Research Method: Phenomenology
This week I read Groenewald's article on "Phenomenological Research Design," or, the study of realities as 'phenomena'. Understanding the basis or theory of this research design was key for me in further developing my understanding of the research design in general, so below I have included a section from the text that give a brief understanding of Phenomenology.
"Husserl ("the fountainhead of Phenomenology) rejected the belief that objects in the external world exist independently and that the information about objects is reliable. He argued that people can be certain about how things appear in, or present themselves to, their consciousness." (p. 4)
This reminded me of the Dancing Gorilla experience from last class, and the subsequent observations that revealed our own biases or patterns of thinking. As Groenewald states, "Realities are...treated as pure 'phenomena' and the only absolute data from where to begin." (p. 4). Phenomenology demands that the researcher be aware of his/her own personal experiences or biases, and to remain conscious of those throughout the study. When conducting the research, the key word is "describe." The researcher is asked to describe what is being seen and the data collected, and to acknowledge that "inquiry doesn't mean looking for answers."(Jon Kabat-Zinn).
In collecting the data, I found the technique of 'snowballing' to be quite interesting. Asking participants to recommend more participants is an interesting way to get a sample of like-minded people that the researcher might not know of. Similar to education where teachers are asked to recommend other teachers, this opens up a wide variety of potential participants. As Groenewald notes, however, the participants may sway the results or influence them because it is a sample that is not from a diverse group, but rather a group that potentially has had similar experiences. The other aspect of this method of research that I found to be interesting was the idea that it was best to have a maximum of 10 participants, and to spend more time in the interview and data collection stage to get a deeper and more rich sense of their experiences. Coming from an arts-based background, I find that this methodology of research appeals to me, as I often find myself delving more deeply into one topic or subject focus and investigating it thoroughly, than understanding a breadth of content but only in a shallow way.
I was inspired and encouraged by the process of "Clustering units of meaning to form themes" in the data analysis stage. By doing so, the researcher groups similar ideas or data sets together to propose an idea or a theme statement based on the findings. Groenewald makes note of the researcher having "creative insight" (p. 19) here as it is the researcher who determines what groups or categories some data may fall under, and thus a different researcher may make a different grouping or categorization.
Phenomenology seems like a research methodology that I can relate and connect to in terms of the theory and the process. While this particular article was clearly in support of this method, I wonder what some of the concerns other researchers may hold about proceeding with this type of study?
Last term I took a pilot course (580D) for all first year MA students in the Department of Curriculum and Pedagogy. The first thing we read was the introduction to Sara Ahmed's Orientations - it was incredibly challenging!
ReplyDeleteAhmed comments and critiques Husserl's philosophical stance. These are the notes I made:
Husserl – focuses on his writing table in his study. He is orientated towards it as it is in is sight / focus and he is orientated towards it as it is part of his self-awareness as a philosopher. Other objects / other rooms – are lesser. He is not orientated towards them as they are not part of his ‘world’ (as he thinks). They do not grab his attention.
Phenomenology, in Husserl’s formulation, can come into being as a first philosophy only if it suspends all that gathers together as a natural attitude, not through Cartesian doubt but through a way of perceiving the world ‘as if’ one did not assume its existence as taking some forms rather than others.’ You do not doubt the ‘natural’ world on scientific grounds or because of rationalism. You suspend your perception of it by not presuming anything. The table is then isolated from the familiar.
I include these here as I think (and I use the word think specifically, as sometimes these concepts are tricky to grasp, and even more tricky to articulate) as I think my notes my illuminate something which could be a problem if phenomenology is used as a research methodology. Ahmed critiques Husserl as he fails to notice the other objects in the room other than the table, they become part of the background or 'lesser' objects. Her critique in the remainder of the article opens up conversation about the background to the table. Is there a danger of ignoring the background or 'lesser' objects that may contribute to the object or subject study if observation with a phenomenological lens is the crux of the research?