Phenomenology

Qualitative research

Definition

A qualitative approach studying the lived experience of a phenomenon — what it is like, and what its essential structure is — through deep interviews with those who have lived it.

Phenomenology studies the lived experience of a phenomenon as those who have experienced it describe it. Rather than explaining why something happens, it seeks the essence of what an experience is actually like — the meaning it holds for the people who live it.

Two traditions dominate. Descriptive (Husserlian) phenomenology requires bracketing, in which the researcher sets aside preconceptions to describe the experience as it presents itself. Interpretive (Heideggerian) phenomenology, including IPA, holds that bracketing is impossible and treats the researcher's interpretation as part of the analysis.

Samples are small and purposive — often between five and fifteen participants, all of whom have direct experience of the phenomenon — with in-depth unstructured or semi-structured interviews as the main method. Analysis moves from significant statements to clusters of meaning to a composite description of the essence, combining what was experienced with how it was experienced.