This document provides an overview of phenomenology as a research method. It discusses the two main types of phenomenology: transcendental/descriptive phenomenology developed by Husserl which aims to describe the essence of a phenomenon, and hermeneutic phenomenology developed by Heidegger which acknowledges the interpretive nature of understanding a phenomenon. The document outlines key concepts in phenomenology like epoché, horizontalization, and eidetic variation. It then discusses hermeneutic phenomenological research methods and provides examples of potential research problems, purposes, questions, and topics. Finally, it briefly introduces transcendental phenomenology and provides additional examples.

1. Phenomenology
Karen K. Johnson, Ed.D
Associate Faculty, URM, RMG Leader, CEITR
Ryan Rominger, Ph.D., LCPC-PIT
Assoc. University Research Chair of CLSER, RMG Leader
Diana Hart, Ed.D., University of Phoenix Alumni

2. ❏ Introductions
❏ Context/Thought Leaders
❏ Ontology of two types of Phenomenology
❏ Transcendental/Classical/Descriptive (Husserl)
❏ Hermeneutical/Interpretive (Heidegger)
❏ Examples of Problem, Purpose, RQ and Interview questions
❏ Some differences between PRM and other research designs
❏ Using phenomenology with other cultures.
❏ Q & A
❏ References
Agenda

3. Resources that we have used to draw our comments from include:
Davidsen, A. S. (2013). Phenomenological Approaches in Psychology and Health
Sciences. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 10(3), 318–339.
http://doi.org/10.1080/14780887.2011.608466
Giorgi, A. (2007). Concerning the phenomenological methods of Husserl and
Heidegger and their application in psychology. Collection du Cirp, 1 63-78.
Phenomenology: A philosophy and a research design.
Embedded in the language of thought leaders Husserl and Heidegger

6. Introduction to Phenomenology
• German philosophical roots
• Husserl
• Looking at consciousness, intentionality of consciousness in the world, difference of
actual ‘thing’ in the world and our understanding of that ‘thing’
• Can only experience our conscious experience of the ‘thing’
• Can we get to the core essence of what that ‘thing’ is?
• Heidegger
• Followed Husserl, but offered a challenge in that there is a layer of interpretation of
the ‘thing’
• Can not get at core essence due to our lenses (culture, language, etc.) or ‘thrownness’
• Into research methods
• A. Giorgi - brought Husserlian phenomenology into research in the West - called ‘pure’,
descriptive or transcendental phenomenology, among other things (Husserl [G], Merleau-
Ponty, Sartre[F])
• Objective stance, full bracketing, can get at the essence of the ‘thing’ itself

7. Terms
Phenomenological Reduction: [related to epoché - process of epoché leads to
phenom. reduction] “the term for our thematization of the correlation between
subjectivity and world (Zahavi 2003)” (Davidsen, 2013)
Epoché: “suspend our acceptance of the natural attitude and bracket its validity”
(Davidsen, 2013) [Bracketing] (one area of much debate)
Horizontalization: “trying to understand all phenomena at the same level by not
prioritizing phenomena (Langdridge 2007)”
Eidetic variation: “attempting to imagine the object being different from how it
currently is (Zahavi 2003)”
Synthesizing: bringing the descriptions, conclusions all together (van Manen, 2016)

8. Hermeneutical Phenomenological
Research Methods
● Also called interpretative phenom. analysis and existential phenom. analysis.
● Dasein:
○ German word - “being there” or “there being” - how humans are and understand
themselves in the world.
○ Focus is on the structure of understanding (epistemology).
● Inherently an ‘Interpretive’ process - as an ‘event’ (reality) is
covered/disguised, our understand is through interpretation rather than direct
knowing (Davidson, 2013; Heidegger as in Inwood, 1997)
● All description involves interpretation (lenses through which we see the world,
reciprocally influenced by culture, language, time)
● I.e., what Heidegger called “Thrownness”
● No pure objectivity

