The experiences of boredom for adults with mild learning disabilities.
Research type
Research Study
Full title
The lived experience of boredom for adults with mild learning disabilities: a phenomenological study.
IRAS ID
216953
Contact name
Katie Whitworth
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Leeds Beckett University
Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier
, N/A
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 0 months, 18 days
Research summary
The lived experience of boredom for adults with mild learning disabilities: a phenomenological study.
‘Occupation’ has been associated with activities people ‘do’ and the meaningful ways people use their time (McColl, 2015). Occupational Therapists identify and focus on the relationship between a person’s health and well-being and their engagement with occupations. Boredom is an important area for Occupational Therapists to consider (Martin, 2009).
It has been acknowledged that boredom has a relationship with occupational engagement, occupational alienation (having limited choices of occupations) and the level of autonomy a person has. However, little is known about the experiences of boredom amongst those with learning disabilities. This research would add to this knowledge, both academically and for others who surround this clientele. Everyone would benefit from being made aware of the impact boredom has on a person’s health and well-being, and if possible, how this could be prevented.
The proposed methodology and approaches:
Qualitative research, up to a one hour semi-structured interviews (Flick, 2009; Bryman, 2016)
Interpretivist-epistemological stance (Bryman, 2016)
A phenomenological approach (Smith et al., 2012)
Six participants (Creswell, 1998).Bryman, A. (2016) Social Research Methods. 5th ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Creswell, J. (1998) Qualitative inquiry and research design: Choosing among five traditions.
Thousand Oaks: Sage.
De Vaus, D. (2014) Surveys in Social Research. 6th ed. Oxon: Routledge.
Flick, U. (2009) An introduction to qualitative research. 4th ed. London: SAGE.
Martin, M. (2009) Boredom as an important area of inquiry for occupational therapists.
McColl, A. (2015) Occupation in the 20th Century and Beyond. In: In: McColl, M. and Law,
M. eds. The Theoretical basis of occupational therapy. 3rd ed. New Jersey:
SLACK Incorporated, pp.41-51.
Smith, J. Flowers, P. and Larkin, M. (2012) Interpretative Phenomenological
Analysis. London: SAGE.REC name
HSC REC A
REC reference
17/NI/0053
Date of REC Opinion
4 Apr 2017
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion