with the comparative reach of mixed methods design. Developed to address the persistent challenge of preserving interpretive integrity while engaging broader social, cultural, and structural patterns, MMIPA is grounded in phenomenology, critical realism, and methodological pluralism. It positions first-person meaning-making as the interpretive center of analysis while using quantitative and contextual instruments to amplify, rather than determine, understanding. The framework employs a layered design logic that resists premature integration, cultivating dialogue across distinct epistemological registers. Its utility is illustrated through a study of transnational church partnerships between Canadian and Mexican congregations, where the approach revealed how faith is simultaneously embodied, relational, and institutionally embedded. By combining interpretive depth with contextual complexity, MMIPA demonstrates how phenomenological methods can be scaled without losing experiential focus. The article outlines MMIPA’s philosophical foundations, methodological procedures, and analytic applications, arguing for its value across disciplines concerned with lived meaning—such as sociology, geography, theology, and education. Rather than collapsing qualitative and quantitative paradigms, MMIPA holds their tension productively, offering a bridge methodology for researchers seeking to interpret both meanings and patterned structures of human experience across cultural and methodological boundaries.

The purpose of this paper is to offer a comprehensive guide for novice researchers (mostly applicable to PhD students and those new to qualitative research), teachers, and reviewers of qualitative psychology research methods. This paper delineates the main quality criteria across qualitative methods: providing a holistic framework that covers fundamental principles as well as nuanced, context-specific guidelines relevant to a chosen qualitative approach. First, we demonstrate why this overview is needed, in part because of an increasing emphasis on finding sound ways of appraising qualitative studies, the lack of agreement on quality markers, and the variety of qualitative research methodologies available. Next, we present general criteria for quality across all qualitative methods, before setting out method specific criteria for four commonly used qualitative research approaches: Reflexive Thematic Analysis (RTA), Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA), Critical Discursive Psychology/Discursive Psychology (CDP/DP) and Constructivist Grounded Theory (CGT). While the focus is on providing criteria specific to these methodological approaches, we also describe the broader philosophical foundations underpinning these approaches and other branches within these philosophies, recognising that methodological criteria can be contrasting and competing even within methodologies. The integration of general and approach-specific criteria cultivates a deeper understanding of both the philosophical underpinnings and practical intricacies of qualitative inquiry, empowering researchers to navigate the methodological landscape with critical acumen and intellectual humility. Finally, we compare the four methodologies in terms of key features and qualities they aim to achieve. The paper emphasizes that even though there are criteria that are common across the field, it is essential to maintain the specific stance of each individual methodological approach.

Despite the field’s interdisciplinary nature, academic specialization and the academic norm of in-field referencing have limited the scope of possibility that journalism studies may draw upon fields not part of its interdisciplinary repertoire. This paper invites readers to explore Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA), a rich analytical tradition from qualitative psychology and health studies and demonstrates its applicability in journalism research. By analyzing in-depth interviews with journalists at the cusps of two epochal ages of digital disruption in journalism—the rise of user-generated content (UGC) and social network sites around 2010, and the current explosion of generative AI—we show how IPA can serve as a powerful approach for journalism researchers. Paying tribute to the journalist as ‘expert’ of their own occupational lived experience, IPA provides a nuanced understanding of how journalists negotiate technological transformations in their occupational spaces. Through a triple hermeneutic analysis, where researchers attempt to make sense of journalists critically making sense of UGC and AI as a journalistic tool while reflectively engaging in sense-making of what it means to be a journalist in the age of social media and the age of AI, we explore the profound implications of these digital disruptions. Thematic findings reveal occupational identity crises, ethical dilemmas, and organizational challenges, all within the context of methodological reflection. This study underscores the value of IPA in capturing the depth and reflexivity of journalists’ sense-making during significant technological transformations, advocating for a reflective turn in journalism research.

ObjectivesAdolescence represents a significant period of vulnerability for the development of depression. Whilst research has begun to explore factors associated with the development, maintenance and outcomes of adolescent depression, there is little research investigating this experience from a parental viewpoint. The aim of this study was to explore mothers’ experiences of having an adolescent child with depression.MethodsEight mothers of depressed adolescents were recruited following their child’s clinical assessment at a Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service and participated in semi-structured interviews. The transcripts of the interviews were analysed using interpretative phenomenological analysis.ResultsThe analysis revealed five interlinked superordinate themes: Finding a reason, something to blame; Living with uncertainty; Feelings of helplessness and frustration; Depression causes change; Hiding own emotions and needs. A key finding across the themes was the emotional distress and sense of uncertainty experienced by the mothers.ConclusionsThe findings highlight avenues for clinical practice and further research including exploring the type and format of information and support that parents would value most, the views of fathers, and more in-depth exploration of the identified themes with parents using both qualitative and quantitative methods.HighlightsLittle is known about the parental experience of having a child with depression.Mothers’ experiences were explored using interpretative phenomenological analysis.Mothers of depressed adolescents described self-blame, distress and uncertainty.Mothers experienced feelings of helplessness, frustration and subjugated own needs.There is a need for evidence-based and timely information and support for parents.

