Phenomenology
Research:
“The Lived
Experience”
JAGADHISWARAN PERIASAMY
What is phenomenology
research?
– Rossman and Rallis (1998) stated that phenomenology is a tradition in German
philosophy with a focus on the essence of lived experience. Those engaged in
phenomenological research focus in-depth on the meaning of a particular
aspect of experience, assuming that through dialogue and reflection the
essential meaning of the experience will be reviewed.
– Patton (1990) described phenomenological study as one that focused on
descriptions of what people experience and how it is that they experience
what they experience.
– Phenomenological research investigates various reactions to, or perceptions of,
a particular phenomenon. Fraenkel, Wallen, and Hyun (2011)
Purpose
– To describe the common meaning for several individuals of their lived
experiences of a concept or a phenomenon. (Creswell, 2013)
– To study experience from the perspective of the individuals, ‘bracketing’ taken-
for-granted assumptions and usual ways of perceiving. (Lester, 1999)
– To gain some insight into the world of the participants and to describe their
perceptions and reactions. (Fraenkel, Wallen, and Hyun (2011)
Types of phenomenology
Transcendental (Moustakas, 1994)
• Describes the experiences of the participants.
• Focused less on the interpretations and more on a description of the experiences of
the participants.
• Researcher ‘bracketing’ in order to give a clear view of whatever is being researched
‘as it is’.
E.G
A TRANSCENDENTAL PHENOMENOLOGICAL STUDY OF DEVELOPMENTAL MATH
STUDENTS’ EXPERIENCES AND PERCEPTIONS.
Cont.
Hermeneutic (Van Manen, 1990)
• Oriented towards lived experience(phenomenology) and interpreting the “text” of
life (hermeneutics).
• Reflects on the lived experiences with interpretation by the researcher.
• Focused on subjective experience of individuals and groups.
E.G
A HERMENEUTIC PHENOMENOLOGICAL STUDY OF THE LIVED EXPERIENCE OF ADULT
FEMALE SEXUAL ASSAULT SURVIVORS.
Cont.
Existential phenomenology (Kafle 2011)
• Existential phenomenology stresses on the description of everyday experience as it
is perceived by the consciousness of the individuals.
• Existential phenomenologist beliefs philosophy should not be conducted from a
detached, objective, disinterested, disengaged standpoint.
E.G
EXISTENTIAL PHENOMENOLOGY, PSYCHIATRIC ILLNESS AND THE DEATH OF
POSSIBILITIES
Procedures for conducting Phenomenological
research (Creswell, 2013)
1. Determine if the research problem is best examined using a phenomenological
approach.
2. Identify a phenomenon of interest to the study, such as anger, professionalism,
and what it means to be underweight.
3. The researcher recognize and specifies the broad philosophical assumptions of
phenomenology and brackets out their own opinions.
4. Data collected from individuals who have experienced the phenomenon.
5. The participants are asked two main questions: What have you experienced in
terms of the phenomenon? What context or situation have typically
influenced your experience of the phenomenon?
Locating participants
– Recruit participants who had lived experiences with the concept or
phenomenon being researched.
– 5 to 25 participants are sufficient.
– Purposive sampling.
– Snowballing sampling.
– Assisted by gatekeepers/ key insiders/ informants.
Data collection
– In-depth and multiple interviews.
– Observations
– Journals.
– Music.
– Recorded conversation.
– Formally written responses.
– Accounts of indirect experience of drama, films, poetry, and novels.
Data Storing
(Groenewald, 2004)
– Audio recorder
– Field notes - Four types of field notes :
Observational notes (ON) — 'what happened notes' estimated important enough to the
researcher to make.
Theoretical notes (TN) — 'attempts to derive meaning' as the researcher thinks or
reflects on experiences.
Methodological notes (MN) — 'reminders, instructions or critique' to oneself on the
process.
Analytical memos (AM) — end-of-a-field-day summary or progress reviews.
Data analysis
I. Transcribe interviews.
II. Highlight significant statements, sentences, quotes.
III. Cluster of meaning from the significant statements into themes.
IV. These significant statements and themes are then used to write a textual
description.
V. From the textual descriptions, the researcher writes a composite description
that presents the “essence” of the phenomenon.
Advantages
(Denscombe, 2007)
– Offers the prospect of authentic accounts of complex phenomena.
– A humanistic style of research.
– Suited to small-scale research.
– The description of experiences can tell an interesting story.
Disadvantages
(Lester, 1999)
– In a commercial or organizational setting, people not understanding what it is,
and expecting similar parameters to apply as for quantitative research.
– Difficult to gain access to participants for more than a single session of an hour
or less.
– Researchers to be entirely free of presumptions.
– Takes a lot of time.
References
– Creswell, J. W. (2013). Qualitative inquiry and research design. Choosing among
five approaches (3e éd.). London : Sage
– Denscombe, M. (2007). The good research guide: for small-scale social research
projects. McGraw-Hill Education (UK).
– Fraenkel, J. R., Wallen, N. E., & Hyun, H. H. (2011). How to design and evaluate
research in education. New York: McGraw-Hill Humanities/Social
Sciences/Languages.
– Groenewald, T. (2004). A phenomenological research design illustrated.
International journal of qualitative methods, 3(1), 42-55.
– Lester, S. (1999). An introduction to phenomenological research.
– Rossman, R. B., & Ralllis, S. F. (1998). Learning in the field: An introduction to
qualitative research. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Cont.
– Kafle, N. P. (2011). Hermeneutic phenomenological research method simplified.
Bodhi: An interdisciplinary journal, 5(1), 181-200.
