International Journal of Nursing Studies 42 (2005) 179���186 Phenomenological nursing research: methodological insights derived fromHeidegger���s interpretive phenomenology Sandra Mackey PO Box 789, Albury 2640 NSW, Australia Received 28 October 2003 received in revised form25 May 2004 accepted 17 June 2004 Abstract The phenomenological approach is increasingly being utilised as the method structure for nursing research studies. However, the nursing literature is beginning to reflect a concern with nurse researchers��� adoption of phenomenological methods without, at the same time, laying the philosophical and methodological foundations on which the method is built. It is important for nursing knowledge development through research that the choice of research methodology can be argued for, and is judged to be coherent with, both the philosophical tone of the research and the nature of the research question. In this article the concepts underpinning Heidegger���s interpretive phenomenological philosophy are examined and discussed in terms of the methodological insights they provide for the conduct of nursing phenomenological research. r 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Keywords: Heidegger Methodology Phenomenology Nursing research Philosophy 1. Introduction Nursing research is conducted with the aimof developing the knowledge base that underpins the stability and growth of the discipline. Nurse researchers have adopted and adapted a range of research methods from the human, social and natural sciences to examine questions of relevance to their practice (Streubert and Carpenter, 1995 Kozier et al., 1997 Lawler, 1998). The different approaches have been broadly classified as quantitative and qualitative or, more recently, positivist and interpretive. Many nurse researchers have found the interpretive approaches more likely than the positivist approach to reveal the depth and diversity of nursing knowledge. This is because interpretive approaches allow for research which aims for understanding, rather than explanation, of human phenomenon they allow for research which is conducted in a natural, uncontrolled setting and for research which utilises the knowledge embedded in experience. Phenomenology is an interpretive approach which has provided the methodological structure for an increasing number of nursing research studies (Crotty, 1996 Lawler, 1998). Phenomenology is not only a research approach however. It is fundamentally a philosophy, with both epistemological and ontological branches influencing knowledge development throughout its evolution in the twentieth century. Paterson and Zderad (1976) introduced phenomenological philosophy into nursing with their Theory of Humanistic Nursing (1976). These theorists took an existential view of nursing and the phenomena of interest to nursing, rather than a rationalist, positivist view. They referred to the work of the original phenomenological philosophers, Husserl and Heidegger, and their theory reflected their ARTICLE IN PRESS www.elsevier.com/locate/ijnursto 0020-7489/$ - see front matter r 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.ijnurstu.2004.06.011 Tel.: +61-2-60516874 fax: +61-2-60516772. E-mail address: smackey@csu.edu.au (S. Mackey).

understanding, or interpretation, of these philosophers��� works. Philosophical ideals and structures are crucial to research, providing continuity and coherence to its conduct and outcomes. Philosophy determines the appropriateness of methodological processes for re- search and guides the researcher���s approach to data analysis. It determines the relevance of various issues and concepts to the research topic and the way in which the discussion is presented. This is particularly impor- tant for qualitative research, which is more diverse and less controlled by traditional research methods than quantitative research. The nursing literature is now beginning to reflect a concern with nurse researchers��� adoption of phenomen- ological methods without, at the same time, laying the philosophical or methodological foundations upon which the method is built (Leonard, 1989 Lowenberg, 1993 Walters, 1995 Lawler, 1998 Draucker, 1999). Maggs-Rapport (2001) suggests that it is common practice to adapt phenomenological techniques to particular research questions without justifying their appropriation, leading to the misuse of methodological notions. Draucker���s (1999) review of Heideggerian hermeneutic research in nursing found reference to the philosophical basis of this approach varied greatly. In his critique of phenomenology and nursing research, Crotty (1996) presented evidence fromthe nursing literature for what he calls a ���confusion��� (p. 17) in nursing phenomenological research as to the distinction between phenomenological philosophy and methodol- ogy. There is wide variation in the extent to which nursing phenomenological researchers ground the methodologi- cal processes of research in the philosophical ideals of phenomenology. Most authors refer to the philosophical origins of the selected research approach. Some authors simply name their study���s philosophical origins and concentrate on describing their phenomenological re- search method (see for example Dickson, 1994 Bell and Millward, 1999 Atsalos and Greenwood, 2001 Thom- linson, 2002). Increasingly, however, authors are dis- cussing both the fundamental philosophical background to their studies and the conceptual elements which underpin their phenomenological methods (see for instance Kvigne et al., 2002 Koivisto et al., 2002 Sadala and Adorno, 2002 Whitehead, 2002). This variability in approach reflects the complex and dynamic nature of phenomenology. The philosophy has continually been reinterpreted and comprises several related, but not homogenous, parallel streams (Spiegel- berg, 1965) stemming from the work of German philosophers, Edmund Husserl (1859���1938) and Martin Heidegger (1889���1976). Additionally, there are many differences in the way that these philosophical streams have been understood and applied, not only by nurse researchers but by researchers in the human and behavioural sciences. In this article, the conceptual basis of Heidegger���s phenomenological philosophy is dis- cussed and some of the methodological insights and processes embedded in the philosophy are revealed. The aimis to identify sound, coherent and useful methodo- logical structures for the conduct of Heideggerian phenomenological nursing research. 2. Background The early nurse phenomenologists drew on primary phenomenological sources, the original writings of the philosophers, in developing their phenomenological theories and research methods [see for instance, Benner and Wrubel (1989) on the value of Heidegger���s phenomenology to a nursing understanding of stress and coping Leonard���s (1989) exposition of the Heideg- gerian phenomenological perspective Thompson���s (1990) work on hermeneutic phenomenology]. However, each presented the philosophy of phenomenology a little differently, according to which of the philosophers most strongly influenced them. For instance Benner (1984, 1985) was drawn to Heidegger���s phenomenology, yet Omery (1983), writing at much the same time, does not refer to Heidegger at all. It must be noted that these nurse researchers were applying phenomenology to an existing discipline, thus the philosophy came to the discipline of nursing through the ���filter��� of existing knowledge and beliefs. This variety in the interpretation of phenomenological philosophy is mirrored in other disciplines. For instance, the phenom- enological psychologists Giorgi and Colaizzi, who are frequently acknowledged in the nursing literature, developed quite different methodologies as a result of their interpretations of the philosophers��� works. The methods devised by Colaizzi (1978) and Giorgi (1985) have been applied in many nursing research studies since being introduced to nursing by Omery in her seminal paper, Phenomenology: a method for nursing research (1983). Their methods were derived fromthe philosophical ideals, assumptions and concepts proposed by the German philosopher, Edmund Husserl (1859���1938), who is acknowledged as the founder of phenomenological philosophy. More recently nurse researchers have also drawn on the interpretive methods of Gadamer (1975) and van Manen (1990), which are derived fromHeidegger���s phenomenological philosophy. Heidegger���s philosophical focus was fundamentally different to that of Husserl, whose focus was epistemo- logical. Husserl���s aimwas to reveal knowledge which transcended human experience (Thevanez, 1962). Hei- degger���s philosophical concerns were ontological, he aimed for understanding of ���Being��� itself. In his major work, Being and Time (1962), Heidegger sought to ARTICLE IN PRESS S. Mackey / International Journal of Nursing Studies 42 (2005) 179���186 180