A Dance Between the Reduction and Reflexivity: Explicating the "Phenomenological Psychological Attitude"
TL;DR: The phenomenological attitude is defined as the process of retaining a wonder and openness to the world while reflexively restraining pre-understandings, as it applies to psychological research as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: This article explores the nature of "the phenomenological attitude," which is understood as the process of retaining a wonder and openness to the world while reflexively restraining pre-understandings, as it applies to psychological research A brief history identifies key philosphical ideas outlining Husserl's formulation of the reductions and subsequent existential-hermeneutic elaborations, and how these have been applied in empirical psychological research Then three concrete descriptions of engaging the phenomenological attitude are offered, highlighting the way the epoche of the natural sciences, the psychological phenomenological reduction and the eidetic reduction can be applied during research interviews Reflections on the impact and value of the researcher's stance show that these reductions can be intertwined with reflexivity and that, in this process, something of a dance occurs—a tango in which the researcher twists and glides through a series of improvised steps In a context of tension and contradictory motions, the researcher slides between striving for reductive focus and reflexive self-awareness; between bracketing pre-understandings and exploiting them as a source of insight Caught up in the dance, researchers must wage a continuous, iterative struggle to become aware of, and then manage, pre-understandings and habitualities that inevitably linger Persistance will reward the researcher with special, if fleeting, moments of disclosure in which the phenomenon reveals something of itself in a fresh way
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TL;DR: This paper used bracketing to mitigate the potentially deleterious effects of preconceptions that may taint the research process, but the processes through which brackings are carried out are different from ours.
Abstract: Bracketing is a method used in qualitative research to mitigate the potentially deleterious effects of preconceptions that may taint the research process. However, the processes through which brack...
1,462 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examine six particular areas of contention in the spirit of fostering dialogue, and promoting openness and clarity in phenomenological inquiry, and examine each of these areas of controversy.
Abstract: Phenomenological researchers generally agree that our central concern is to return to embodied, experiential meanings aiming for a fresh, complex, rich description of a phenomenon as it is concretely lived. Yet debates abound when it comes to deciding how best to carry out this phenomenological research in practice. Confusion about how to conduct appropriate phenomenological research makes our field difficult for novices to access. Six particular questions are contested: (1) How tightly or loosely should we define what counts as “phenomenology”? (2) Should we always aim to produce a general (normative) description of the phenomenon, or is idiographic analysis a legitimate aim? (3) To what extent should interpretation be involved in our descriptions? (4) Should we set aside or bring to the foreground researcher subjectivity? (5) Should phenomenology be more science than art? (6) Is phenomenology a modernist or postmodernist project, or neither? In this paper, I examine each of these areas of contention in the spirit of fostering dialogue, and promoting openness and clarity in phenomenological inquiry.
799 citations
Cites background from "A Dance Between the Reduction and R..."
...Researchers need to bring a “critical self-awareness of their own subjectivity, vested interests, predilections and assumptions and to be conscious of how these might impact on the research process and findings” (Finlay, 2008, p. 17)....
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...The process has been described variously as disciplined naïveté, bridled dwelling, disinterested attentiveness, and/or the process of retaining an empathic wonderment in the face of the world (Finlay, 2008)....
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...Following Wertz, in a previous paper I discussed the “phenomenological psychological attitude” as a process of retaining a reductive openness to the world while both restraining and using preunderstandings (Finlay, 2008)....
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...(Wertz, 2005, p. 168) Following Wertz, in a previous paper I discussed the “phenomenological psychological attitude” as a process of retaining a reductive openness to the world while both restraining and using preunderstandings (Finlay, 2008)....
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...I suggest the challenge for phenomenological researchers is “to simultaneously embody contradictory attitudes of being ‘scientifically removed from,’ ‘open to’ and ‘aware of’ while also interacting with research participants in the midst of their own experiencing” (Finlay, 2008, p. 3)....
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TL;DR: This article examines the approach of interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) and adds to discussions regarding the contribution that the approach can make to healthcare research and compares and contrasts IPA with other phenomenological approaches.
