An interpretative phenomenological analysis of young men’s experiences of addressing their sexual health and the importance of researcher reflexivity

Abstract

A i terpretative phe o e ological a alysis of you g e s experiences of addressing their sexual health and the importance of researcher reflexivity. AbstractThis article reports one overarching theme from an Interpretative phenomenological (IPA) study which sought to discover the experiences of young males(aged 20-24) addressing or failing to address their sexual health. Owing to the sensitive subject under investigation, these participants were hard to reach for research purposes. Recruitment of participants and collection of data are discussed. The researcher was a young female (aged 20-30), in contrast with participants, affecting data collection and analysis; for this reason the importance of reflexivity in IPA is discussed. It is suggested that IPA is a particularly suitable method for nursing research, which not only allows but embraces the influence and attributes of the researcher. This article considers one superordinate the e i depth, hose e ause the esea he s att i utes a e a sig ifi a t fa to i its e og itio .Interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA); sexual health; sexually transmitted infections, young e s e pe ie es, se siti e su je t, ha d to reach, reflexivity.

Maintaining reflexivity in qualitative nursing research

“…By using a questionnaire to promote reflexivity, assumptions about the research topic, the research and the participants were able to be questioned (Luttrell, 2019). This approach enabled decisions made to be openly examined (Sydor, 2019).…”

“…By using a questionnaire to promote reflexivity, assumptions about the research topic, the research and the participants were able to be questioned (Luttrell, 2019 ). This approach enabled decisions made to be openly examined (Sydor, 2019 ). It afforded the ability to distinguish factors that implicitly and explicitly influenced the research which is important in reflexivity (Engward & Davis, 2015 ).…”

“…Notably, a reflective questionnaire using the avenues of participants, audience and researcher can capture researcher emotions and thoughts on the different stakeholders during various stages of the research. Whilst it is important to track events and record actions, it is likewise important to identify the roles and personas a researcher assumes in research as part of reflexivity (Sydor, 2019 ). This approach can enable periods of negativity characterized by perplexing, unsure and disrupted thinking, to be recognized and addressed, transforming the research (McCabe & O'Connor, 2014 ).…”

Coping Mechanisms Among Youth and Young Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder in Competitive Employment

“…In the IPA approach, the researcher's prior conceptions are not disregarded and omitted, but instead are revealed throughout the research process [187]. In addition, in this research methodology, the researcher is known to be an integral part of the analysis and essentially becomes part of the research process [163,182].…”

“…Our objective as researchers was to explore and understand the experiences and challenges regarding stress and anxiety that employees with ASD face in competitive employment. Thus, we played an important part to gather and analyze data and we recognized our role in the research process [187].…”