Hi Rachel,
You might be interested in the following paper by Paul Duckett and me - IPA was not used in this but you may think it discusses some relevant issues:
Duckett, P. and Fryer, D.
Developing an empowering methodology with participants who have a learning disability.
Journal of Community and Applied Social Psychology
8, 1, 57-65.
1998
I agree with you that the people with whom you will be working are experts. The question is how can we - researchers - can skill ourselves up to be able to appreciate that expertise i.e. the real challenge is to overcome the limitations of us, researchers. I would forget positive psychology if I were you and instead engage with the British Disabled People's Movement. I would also forget IPA and other techniques for now and instead read Ian Parker's Qualitative Psychology: Introducing Radical Research. I would also learn more about emancipatory disability research and then think again about the idea of 'targeting the study on' people and think about how to work with those people to allow them to answer questions important to them and to promote their own interests. There is loads more to say of course but that is more than enough for now.
I think you are contemplating working in a very important and challenging area. Apart from the difficulties of doing justice to the issues you have the problem of negotiating the methodological requirements operating within the course you are doing. Good luck!
David
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From: The UK Community Psychology Discussion List [[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Clarke, Rachel [[log in to unmask]]
Sent: 17 December 2008 20:36
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: [COMMUNITYPSYCHUK] IPA and LD
I am seeking advice and support from anyone prepared to provide any! I am currently a second year student on a doctorate community and clinical psychology course. I am in the middle of putting together my research proposal. I previously worked for a third sector provider facilitating the participation of looked after children and care leavers in the decisions affecting their lives - consequently I have a huge commitment to meaningful user centred service user involvement. I have also seen the very worst sort of service user opportunities out there.
Way back in the 80s I lived in a group home where people with learning disabilities and students lived together, supporting each other. I have witnessed people who are not supposed to be capable (in some people's view) of holding an opinion, learn the skills and confidence to develop very clear individual opinions and be able to express them. I wanted to focus my research on meaningful service user involvement, specifically on the meaning of it for the individuals involved.
Due to the lack of research on this issue I wanted to use qualitative methodology to explore a 'thick' description of the meaning in context. After much reading and thinking I felt the most appropriate methodology was a focus group to help to develop the themes - having already identified some themes from my reading (mostly informed through community psychology and positive psychology reading) - and then to facilitate semi-structured interviews and to analyse the data using IPA.
The debate I am having with the course at the moment is whether it is feasible to use IPA with a population with Learning Disabilities. The particular subject group I am targeting the study on are people with learning disability, currently and regularly involved with self advocacy groups. Does anyone out there have experience of using/supervising or in any other way knowing about studies using IPA with people with learning disabilities that have gone through the doctoral process? Alternatively if you know of other qualitative methods that have been used in a similar sort of study I would be hugely grateful for any information.
Thank you
Rachel
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