9. Hermeneutical Phenomenological
Research Methods
● Thus, the interpretive process ITSELF is part of the focus
○ (how we understand and make meaning of an event - not necessarily the event itself)
● This changes the process of
○ BRACKETING - becomes self-reflexive
■ (meditating and reflecting on one’s own lenses/’thrownness’/understanding and
specifically naming these lenses)
● And thus, bracketing becomes cyclical (as noted in Smith et al.’s IPA)
● HP leads to:
○ Gadamer - hermeneutics and influence of language
○ Ricouer - language, linguistic phenomenology, textual & language analysis
○ Polkinghorne - narrative (moves into narrative research methods)

10. HPRM - Topics
● Captures the essence of the
○ (NOT about others experiences)
● Time limited
● Examples:
○ A Nurse’s experience of helping elderly person who is dying
○ A Teacher’s experience of discrimination within public
schools
○ A leader’s experience of deciding what type of leader to be in
an organization (the ‘decision point’)
● Notice → Focus is on a person, and that person’s experience

11. HPRM - Problem Statements
● What is the problem the study addresses? What is the GAP?
● Examples:
○ Lack of in-depth understanding
■ how a nurse copes with emotions while dealing with functional
aspects of monitoring and helping with death of an elderly person
○ Lack of specific description of experiences
■ of teachers who have been discriminated against by
administrators in public schools
○ Lack of understanding regarding the meaning making process
■ of a leader who assumes a temporary leadership role and who
must decide what type of leader to be within the organization.

12. HPRM - Purpose Statement
● The purpose of the study is to fill the GAP. The purpose statement tells this
purpose in clear, direct language.
● Examples:
○ The purpose of this HP study is to understand
■ how a nurse who is working with an elderly patient who is dying deals with her
emotions while focusing on necessary tasks.
○ The purpose of this HP study is the gather descriptions
■ of instances of discrimination toward teachers within public schools in order to
further understand the impact they have on the teachers who experience them
○ The purpose of this HP study is to gather rich description of the decision making
moment
■ of leaders who assume temporary leadership roles in order to better understand the
decision and meaning making process of the leader making the decision

13. HPRM – Research Questions
• The research question is the main question or questions of the study. These are NOT the
interview questions. The interview questions will attempt to collect data from participants
in order to answer the research questions.
• Examples:
• What is the lived experience of providing care for a dying elderly patient while
managing one’s own emotions and still completing necessary tasks?
• What is it like for school teachers to experience discrimination from administrators
within public schools?
• What is the decision making process like for leaders who assume a temporary
leadership role in an organization? (What is the lived experience of deciding what
type of leader to be, when a leader assumes a temporary leadership role in an
organization?)

14. A few intro references
Davidsen, A. S. (2013). Phenomenological Approaches in Psychology and Health
Sciences. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 10(3), 318–339.
http://doi.org/10.1080/14780887.2011.608466
Smith, J. A., Flowers, P., & Larkin, M. (2009). Interpretative phenomenological analysis:
Theory, method, and research. Los Angeles, CA: Sage.
Wertz, F. J., Charmaz, K., McMullen, L. M., Josselson, R., Anderson, R., & McSpadden,
E. (2011). Five ways of doing qualitative analysis: Phenomenological psychology,
grounded theory, discourse analysis, narrative research, and intuitive inquiry. New
York, NY: The Guilford Press.

15. BUT...
You will need to read the original texts to become proficient, if you choose this as
your method. These texts will include:
● Philosophy texts
○ Husserl (Logical investigations)
○ Heiddeger (such as Inwood’s Heidegger: A very short introduction or
Heiddeger’s Being in Time)
○ Gadamer, Ricoeur
● Research methods texts
○ Giorgi (Phenomenology and psychological research; The descriptive
phenomenological method in psychology: A modified Husserlian approach)
○ Others such as: Valle, Straus, Wertz, Aanstoos, Churchill, Polkinghorn

16. Transcendental Phenomenology
When I think of this type of phenomenology, I think of a Zen moment because there is a
lot of reflecting in transcendental phenomenology.
● Transcendental allows the researcher to reflect on what participants said
(Moustakas, 1994).
● Epoche and bracketing are used to gain a fresh perspective on what was said
(Husserl 1931; Moustakas, 1994; Solowski, 2000)
● Uses more intuition and imagination to form pictures of the phenomenon.
● See experiences through the participant’s eyes, to understand what it was like for
participants.
● Want to look for the “wholeness of the experience” rather than the smaller parts
(Moustakas, p. 22).

