Qualitative approaches in nursing research. Phenomenology: the method.

Abstract

Anderson (1989) argued that the proper focus for phenomenological nurse researchers is working out the problems and dilemmas of doing phenomenology well, rather than pondering the possibilities of triangulated research. Among those problems are questions concerning how and when one "brackets," how the researcher's self is featured, and the issue of rigor in analysis of phenomenological data. In accord with this position, the overview of phenomenological method in this chapter reveals a need to continue development of a phenomenology that produces nursing knowledge to guide nursing practices. It has been proposed that the qualities and characteristics of the researcher-researched relationship are particularly important to reconsider. The commonalities of the various phenomenologies that are engaging nurse researchers have been emphasized; their variations serve to raise methodological questions, redirecting us to yet another look at philosophical foundations for our science. The very subject matter of phenomenology is described variously. Some phenomenologies specify that the subject matter is such experiences as being in pain, doubting treatment, hoping to be well again, recovering from illness, or preparing for discharge. However, it may also be the mode of doubting or hoping, or it may be a focus on ways that it is possible to be in the world, such as what it is like to parent a child with a chronic illness, for example. The product of phenomenological inquiry, the description of experience, is inescapably interpretive, but the extent of the interpretation is another variability among the phenomenologies. However, to the extent that the description is an effective communication of insights into human experience, its relevance is immediate and direct. As a particular qualitative approach in nursing research, phenomenology has the distinction of turning the researcher on the self, that is, on his or her own reflective and intuitive grasp of experience. The researcher's direct experience constitutes the data, whether immediate or vicarious. It also has the distinction of deliberate modification by nurses for its use in nursing. This is a fortuitous development well worth our attention as the qualitative paradigm in nursing continues to gain momentum in revolutionizing our science and our practice.