JCPSLP Vol 16 no 3 2014_FINAL_WEB

Data collection procedure Semi-structured interviews were used to collect data for this study, providing the opportunity for participants to tell their story (Smith et al., 2009). The interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed to aid data analysis. The interviews were conducted at Mandy’s home on two separate occasions. The first interview involved Mandy and Vivienne. This interview took approximately one hour and focused on Mandy’s perceptions of her brain injury, her communication, relationships, and personality before and after the accident. Prior to the second interview, the first interview was transcribed and read several times to establish areas that required further discussion. The second interview took approximately 90 minutes and involved a joint conversation between Mandy, Vivienne, and Mandy’s friend Bridget. Many of the questions for Vivienne and Mandy were based on their responses in the first interview, seeking elaboration or clarification as a method of member-checking (Curtin & Fossey, 2007). Bridget’s questions were related to her friendship with Mandy and her perception of Mandy’s communication, personality, and any changes that may have occurred in these domains. Data analysis Prior to analysing the data the transcripts were shared between the three authors and read several times to ensure familiarisation with the participants’ perspectives. Descriptive, linguistic, and conceptual comments and key words were then written on the transcripts and quotes highlighted according to IPA guidelines (Smith et al., 2009). Key words and ideas were discussed among the authors and collaboratively matched with the quotes to form categories. These were later synthesised according to their similarity to create themes, which were thought to encapsulate the message of the participants. Consultation between the three authors throughout the analysis process enhanced the trustworthiness of the findings. To assist with comprehending the data and interpreting the transcripts a journal was maintained throughout the study. The first author wrote reflective entries throughout the research process and shared these with the other authors to aid understanding of the participants’ story. The reflections directed the more in-depth, collaborative IPA analysis. Finlay and Gough (2003) and Johnson and Waterfield (2004) state that writing in a reflective journal acknowledges the researcher’s participation in interpreting and constructing findings, with the understanding that the researcher inevitably brings his or her own background into the research process. Mandy’s story At the time of the study Mandy was a 14-year-old girl who lived in a rural town with her parents and two younger siblings. She was in year nine and prior to her TBI identified herself as a good runner, with aspirations to be a personal trainer when she left school. She sustained a mild TBI approximately 12 months prior to the interview after an accidental knock to the head at school. Medical file notes report a loss of consciousness of up to one minute with no neurological changes noted on CT imaging. Mandy did not remember the events surrounding the accident. Mandy’s schoolmates and teachers did not understand the lasting effects of the TBI because she did not look any different than before the injury. Her friends believed she was feigning her complaints of fatigue, headaches and not being able to keep up with schoolwork. Her brain injury

than ascertaining the adolescent’s perception (Anderson et al., 2013). The aim of our study was to examine the impact of social communication impairment on the life of an adolescent with TBI, from the perspectives of the adolescent, one of her parents, and a friend. It was anticipated that the findings could contribute to a greater understanding of the potential impact of social communication impairment for adolescents post-TBI. Methodology and method Research approach An interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) approach (Smith, Flowers, & Larkin, 2009) was employed to facilitate an in-depth investigation of the experience of having a social communication impairment following TBI, from the perspectives of an adolescent, her mother, and a friend. IPA is a research method that investigates how a person understands and interprets experiences, providing an insider’s perspective of the experience (Smith et al., 2009). This research project was granted ethical approval from the Human Research Ethics Committees of Charles Sturt One adolescent who had a TBI, her mother, and a friend of the adolescent were purposefully recruited for this study to facilitate multiple perspectives. This permitted triangulation, enhancing trustworthiness of the data by acknowledging more than one view of a phenomenon (Curtin & Fossey, 2007). IPA research is typically conducted with a small number of participants, allowing for more in-depth exploration of data (Smith et al., 2009). IPA research is not about generalisability of findings, but focuses on an involved understanding of the phenomenon being researched for the participants in the study. To be eligible for participation in this study the adolescent had to: • be aged between 13 to 19 years old with diagnosed social communication impairment (based on speech pathology and neuropsychology assessment findings University and the relevant health authority. Recruitment of participants • have returned to their mainstream school after the injury; • have age-appropriate IQ and/or receptive language skills, in order to have the capacity to consent; and • have no obvious physical impairment as a result of their TBI, because this project focused on the way the person behaves in social interactions due to the cognitive deficits following TBI, rather than motor communication impairment. A staff member from a local brain injury rehabilitation facility developed a de-identified list of adolescents who met the inclusion criteria. An appropriate adolescent was chosen from the de-identified list. The staff member then sent a research information sheet and expression of interest form to the adolescent and her mother. This adolescent and her mother each returned a completed expression of interest form, after which the first author phoned the adolescent and mother to answer any questions and arranged a time to meet. At this meeting consent forms were signed and the interviews commenced. At the end of this meeting, the adolescent was provided with a research information sheet and expression of interest form to give to a friend, to incorporate a third perspective into the study. For the purposes of this study, the adolescent with TBI was given the pseudonym Mandy, her mother the pseudonym Vivienne, and her friend the pseudonym Bridget. post-TBI), with awareness of this impairment; • have sustained the TBI during adolescence;

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JCPSLP Volume 16, Number 3 2014

Journal of Clinical Practice in Speech-Language Pathology