“From a phenomenological perspective, an experience is not a thing one can retroactively return to in a straightforward manner. It has no fixed diachronic stability, hidden inside the head to be dug up by memory, no Archimedean point of reference. It is embodied and enacted in the world together with other experiencing subjects. It is a perspective on the world, marked by ever fleeting contents, but a relatively stable structure" (Høffding & Martiny, 2016).
Phenomenology in Research
Phenomenology in research is an interesting form of research taking subjective data and asking questions about a person's lived experience and analyzing it in the four following ways: turning raw data into usable data, filtering out important information from less important, coming up with themes and constructing theories from the data (Ellis, 2016). As the quote mentions above, there is no "straightforward" way to turn an experience into a data point (Høffding & Martiny, 2016), which is why the way we analyze phenomenological data is up to interpretation. “Knowing whether a certain statement is communicated with great conviction or with hesitation naturally changes one’s interpretation of that statement. This kind of knowledge is usually found in one’s body language, facial expression and tone of voice" (Høffding & Martiny, 2016). Høffding and Martiny (2016) go on to say that data from these interviews can be "revisited and re-interpreted" multiple times and that the most important thing is to get information that is "as clear, detailed and unambiguous as possible.
Method
The method in phenomenoloical research that is used is most often in-depth unstructured interviews with open-ended questioning. These interviews allow for researchers to remain open to every possibility and let the subject somewhat guide the interview while the researcher tailors the follow up questions according to the responses given by the subject. This method gives the researchers a fuller understanding of the subject's life experiences by not constricting the subject to certain guidelines (Ellis, 2016).
Choosing Subjects
The way that researchers choose subjects for a phenomenological study is that they use purposive sampling in which the subjects who are selected have lived through a certain experience and are able to attest to that experienced phenomenon. Ellis (2016), gives the example of if a researcher were to conduct research on venous leg ulcers, the researcher would need to recruit only those who have had lived-experience of having a venous ulcer because if subjects haven't there would be no real lived-experience of this phenomena (Ellis, 2016). Another important factor is that subjects chosen should be able to be self-reflective since the whole collection of data is based on self-reflection (Willis, Sullivan-Bolyai, Knafl, & Cohen, 2016). Sampling is important because researchers want to make sure that they are obtaining the most relevant data they can for their phenomenological study.
Furthering Research…
Phenomenography was developed by Ference Marton and colleagues in Sweden in the 1970's. Phenomenography is used to "describe the variation of people's experience towards a phenomena" as opposed to how phenomenology is used to "understand meaning through exploration of the lived experience towards it" (Jobin & Turale, 2019). Phenomenography can really further research of phenomenology in that it focuses on the variation of lived experiences and can further understand the links between differences and similarities in people's understanding of a phenomena. This data could be used to come up with more appropriate and generalized interventions, specifically in nursing, because an entire group of people's interpretation of their experiences would be compared (Jobin & Turale, 2019).
Method
The method in phenomenoloical research that is used is most often in-depth unstructured interviews with open-ended questioning. These interviews allow for researchers to remain open to every possibility and let the subject somewhat guide the interview while the researcher tailors the follow up questions according to the responses given by the subject. This method gives the researchers a fuller understanding of the subject's life experiences by not constricting the subject to certain guidelines (Ellis, 2016).
Choosing Subjects
The way that researchers choose subjects for a phenomenological study is that they use purposive sampling in which the subjects who are selected have lived through a certain experience and are able to attest to that experienced phenomenon. Ellis (2016), gives the example of if a researcher were to conduct research on venous leg ulcers, the researcher would need to recruit only those who have had lived-experience of having a venous ulcer because if subjects haven't there would be no real lived-experience of this phenomena (Ellis, 2016). Another important factor is that subjects chosen should be able to be self-reflective since the whole collection of data is based on self-reflection (Willis, Sullivan-Bolyai, Knafl, & Cohen, 2016). Sampling is important because researchers want to make sure that they are obtaining the most relevant data they can for their phenomenological study.
Furthering Research…
Phenomenography was developed by Ference Marton and colleagues in Sweden in the 1970's. Phenomenography is used to "describe the variation of people's experience towards a phenomena" as opposed to how phenomenology is used to "understand meaning through exploration of the lived experience towards it" (Jobin & Turale, 2019). Phenomenography can really further research of phenomenology in that it focuses on the variation of lived experiences and can further understand the links between differences and similarities in people's understanding of a phenomena. This data could be used to come up with more appropriate and generalized interventions, specifically in nursing, because an entire group of people's interpretation of their experiences would be compared (Jobin & Turale, 2019).