PhenomenologyThe “lived” experience

Presented by Paul and the Lavenders

What we will cover• Phenomenology as a

Philosophy/History– Transcendental– Hermeneutic– Existential

• Phenomenology as a methodology– Descriptive– Interpretive

• What Phenomenologists believe and do

• Strengths and Weaknesses• Disciplines that use

phenomonology• An example in CSS

Phenomenology is…

A Philosophy A Methodology

AND

“The renewed interest in phenomenology has seen a return to the much discussed question of what phenomenology is, for which a definitive answer has yet to be

found” (Rouback, 2004)

Phenomenology as a Philosophy

TranscendentalPhenomenologyEdmund Husserl

“father” 1920

Hermeneutic (interpretive)Phenomenology

MartinHeideggar

1927

Existential PhenomenologyMerleau-Ponty

and Jean-Paul

Sartre

conflict

Post WWIIPositivism

TranscendentalPhenomenology Edmund Husserl (1859-1938)

• Sprouted from post WWII positivism. Phenomenology rejects positivism.

• This can be achieved through reduction (Epoché)

• “transcend” the experience to discover meaning.

There is “natural attitude” (our everyday involvement in the world) and “phenomenological attitude” (the philosophical act of pure reflection (where we suspend the natural attitude).

• knowing is always and only through a state of pure consciousness…the mind is directed toward objects of consciousness that can be

reflected upon.

Lived world

Transcendental (descriptive) Phenomenology

• Within the range of unique experiences, there is a larger, transcending, essential and unvarying quality of a phenomenon…that can be discovered!

Unvarying Quality Of a

Phenomenon

Hermeneutic (interpretive)Phenomenology

• Martin Heidegger (1889-1976)• Hans-George Gadamer and Paul Ricoeur• Disagrees with Husserl’s epoche.• An effort to “get beneath” the subjective

experience and find the genuine, objective nature of things.

• Focuses on the relationship between the event and the person, and how meaning is formed in that relationship.

• Leads to endless possibilities and endless interpretations.

• Our relationship with things is not the object/subject relationship.

“The “natural

attitude” is integral to knowing”

“reduction is impossible!!”

Being in the world

Existential Phenomenology

• Maurice Merleau-Ponty (1908-1961) and Jean-Paul Sartre (1905-1980)

• Rejects Husserl’s belief of transcendance and embraces the lived experience, the concrete.

• Aim is not to find a common theme, but the goal is to "concentrated upon re-achieving a direct and primitive contact with the world.“

• Describes everyday experience as it is perceived by the consciousness of individuals.

• This “new” phenomenology rejects the historical division between the inquirer and the social world (subject/object)

• This movement marked a return to studying the direct, lived experience of the “field worker” as a source of knowledge about the world.

"The most important lesson that the reduction teaches us…is the impossibility of a

complete reduction."

Phenomenology as a Methodologytwo camps-a resurgence in the 1970s

• DESCRIPTIVISTS• Believe it is possible to

suspend personal opinion to arrive at a single, essential, descriptive presentation of a phenomena

• Think that if there is more than one reality, that leaves doubt, ignorance, and a lack of clarity.

• Husserl followers

(Rapport 2006)

• INTERPRETIVIST• There are endless number of

realities.• Interpretations are all we have,

because description IS an interpretive process

• Heidegger followers

Phenomenology…as a Methodology

• …is focused on the subjective experience of individuals or groups.

• …is personal. The world as experienced by the individual, not relationships between people.

• …uses small, purposive samples of 3-10 participants that have experienced the phenomenon.

• …attempts to describe accurately a phenomenon from the person’s perspective.

Phenomenology as a Methodology• …is where art and science collide? The interpretation of

lived experience and daily life. Understanding meaning from the world around us.

• …assumes that “There is a structure and essence to shared experiences that can be narrated” (Marshall 2006 p. 104)

• …assumes that the only things we can know, are those that are directly observable and experienced. The only reality we can know is the one we directly experience.

Phenomenologists….

• REJECT scientific realism (objects exist independently of our knowledge of their existence).

• DISAGREE that the empirical sciences are better methods to describe the features of the world.

• DESCRIBE the ordinary, conscious experience of things.• OPPOSE the acceptance of unobservable things.• REJECT naturalism and positivism.• BELIEVE objects in the natural world, cultural world, and abstract

objects (like numbers and consciousness) can be made evident and thus known.

• RECOGNIZE the role of description prior to explanation by means of causes, purposes, or grounds.

