1. Phenomenological Research
Presentation by:
Daniel McMillan, Tayna Elberg, David Benjoe, Curtis Lothian

2. Part 1 (of 4) Outline: Intro Activity and Video Defining Phenomenology
Historical and Philosophical background
Major players
Main schools of thought (two)
Methodologies

3. Wikispace.com:

4. Intro Video: Feel familiar?
-Feeling of doing something new and awkward and unpractised
-important in order to grow that we try awkward things
(stop at 0:31)

5. Intro Activity: shift in thinking
-Feeling of doing something different and awkward and unpractised
-This is how I felt about approaching and understanding research with this method. Messy and unclear and unstructured. A paradigm shift in thinking.
Arms crossed activity

6. What is Phenomenological Research?
Draws from philosophy, psychology and education
The study of a shared experience. It's purpose is to understand the essence of a lived experience or phenomenon by a group or individual of people(Newberry, 2011). Simply put, it is "the study of the essence of things."
An interpretive mode of inquiry to understand complex experiences or phenomena
Researcher aims to understand the perspective of the person(s) who have an experience and the effect of that perspective on the person(s)
"a human science" approach (in contrast to cognitive or behavioural "natural science" approaches)
Focus and object of the research is on "pulling out" the person(s) story rather then proving or disproving a theory
use of descriptive analysis
method of knowing that "begins with the things themselves."
method of learning about another person by listening to their descriptions of what their subjective world is like for them.
Seeks to describe rather than explain. Starts free from hypothesis.

7. Phenomenology is..
a qualitative research technique which aims to understand, identify and describe a phenomena by how the experience is perceived by its members
objective study of subjective things (phenomenas) 7

8. Phenomenology: Pictorial Representation
Circles: a pictural explanation 8

9. Historical/Philosophical Background
Husserl, the founder of phenomenology, described phenomenology as a method that allowed the contact of phenomena as it was lived and experience by people. Following world war one, with many European ideologies shaken, Husserl wanted to develop a new "philosophical method which would lend absolute certainty to a disintegrating civilization" (Eagleton, 1983, p. 54). While the original concepts of phenomenology can be traced back to Kant and Hegal, most regard Husserl as the founder of this approach with Hedegger following as a major influence on its development.
Phenomenology was an non-empiricalist, non-naturalist, "new science" that attempted to research and give authenticity to the subjective experience. It remained, and remains, more philosophical in nature, however with the more recent adoption of this approach by social sciences such as sociology, psychology, anthropology, education and nursing, more structure has been given to it.
Phenomenology is one of the most significant philosophical movements of the 20th century.
Side note: history of phenomenology and psychology By the 1970's phenomenology had not yet been established as a reliable alternative to traditional natural scientific psychological approach from psychological research.

10. Major People and their influence:
The following are some of the key people that influenced the development of phenomenology:(See wiki for more detailed list)

11. Major People and their influence: Kant and Hegal
Immanuel Kant ( ) and George Wilhelm Hegel ( )
Their theories on the aesthetics of art in relation to the human experience influenced the later field of phenomenology
Will be discussed more later in presentation

12. Major People and their influence: Franz Bretano (1839-1917)
Provided basis for phenomenology
Stressed the intentional nature (or internal experience) of conscience being
Husserl's teacher

13. Major People and their influence: Edmund Husserl (1859-1968)
Known as the founder of phenomenology
Objected belief that objects in the external world existed independently instead though that certainty can exist in the appearance of things to peoples consciousnesses
Said phenomenology was the science of pure consciousness
Believed in 'bracketing' (and ‘transcendental ego), the process of rendering one's (the researcher's) experience inoperative to the research in order to not bias it. Thought this was possible and necessary for phenomenology to step back from one’s consciousness to view the phenomena.
(his famous quote) we "must return to the things themselves"

14. Major People and their influence: Martin Heidegger (1889-1976)
Did not believe it was possible to step back from consciousness.
Believed we must pursue ‘authentic’ experiences in life
Introduced the concept of 'Dasein' (or being/existing as a being)
Idea of the dialogue between the person and their world [Hermeneutic Phenomenology].
side note: controversial because was sympathetic to the Nazi party in Germany, and openly demonstrated support for Hitler (interestingly Husserl, his teacher, was Jewish)
Suggested focusing on the lived experience (or the ‘Dasein’), rather than the phenomena or persons
idea that one's reality is always influenced by the world they live in including as researchers (termed one’s “lifeworld”)
Rejected Husserl's idea of the "transcendental ego"

15. Major People and their influence: Alfred Schultz
furthered idea that "the human world comprises various provinces of meaning"
significant furthers sociological phenomenology
seeks a basis for "sociology of understanding"

16. Major People and their influence: Sarte and Merleau-Ponty
Both greatly expanded the influence of Husserl and Heidegger
Marice Merleau-Ponty believed you can only really understand phenomenology by experiencing it rather than solely comprehending it intellectually
Jean-Paul Sarte believed humans were free to choose their lives and were responsible for their experiences

17. Major People and their influence: Hans-Georg Gadamer (1900-2002)
Introduced the topic of co-constitutionally, where meanings arrived at in the research are comprised of a blend of both researchers and participants.
Describes this co-constitutionally as the 'fusion of horizons' (with the 'horizon' being the background of a person's ideas, meanings and experiences).
Father of hermeneutics (in the analysis and interpretation of text, sense)

18. Two Main Schools of Thought:
Two main theoretical schools:
transcendental
and
existential (or hermeneutic)
(other forms of phenomenology exist, but not significant)

19. Main Schools of Thought: Transcendental
– Husserl based theory
-direct
-outside of the process (phenomena or research) looking in at it trying to understand it. Believe you could view consciousness from outside it’s states
-Transcendental ego and bracketing then to separate from consciousness (suspend judgements/biases about world prior to research)

20. Main Schools of Thought: Existential (or Hermeneutic)
– Heiddegger based theory
-indirect or hermeneutic
-a part of the process is examining it from with in a shared consciousness. Thus ew have a biased and involved understanding. Understanding the results as a blend of researcher and participant.
-researcher needs to identify biases in doing research as best possible

21. Transcendental vs Existential
again with the circles...
VS.
Existential- on this inside
Transcendental - on the outside 21

22. Methodology in Phenomenology: part 1
No one prescribed phenomenological method
None of the original titans of this philosophy developed a specific, followable framework and procedures for research (anti-reductionistic)
Instead phenomenology is more of an orientation that a specific method
The specific procedure used in each study depends on the research question and the population
Later adoption of phenomenology by specific fields, such as sociology, education, nursing, and psychology, provided more framework/structure to follow.
Other (Side) Notes:
Most data collected in phenomenology through data in the form of language
includes methods such as accounts of conversations, group dialogue, diary, autobiography, and personal narratives.
Interviews remain the most common means of collecting data in phenomenology
Also used research methods include: conceptual analysis; linguistic analysis; hermeneutical method and praxis; historical-critical method; literary philosophy; and formal logic.
( More on wiki and to be discussed later in presentation )

23. Part 1 Summary: Important points
Husserl and Heidegger
Phenomenology is capturing “what it’s like for them”
Two main types of Phenomenology: Transcendental and existential
Methods: none/many ..and messy!

24. Side note:my personal application -Psychology/therapy
idea of blank slate vs. therapist being a self involved in the process, this mirrors transcendental vs. existential phenomenology.
idea of gaining an understanding of a persons world through them is important!
helps understand existential psychology’s concepts of how we exist 24

25. Questions to think about as we go along..
how can this be helpful? How could you use it?
What do you like about it?
What do you not like about it? 25

26. Thanks for listening. More to come