Introduction
• A phenomenologicalstudy describes the meaning for several
individuals of their lived experiences of a concept or a phenomenon.
• Phenomenologists focus on describing what all participants have in
common as they experience a phenomenon.
• Basic purpose: to reduce individual experiences with a phenomenon
to a description of the universal essence
3.
Overview
• Need toidentify a phenomenon / human experience
• Collect data from persons who have experienced the phenomenon
• Develop a composite description of the essence of the experience for
all of the individuals.
• “what” they experienced and
• “how” they experienced it (Moustakas, 1994).
4.
Types of Phenomenology
•Two approaches to phenomenology are highlighted in this discussion:
• hermeneutic phenomenology (van Manen, 1990) and
• empirical, transcendental, or psychological phenomenology (Moustakas,
1994).
5.
Characteristics
• Phenomenology isnot only a description, but it is also seen as an
interpretive process in which the researcher makes an interpretation
of the meaning of the lived experiences.
• The focus is less on the interpretations of the researcher and more on a
description of the experiences of participants.
• Epoche (bracketing)
• investigators set aside their experiences, as much as possible, to take a fresh
perspective toward the phenomenon being studied.