• DEBATE whether Husserl’s transcendental epoche and reduction is useful or even possible.

• STUDY the “life-world” (the taken-for-granted pattern of everyday living).

http://www.phenomenologycenter.org/phenom.htm#2

Strengths of phenomenology

• Efficient and Economical (only in terms of data generation or maybe not at all. . .)

• Direct Interaction with Participants• Allows the researcher to ask for clarification and to ask

immediate follow-up/probing questions• Allows the researcher to observe nonverbal responses

which can be supportive or contradictory to the verbal responses

• Data is in the participants’ own words

More Strengths

• Synergy: participants react to and build upon the responses of other participants.

• Flexible research tool• Applicable to a wide range of settings and individuals.

• Results are easy to understand (in terms of people’s direct opinions and statements)

Marvin Farber 1966

Therefore, it is useful for…

• A researcher who wants to understand human experience.

• finding a universal meaning of an experience.

• The reduction of context specific information to a more general understanding of the phenomenon is desired.

• A researcher who is willing to become closely entwined with the research.

Weakness of phenomenology

• Findings are difficult to generalize to a larger population• Small number of participants who are often attained in a convenient

manner• Individual responses are not always independent of one another• Dominant or opinionated members may overshadow the thoughts of

the other group members (only if group interviews are performed). • Data is often difficult to analyze and summarize.• Researcher may give too much credit to the results (immediacy of a

personal opinion)• Requires a quality moderator • It is a “soft science” at best, really it is not science, it is more like philosophy

and religion (Charles Harris, 2006)• Critics of phenomenology think you cannot describe the unique experiences

AND make generalizations about the experiences at the same time.Marvin Farber

1966

Disciplines that use Phenomenology• Nursing

• Education

• Psychology

• Social Sciences

• Urban Planning

• Art

• Pretty much anything

Concepts such as suffering and well being and the intersubjective

nature of the nurse-patient relationship

cannot be studied from a paradigm traditional to the natural sciences.

Rapport (2006)

The Experience of Motor Disability A Young Child’s Sense of Time and the ClockAwaiting the Diagnosis The Stillness of a Secret PlaceNature Experience of 8-12 year old Children

Possibilities of the Father RoleThe Nature of at Home-ness

Phenomenological Research Titles LonelinessA Lived Experience of Making a Drawing: Drawing Amy

Mathematics Teaching: Moving from Telling to Listening

Being Nostalgic Naming our Child

Women’s Anxious Pursuit of Attractive Appearance

“…you can’t impose method on a phenomenon since that would do a great injustice to the integrity of that phenomenon…”

“…the phenomenon dictates the method.”

Hycner 1999

An Example from CSS…….

SELECTING A PEAK TO CLIMB

UNDERSTANDING THE DECISION MAKING PROCES OF EXPEDITION GROUPS IN THE NEPAL HIMALAYA

Bret Meldrum

Understanding the Decision Making Process

• Purpose of the Study

• Description of the Process

• Lessons learned• Applications of

the study

Purpose

• Understanding decision making factors of climbing tourist to Nepal.

• Describe experience upon a peak to climb.

Description of the process

• Research pre-knowledge

• Factors for decisions– Elevation of mountain– Pioneering opportunities

• Phase 1– Collect contact information. – Participants selection– Coordinate meetings in

Katmandu

Description of the process

• Phase 2:– In-depth, face-to-face

interview.– Capture the content

meaning.– Semi-structured Interview

• General frame-setting questions

• Probing questions

– Point theoretical saturation– Rich Text is generated

Description of the process• Phase 3:

– Cluster themes – Considerations coded analyzed – Develop models– Compare with theoretical literature– Member check

Applications of the Study

• Enhance Conservation Planning• Minimize social impacts

I really want to understand what’s going on here?

Activity

Structure the interview by asking about:Past experience with the phenomenonPresent experience (within last 5 years) with the phenomenonSummarize on large sheet the description you get

 You will have about 5-10 minutes for the interview

We’ll then share some of the “data" with the class

What does carving a pumpkin mean to you? Describe your experience.The goal will be to accomplish a short phenomenological interview. The interviewers should go as deep as they can into the meaning of the experience: how it feels, what it means, what it was like, etc.

Interview Groups

• Interviewer Jess

Katie

Keith

Jon

Jill

Ardis

Eleonora

Craig

Alexis

• IntervieweeNancy

Mark

Robert

Lena

Laura

Bill

Hannah

Cristian

Kofi