17. Transcendental Purpose Statement
● As Ryan stated, the purpose of the study it to fill the GAP. The purpose statement tells the
purpose in a clear, direct manner.
● Examples:
● The purpose of this transcendental study is to develop a deeper understanding of the emotions
associated with the personal commitment of rural volunteer firefighters.
● The purpose of this transcendental study is to understand the daily-lived experiences of young
leaders, ages 20-40 who supervise mature employees, and ages 50-75.
● The purpose of this transcendental study is to explore the lived experiences of employees who
were victims of cyberbullying in the workplace.

18. Transcendental Topics
● Moving beyond the everyday experience to a place where one can find a fresh perspective, or for
the first time.
● Setting aside prejudice or preconceived ideas about the phenomenon.
● Transcendental phenomenology allows the individual to stand away from the experience and
reflect on what has been said (Moustakas, 1994).

19. Trans. - Research Questions
● The research question is the main question or questions of the study. These
are NOT the interview questions. The interview questions will attempt to
collect data from participants in order to answer the research questions.
● Examples:
○ Sample research questions might be:
■ What is the lived experience of Muslim students matriculating
universities in the United States?
■ How do women addicted to drugs make sense of their experiences
with addiction?
■ How do students experience and understand academic advising?

20. Tips for working with other cultures
Culture can be defined in many ways. When we enter a group that we have no experience
with, we have to be careful.
1. Be respectful-- do not approach a group like you’re going to fix them.
2. Learn about the culture before you enter into it.
3. Let go of bias as much as possible.
4. Develop trust before you start the study.
5. Realize you may be looked at with suspicion or scrutiny -- don’t be offended.
6. Be flexible using the “rules” of research -- they are set up by dominant culture and do
not always fit every group.

21. Phenomenology: Multiple interviews
and Probing questions
Typically, a PRM researcher uses only a few initiating questions, with each followed
by probing questions that are based on the participant’s response. Because I have
personal interest in knowing more about Parkinson’s Disease, I’ve thought about
some questions that I might use if I were to conduct a phenomenological study of the
lived experiences of members of a local Parkinson’s support group.
Initial Question 1: What is it like living with Parkinson’s Disease?
Initial Question 2: What changes do you experience as your Parkinson’s progresses?

22. Phenomenology: Multiple interviews
and Probing questions (cont.)
For each response given, probing questions could be Can you tell me more about
that? What is an example of how that happens? You mentioned XXX, how do you
feel when that happens?
Both researcher and participant can benefit from time to reflect on previous
questions and answers and then having follow-up interviews to ask additional
probing questions. A researcher might ask, In our first interview you mentioned an
instance of xxx, have you thought of any more examples of that?
Probing questions can be directive or non-directive.
Learn more at:
https://www.coursera.org/lecture/qualitativ
e-methods/4-5-probing-and-prompting-
5PRrm

23. Some differences between PRM and other qualitative
designs:
Multiple sources of data are
used in case studies. In PRM
studies, multiple interviews of
the same participants are used.
Sources of data in other qualitative
designs can be interviews/focus
groups, documentation, direct
observations, participant
observation, and physical artifacts.
Face to face interviews with the
person who experienced the
phenomenon is the primary data
collection method in PRM. (Diaries
and other personal texts are
sometimes used in hermeneutical
phenomenology but this restricts the
researcher’s ability to follow up with
probing questions.)
In some qualitative designs, a goal of
data collection is saturation. In PRM
the focus is more on getting deep,
rich data from a small group of (3-8)
participants by interviewing each
person two or more times.
Participants describe their own
experiences andincrease their own
awareness of their feelings about the
lived experience.