Abstract: Aim The aim of this article is to examine the approach of interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) and to add to discussions regarding the contribution that the approach can make to healthcare research. Background Interpretative phenomenological analysis is an approach to qualitative, experiential research that has been gaining in momentum and popularity over the past 10-15 years. The approach has its roots in psychology and recognises the central role of the analyst in understanding the experiences of participants. IPA involves a two-stage interpretation process whereby the researcher attempts to interpret how the participants make sense of their experience. Data sources Interpretative phenomenological analysis is discussed and critiqued in relation to other phenomenological approaches; benefits, potential limitations and rigour of studies using the method are explored. Review methods This is a methodology discussion that compares and contrasts IPA with other phenomenological approaches. Conclusion Interpretative phenomenological analysis offers an adaptable and accessible approach to phenomenological research intended to give a complete and in-depth account that privileges the individual. It enables nurses to reach, hear and understand the experiences of participants. Findings from IPA studies can influence and contribute to theory. Implications for research and practice Achieving a greater understanding of experiences in health care and illness can improve service provision. It is only by understanding meanings that nurses can influence health behaviour and lifestyles.
516 citations
TL;DR: The authors argued that reflexivity is integral to experiential qualitative research in psychology, and proposed reflexivity as hermeneutic reflection as a useful construct for guiding our engagement in reflexivity.
Abstract: In this article, it is argued that reflexivity is integral to experiential qualitative research in psychology. Reflexivity has been defined in many ways. Woolgar’s continuum of reflexivity though provides a useful gauge by which to judge whether a researcher is involved in simple reflection or reflexivity. The article demonstrates the benefits of adopting a reflexive attitude by presenting “challenge-to-competency.” The author’s encounter with Sarah will help illustrate the role of reflexivity both in data generation and in interpretative analysis. To close, it is proposed that reflexivity as hermeneutic reflection, with its grounding in hermeneutics and phenomenology, is a useful construct for guiding our engagement in reflexivity in experiential qualitative research.
371 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, a process for integrating focus group data into an interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) study was described during a study of the experiences of carers of people with mental health problems.
Abstract: Interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) is an approach to qualitative research that is now well-established in British psychology. This approach is concerned with understanding people's experiences of the world and of themselves. The aims of IPA studies have been met most frequently through the use of one-on-one interviews. Relatively few studies have used focus group discussions as the basis for IPA studies, but focus groups may provide rich experiential data. In this article, we describe a process for integrating focus group data into an IPA study. We developed this during a study of the experiences of carers of people with mental health problems. Here we outline the various steps of our analytic process and discuss how these might be employed and adapted by other researchers wishing to apply IPA's concern with personal experience to the analysis of focus group data.
326 citations
Cites background from "A Dance Between the Reduction and R..."
...This may include more explicit reflection on the researcher's role than has been typical in IPA (for more on this, see Finlay 2002 , 2008 )....
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References
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TL;DR: In this paper, the authors present an interpretation of Dasein in terms of temporality, and the Explication of Time as the Transcendental Horizon for the Question of Being.
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TL;DR: Carman as discussed by the authors described the body as an object and Mechanistic Physiology, and the experience of the body and classical psychology as a Sexed being, as well as the Synthesis of One's Own Body and Motility.
Abstract: Foreword, Taylor Carman Introduction, Claude Lefort Preface Introduction: Classical Prejudices and the Return to Phenomena I. Sensation II. Association and the Projection of Memories III. Attention and Judgment IV. The Phenomenal Field Part 1: The Body 1. The Body as an Object and Mechanistic Physiology 2. The Experience of the Body and Classical Psychology 3. The Spatiality of the One's Own Body and Motility 4. The Synthesis of One's Own Body 5. The Body as a Sexed Being 6. Speech and the Body as Expression Part 2: The Perceived World 7. Sensing 8. Space 9. The Thing and the Natural World 10. Others and the Human World Part 3: Being-For-Itself and Being-In-The-World 11. The Cogito 12. Temporality 13. Freedom Original Bibliography Bibliography of English Translations cited Additional Work Cited Index
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TL;DR: The ontology of the work of art and its Hermeneutic importance is discussed in this article. But the ontology is not a theory of the human experience, and it does not describe the relationship between art and the human sciences.
Abstract: Translator's Preface \ Introduction \ Foreword \ Part I: The Question of Truth as it Emerges in the Experience of Art \ 1. Transcending the Aesthetic Dimension \ 2. The Ontology of the Work of Art and its Hermeneutic Significance \ Part II: The Extension of the Question of Truth to Understanding in the Human Sciences \ 3. Historical Preparation \ 4. Elements of a Theory of Hermeneutic Experience \ Part III: The Ontological Shift of Hermeneutics Guided by Language \ 5. Language and Hermeneutics \ Appendices and Supplements \ Afterword \ Subject Index \ Author Index.
7,968 citations