This study investigates how left-behind adolescents in Zimbabwe construct meaning around parental migration-a prevalent outcome of global economic shifts and professional emigration in the Global South. Guided by existentialist theory and employing Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA), the study engaged 14 adolescents aged 13-17 who had experienced the migration of at least one parent for at least two years. Data were collected through in-depth, semi-structured interviews, allowing participants to articulate their lived experiences and meaning-making processes. Five key experiential themes emerged: (1) disrupted emotional security, (2) forced maturity, (3) ambivalence toward migration, (4) identity reconstruction, and (5) adaptive resilience. Participants actively engaged in emotional, cognitive, and social strategies to navigate parental absence. These included emotional detachment, reframing hardship as growth, reliance on peer support and faith, and expressions of emotional fatigue and unresolved longing. The findings reveal that left-behind adolescents are not passive recipients of familial disruption but demonstrate active meaning-making efforts. These insights call for psychosocial interventions prioritizing adolescent agency and existential coping strategies. Policy and programming should focus on strengthening emotional support systems, improving digital connectivity with migrant parents, and integrating existential frameworks into adolescent well-being initiatives and child welfare policies.

This paper provides a personal reflection on methodological issues in terms of data collection and analysis using interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) to explore ethnic minority (Mongol-Chinese) students’ multilingual lived experience and their identity construction in language learning and practice. IPA, as a contemporary qualitative methodology, has developed quickly in psychology and other fields of social science, but it gets limited attention and practice in investigating how ethnic minority students negotiate their identities in multilingual education. Mongol-Chinese speakers as the target participants were interviewed online to share their subjective language learning experiences and perspectives on identity construction and negotiation. By reflecting on my doctoral journey in data collection and analysis, this paper aims to share my personal experience (concerns and solutions) in terms of the multilingual and ethical challenges that arise in this IPA project. It also intends to show the potential of IPA to explore students’ language learning experiences and beyond.

The first romantic relationships of adolescents are of significant developmental importance, and the acquired experience is a cultural issue. The study aimed to capture what meanings young teenagers give their first love experiences. In-depth interviews were conducted with six teenage girls. A detailed idiographic analysis, based on Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA), allowed us to present the work of adolescents to maintain intimacy and ensure the stability of a romantic relationship. It was noticed that young girls take an emotionally leading role in their romantic relationships, feel responsible for them, and act following the stereotypical gender order. The interpretative framework adolescents adopt may result from therapeutic and utilitarian narratives, addressed mainly to women.

Abstract Strengths-based child welfare practice emphasises the importance of acknowledging clients’ capacities and potentials when addressing their presenting issues of child maltreatment. However, the child welfare literature has focused more on parents’ risk factors and deficits whilst giving limited attention to positive parenting practices that they may have employed. Based on semi-structured interviews with parents involved with child protective services (CPS), this study explored these parents’ self-identified parenting strengths in light of their family-of-origin experiences. Results of interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) revealed that participants identified parenting strengths in the areas of provision, protection, emotional care and relational support, and parental guidance and discipline. All demonstrated a strong desire to provide their children with a better upbringing than their own and shared what they believed they had done well in parenting. Interestingly, participants seemed to have parented most intentionally in the areas in which they felt most deprived in their own childhood, which may have played a role in creating deficits in other areas of parenting. Implications for practice include the need for a ‘both/and’ approach that attends to parents’ strengths as well as areas for growth and the importance of family-of-origin work in child welfare practice.

As of 2021, there were 6.4 million international students globally, with Chinese students making up the largest group of international students in the Philippines. This study investigated the lived experiences of Chinese undergraduate international students who took the mandatory Life and Works of the Rizal Course in the General Education Curriculum. The study employed interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) with six Chinese undergraduate students. The research findings indicated that Chinese international students recognized the significance of the active participation of local students and a comprehensive cultural environment. In addition, it highlights how Chinese students draw on their cultural heritage and Rizal's ancestry to gain a deeper understanding of Rizal's life and work. Students faced challenges, such as language barriers, difficulties with online learning, and a lack of cultural background in the Philippines. Using the ABCs of acculturation theory, the results provide valuable insights into improving students’ experiences in the Rizal course.

The value of Assistive Technology in enabling active and equal participation in political, social, economic, and cultural life of people with disabilities, people ageing, and people with chronic conditions is broadly accepted. However, most of the global population who need assistive technology (AT) lack access to it, hence the call for international efforts to improve access to AT. Drawing from the capability approach (CA) developed by Amartya Sen and Martha C. Nussbaum, we explore factors that may hinder or facilitate access to AT. We examine the idea of an AT Passport as an innovative user-centered approach for improving access to AT. We used Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) to explore service users’ lived experiences of access to AT and their understanding of the AT Passport concept. We identified the core values of human diversity, equity, access to opportunity, and individual freedom to choose a life of significance to them. Access to AT is central to expanding these capabilities subject to conducive personal and social-contextual issues. The AT Passport could be developed as a capability-enhancing resource by facilitating access to AT, harnessing the diversity of people’s personal, social, and environmental factors to enrich peoples’ capability sets. Further research is required to identify core AT Passport functionalities, usability, and acceptability features.