UNDERSTANDING LIVED EXPERIENCES THROUGH AN INCLUSIVE LENS OF INTERPRETATIVE PHENOMENOLOGICAL ANALYSIS (IPA) AND INTERPRETATIVE POETICS (IP)

The paper describes the inclusivity of two methodological approaches, applied in PhD study, completed in 2021. The study combined Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) and elements of Interpretive Poetics (IP). The focus of the study was understanding the live experiences of educated professionals from selected. African countries, living in Finland. The data were collected through semi-structured interviews with ten participants, five females and five males from Kenya, Zimbabwe, Nigeria, Zambia and Ghana. At the time of the study, they were employed by Finnish companies. The data was analyzed by adopting phenomenological analytical tools and elements of interpretative poetics (IP). By incorporating elements of IP into IPA, the study created an additional analytical perspective within IPA, thus enriching it as a methodology. Adopting this additional narrative tool (IP) within IPA demonstrated that IPA can be successfully utilized by researchers from outside such fields as psychology, health psychology and medicine, where IPA is adopted. It further showed that experiences other than those connected to illness and health can be successfully investigated. It proved of value in this cross-cultural study, where a close analysis of the spoken words at the textual level, reinforced and confirmed the findings of the phenomenological (IPA) analysis, thus providing additional validity to the findings. The findings of IPA correlated and were supported by the findings of IP analysis. The identified personal experiential statements (PETs), were clearly expressed through the form of address, as divided. The story threads added a deeper layer to the meaning of the PETs. The sensemaking of lived experiences in the host culture was deeply rooted in and influenced by the values of the native cultures of the participants.