24. A narrative inquiry study is
more about gathering
participants’ stories about
their experiences, while the
focus of a PRM study is how
the experience has shaped
their views or the meaning
they assign to the
phenomenon.
Narrative Inquiry
In Delphi studies the
participants are experts on
the phenomenon of interest.
PRM requires only that the
participants had the lived
experience.
Delphi Case Studies Hermeneutics
A hermeneutical study focuses
on interviewing a larger set of
participants (12-16+) regarding
an experience, with textual
analysis of the transcripts to
come up with underlying
meaning (often expressed as
themes). It also uses the
hermeneutical ‘turn’ or cycle.
Can ALSO be purely text based.
In case studies, one works with
a bounded system and
collects at least 3 types of
artifacts (sets of data) such as
interviews, policy manuals,
outcome measures, etcetera.
PRM works with a specific
experience.
Some differences between PRM and other qualitative
designs: (continued)

25. Phenomenology Resources/References
Davidsen, A. S. (2013). Phenomenological Approaches in Psychology and Health Sciences. Qualitative Research in
Psychology, 10(3), 318–339. http://doi.org/10.1080/14780887.2011.608466
Giorgi, A. (2007). Concerning the phenomenological methods of Husserl and Heidegger and their application in
psychology. Collection du Cirp, 1 63-78.
Husserl, E. (1931). Ideas: General introduction to pure phenomenology (Gibson, W. Trans.). New York: Collier.
Moustakas, C. (1994). Phenomenological research. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Peduti, D. F. (2009). “Heidegger’s later phenomenology: Allowing the subtle appearance to emerge through the
din” in Phenomenology 2010, Volume 5. Villejuif Cedex, FR: Zeta Books, 2009. Retrieved from ProQuest elibrary,
http://site.ebrary.com.contentproxy.phoenix.edu/lib/apollolib/reader.action?docID=10574253&ppg=183
Pereira, H. R. (2012). Rigour in phenomenological research: Reflections of a novice nurse researcher. Nurse
Researcher, 19(3), 16-9. doi:10.7748/nr2012.04.19.3.16.c9054
Phillips-Pula, L., Strunk, J., and Pickler, R.H.(2011). Understanding phenomenological approaches to data analysis.
Journal of Pediatric Health Care, 25(1), 67-71. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.pedhc.2010.09.004

26. Phenomenology Resources/References (cont.)
Saldana, J. (2013). The coding manual for qualitative researchers (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Seidman, I. (2013). Interviewing as qualitative research. New York, NY: Teacher’s College.
Smith, J. A., Flowers, P., & Larkin, M. (2009). Interpretative phenomenological analysis: Theory, method, and
research. Los Angeles, CA: Sage.
Sokolowski, R. (2000). Introduction to phenomenology. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.
Tufford, L., and Newman, P. (2010). Bracketing in qualitative research. Qualitative Social Work, 11(1), 80-96. DOI:
10.1177/1473325010368316
Van Manen, M. (1990). Researching lived experience: Human science for an action sensitive pedagogy. Albany,
NY: The State University of New York.
Wertz, F. J., Charmaz, K., McMullen, L. M., Josselson, R., Anderson, R., & McSpadden, E. (2011). Five ways of doing
qualitative analysis: Phenomenological psychology, grounded theory, discourse analysis, narrative research, and
intuitive inquiry. New York, NY: The Guilford Press.
Willis, J. W. (2007). Foundations of qualitative research: Interpretive and critical approaches. Thousand Oaks, CA:
Sage.
Xu, M. A., & Storr, G. B. (2012). Learning the concept of researcher as instrument in qualitative research. The
Qualitative Report, 17(21), 1-18. Retrieved from
http://search.proquest.com/docview/1504088587?accountid=458

27. Questions?

28. Next webinar
Auto Ethnography
August 16, 2018 4 PM Phoenix time, 6 PM Central, 7 PM Eastern
Dr. Jim Lane will share his expertise and experience with
this research design.