Experience and sense making of visual hallucinations in Psychosis: IPA
Research type
Research Study
Full title
The experience of visual hallucinations for individuals with a schizophrenia spectrum diagnosis: An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis.
IRAS ID
228510
Contact name
Charlotte Denton
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Birmingham
Duration of Study in the UK
2 years, 1 months, 2 days
Research summary
Individuals with a diagnosis of schizophrenia can experience a variety of symptoms. One of these is the experience of visual hallucinations (VHs). However, little is known about what it is like to actually experience these VHs. This study aims to investigate the experience of VHs by interviewing individuals who have had this experience using a semi-structured interview schedule. This method of interviewing will ensure broad themes are considered with all individuals whilst giving flexibility to explore more unique aspects of this experience with relevant individuals.
The interview questions will focus on what the individuals see, how they think and feel about the VHs, what meaning the VHs have for them and what sense they have made of their VHs.
The interviews will last approximately 60 minutes, these will be audio-recorded and then transcribed into a Word document by the researcher. The transcripts will be analysed by the researcher using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA). IPA methodology involves the researcher making interpretations from the individual’s transcript to extract themes and a deeper level of meaning. It is hoped that across the participants there will be some common themes that can be grouped together to improve understanding of how individuals experience and make sense of visual hallucinations in schizophrenia spectrum conditions. This understanding can then be used to inform future research into the treatment of Visual Hallucinations in Schizophrenia.
REC name
West Midlands - Black Country Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
18/WM/0089
Date of REC Opinion
4 Apr 2018
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion