Critical Evaluation of Phenomenology - Essay Example

Critical Evaluation of Phenomenology as a Research Approach Introduction The last few decades have witnessed considerable increase in the interest and drive towards the application of phenomenology research approaches among researchers in the human science field, in general, and nursing in particular, to both nursing practice and education (Green and Holloway, 1997; Van der Zalm and Bergum, 2000). Van der Zalm and Bergum (2000) reports that this trend, which started late in the 1970s and early 1980s, was a result of the growing dissatisfaction, among nursing researchers, with the prevalent scientific practices of the time. A closer examination of the philosophical basis of nursing and the relationships 'among philosophy, scientific methods and knowledge development in nursing' led to questioning of the adequacy of the prevalent quantitative research methodologies in effectively studying human life experiences, which is the core concern of the nursing profession (Van der Zalm and Bergum, 2000 p211). According to these authors, the concerns were whether measurement, categorisation or statistical indexes that characterises the quantitative research approaches were adequate to understand a person, in its entirety; and the ability of such research paradigms to adequately explain or predict human experience (Van der Zalm and Bergum, 2000). Phenomenology, a research paradigm that in its pure form is a qualitative research approach that seek to make explicit, the implicit structure and meaning of the human experience, provided the answer to these research concerns (Sanders, 1982). In phenomenology, the human subjective experience that is obviously missing or ignored in objective scientific research approaches became a core point. And with the increasing perception of this as a basic instrument in understanding human knowledge and behaviours, more nurse researchers looked and are still looking towards phenomenology to provide the needed understanding of the person's reality and experiences and a more 'holistic' approach to studying 'the person' (Sanders, 1982; Van der Zalm and Bergum, 2000). The phenomenological movement emerged around the turn of the twentieth century in continental Europe, initially as a descriptive philosophical mode of inquiry that challenges the analytic/deductive philosophies of the time (Sanders, 1982; Barkway, 2001). Therefore, the phenomenological researcher is saddled with the responsibility of investigating the contents of 'conscious phenomena, both objective and subjective, or consciousness itself' (Sanders, 1982 p353). However, it must be noted, that phenomenology is a broad research approaches with several varying, and at times contradictory philosophies and approaches, but in the simplest and basic form, is defined as a qualitative method of research based on the grounds that reality consists of objects and events as they are experienced or understood in human consciousness, and the rejection of anything outside the human consciousness (American Heritage Dictionary, 2006). As a result, Embree (1997) identified the following widely accepted features of the phenomenological paradigm: the rejection of unobservable matters and grand systems erected in speculative thinking; rejection of naturalism (or objectivism and positivism), which is a worldview growing from modern natural science and technology since the Renaissance; emphasis on extracting the essence from human experiences and the value of what is known as epoch and eidetic reduction to the validity of phenomenological research (Sanders, 1982; Embree, 1997). While appreciating the several strands of opinions and approaches within phenomenology school of thought, the purpose of this paper is to provide an evaluation of phenomenology as a research approach. Therefore, this paper will provide an overview of major features of phenomenological research approach. To achieve this purpose, the paper will be structured as follows; the next section will provide a concise definition and history of the phenomenology school of thought. This will be followed by an examination of the major features of phenomenology; discussion of the components essential to designing a phenomenological research attempt and lastly, an evaluation of the utility of phenomenological studies for nursing practice and knowledge. Phenomenology has been defined severally by numerous authors, however, most of these definitions seem to portray one branch of Phenomenology or the other (see for example Van der Zalm and Bergum, 2000; Maggs-Rapport, 2000; Green and Holloway, 1997), however, the most all-encompassing definition appears to be that provided by Edie, 1962 quoted in Sanders (1982). Defining Phenomenology, this author writes that Phenomenology seeks to make explicit the implicit structure and meaning of human experiences. It is the search for 'essences' that cannot be revealed by ordinary observation. Phenomenology is the science of essential structures of consciousness or experience. It concentrates neither on the subject of experience nor on the object of experience, but on the point of contact at which being and consciousness meet. Thus, the goal of Phenomenology is to get to the pure and unburdened vision of what experience essentially is (Sanders, 1982 p.354). In its modern form, Phenomenology is generally believed to have started with the work of the German, Edmund Husserl (1859-1938) (Moran, 2000; Sanders, 1982), some authors argue that the basic framework and approach of phenomenology was first created by Franz Brentano (1838-1917), who, being influenced by scholastic versions of Aristotelian thought and by the radical empiricism of Hume, contend that the central goal psychology of is to understand the nature and content of awareness, in such ways as to elucidate the difference between the mental and the non-mental (Spiegelberg, 1965). In his first major work - Psychologie vom empirischen Standpunkt (Psychology from an Empirical Standpoint) Brentano writes that every mental act should be seen to have a doubly significant representational function, designating both itself reflectively and a phenomenal object intentionally. Though some other authors argue that Phenomenology has a longer history that even Brentano; such as Friedrich Christoph Oetinger (1702-1782), the German priest who studied divine systems of relations, or Immanuel Kant (1724-1804), who asserted that human beings can only know 'phenomena' and that the truth in itself is beyond human understanding (Spiegelberg, 1965); the views in 'Psychology from an Empirical Standpoint' and his other works, obviously were the defining framework for the Phenomenology later developed by Husserl (Moran, 2000). The modern form of phenomenology started with Husserl's first work "Logische Untersuchungen" - Logical Investigations in 1901, where he conceived of phenomenology as a descriptive psychology based on the concept of 'intentionality'; the concept that every mental act or phenomenon is directed at an object - first developed by Brentano, and continued with his later work Meditations Cartsiennes (Cartesian Meditations) (1931) where he redefined the concept of consciousness and the phenomenon at which it is directed. From these humble works of Husserl, phenomenology became a global research approach cutting across countries and scholarly fields. Embree (1997) appropriately charted the history and course of phenomenology as thus: before World War I it spread to Japan, Russia, and Spain and also from philosophy to psychiatry; during the 1920s it spread to Australia, France, Hungary, The Netherlands and Flanders, Poland, and the United States and to research on communicology (then called symbolism), education, music, and religion; during the 1930s it spread to Czechoslovakia, Italy, Korea, and Yugoslavia and to research on architecture, literature, and theatre. Right after World War II, phenomenology then spread to Portugal, Scandinavia, and South Africa, and also to research on ethnicity, film, gender, and politics; in the 1960s and 1970s it spread to Canada, China, and India and to dance, geography, law, and psychology; and, finally, in the 1980s and 1990s it spread to Great Britain and also to ecology, ethnology, medicine, and nursing (Embree, 1997). The features of Phenomenology, as a result approach can be discerned from its primary objective - investigating and describing human lived experience in its purest essence, without the burden of external objects or assumptions, in order to create a deeper understanding of the experience rather than providing a causal explanation of the experience (Moran, 2000; Van der Zalm and Bergum, 2000). The basic features of Phenomenological research methodology include; intentionality, epoche and eidetic reduction. These are technical terms that characterise the Phenomenological research paradigm. Though, it should be noted that these features of Phenomenology were not developed all at once, they were the product of continuous refinement of Phenomenology by Husserl and his successors. Also, not all the three features apply well (or is agreed upon) to the several opinions within the Phenomenology school of thought, however, these can be conveniently described as the basic features that could be found in a Phenomenological research. According to Husserl, there exist a difference between the act of consciousness and the phenomena at which that act is directed. Elaborating, he referred to the intentional act of consciousness as noesis, while the object or phenomena, which is the act is directed is known as noemata (Moran, 2000). Thus, intentionality is the derivation of 'essence' from an experience by the analysis of the correlation between the object receiving the consciousness (i.e. neoma), and the subjective experience of the object (i.e. noesis). In sum, intentionality refers to the correlation between an object and the appearance of that object to consciousness. In Sander's view, intentionality is characterised as 'consciousness, which justifies one in 'describing' the whole stream of consciousness and unity of one's consciousness' (Sanders, 1982 p.354). This understanding is further strengthened in the statement credited to Ihde (1972) every experiencing has its reference or direction towards what is experienced, and contrarily, every experienced phenomenon refers to or reflects a mode of experiencing to which it is present. This is the intentional or correlational a priori of experience taken phenomenologically (Ihde, 1972 quoted in Sanders, 1982). Putting these opinions in perspective, intentionality, indeed, refers to the totality of an experience, that is, the direction and internal shape of experience or consciousness. Epoche is a much more controversial aspect of phenomenology. Husserl contends that for the in-depth knowledge and essence of an experience to fully grasped, all assumptions, preconceived beliefs and opinions, and personal biases must be put aside. This act of setting aside all preconceived notions and assumptions in order to fully understand what the experience really implies is what is referred to as Epoche (Moran, 2000; Sanders, 1982). Husserl used the word 'bracketing' to describe this temporary suspension of pre-conceived biases. Though, epoche is generally regarded as a key feature of the phenomenological research methods, with the contention that it allows the researcher to objectively analyse a person's experience without the distortion of personal opinions, several authors have questioned the possibility or even utility of this element of phenomenology (Embree, 1997). 'Eidos' means form or idea. Husserl used the term eidetic reduction to describe the process by which essence is abstracted from experience or consciousness. Obviously, it is the most important and last step in a phenomenological research. This process is regarded as a pathway back to the essence implicit from an experience and thus has been described as the process of going beyond, behind or underneath the conventional structures of thought and action, so as to locate their common grounds (Sanders, 1982). Apparently, the process of eidetic reduction makes use of reflection and intuition to reveal the underlying meanings - essences- in a described experience. Brooks, 1980 likened reduction to the extraction of attar from rose. In his opinion, just as the removal of each petal reveals another, each layer of experience revealed by the eidetic process successively yields experience and further reflection of experience, until the essence of meaning - that which is constant - is revealed. In sum, from the above discussed features of phenomenology, one can assert that phenomenology is premised on the fact that no reality exists outside the human consciousness - what can not be described, does not exist- i.e. it occupies itself with the inside (consciousness, experience etc) of the human. It makes use of reflection, introspection, intuition and other inductive processes to extract 'reality' from the human experience, believing that such 'realities' add to knowledge and understanding of human experiences and perceptions. The process of carrying out a phenomenological research, agreeably, evolves through three different stages or components: fore-understanding, interrogation and reflection (Maggs-Rapport, 2000; Sanders, 1980). Fore-understanding, referred to as 'determination of limits' by Sanders, involve first setting the scope of what is to be investigated. Sanders contend that though from Husserl's perspective anything with appearance or consciousness could be studies, however, in practical terms, subjects and areas that are not easily quantifiable are the most logical topics to be investigated phenomenologically (Sanders, 1980). Furthermore, Maggs-Rapport contend that though the researcher's knowledge of the topic to be investigated does not have to be advanced, the researcher must have a basic understanding of what is being probed or analysed (Maggs-Rapport, 2000). From these viewpoints, knowledge base of the researcher and the practicability of probing the topic at hand, are factors that set the stage for a phenomenological research endeavour. Adding more weight to this argument, Sanders, further add that after setting the topic to be investigated, the nest vital step would be to determine the appropriate subjects for the research. Three major types of data collection are employed in phenomenology researches, these are: in-depth, semi-structured oral history interviews with the subjects. These interviews are normally tape-recorded and transcribed for subsequent analysis. Documentary study in which the writings of the subject are reviewed, in order to derive 'essence' from them, according to Sanders, this method is often used in conjunction with the first. The third data collection method involves the actual observation of the research participants in real situations where they are engaged in the phenomena being researched. Again, to explore particular phenomena in greater depth, interviewing is often employed, in some instances. These first two stages or components of phenomenological research approach are common to scientific research as well as other research paradigms i.e. defining the research criteria and collation of data is a fact of every research attempt, irrespective of the approach. However, the third component of phenomenology is exclusive to this research paradigm. This stage involves the analysis of the research data. Four levels of phenomenological data analysis have been identified (Moran, 2000; Sanders, 1980). Level I involve the description of the phenomena being investigated as revealed in the interview data. This stages, thus, involves description of the subject's experience, in his own language. Level II involve the identification of themes or 'invariants' that arise from the description in the first stage. These themes are said to refer to the commonalities present between and within narratives. Again, this is in the subject's language. Level III involves the development of neotic/neoma correlates as the subjective reflections of the emergent themes. Identification of these correlates represents the subject's perception of the reality of the phenomena being researched and is thus, crucial to the identification of 'essences'. The final stage involves the abstraction of 'meanings' or 'realities' and is carried out through the use of intuition and reflection (eidetic reduction) on the part of the researcher. Though several authors have criticised the use of phenomenology in nursing research, phenomenology continues to be a popular strategy in nursing research. Even Paley John known for his criticism of nursing phenomenology admits that it is continually an important tool in nursing research (Paley, 2005; Barkway, 2001). Van der Zalm and Bergum (2000) contend that the fundamental orientation of phenomenology is viewed by several nurse scholars and researchers as particularly relevant for nursing. In this regard, Van der Zalm and Bergum states thus: Phenomenology's orientation to concrete experience and to persons in relationship with others (embodiment, holism, intersubjectivity, and the life-world), to beliefs and practices (contextuality and shared history), and to the intent to understand the meaning of the person's experience (self-interpretation and intentionality), holds particular appeal for the discipline of nursing, whose practice engages with people through their experiences of health and illness (Benner, 1994 quoted in Van der Zalm and Bergum, 2000 p.212) With this contention, Van der Zalm and Bergum sought to examine the implications of phenomenological research approaches for nursing knowledge and practice. By analyzing the scholarly works of previous authors (especially Carper, 1978; White, 1995), these authors propose that there are four patterns of 'knowing' that is considered relevant and important for the nursing profession. These patterns of knowing includes empirics; aesthetics; personal knowledge in nursing; and ethics, moral knowledge in nursing, while White (1995) reportedly refined these four and added a fifth - socio-political knowing. In order to extensively evaluate the utility of phenomenology research knowledge to the nursing profession and knowledge, these authors considered phenomenology in the light of these four/five patterns of knowing considered important for nursing discipline. After an extensive analysis of the relevance of phenomenology research approach to the patterns of nursing knowledge identified above, Van der Zalm and Bergum concluded that phenomenological research approaches provide the nursing discipline with empirical knowledge in the form of descriptive and explanatory theory, and a form of understanding which leads to practically relevant knowledge. Phenomenology also contributes to ethical, aesthetic, personal and socio-political 'knowing' which are other forms of knowledge crucial to the nursing discipline. They further argue that in scientific methods of enquiry, knowledge is only considered to be practical and thus useful, when it is pertinent to the situation in which one is involved. But in phenomenological sense, the case is different. Knowledge does not readily inform practice, instead, reflection on practice results in understanding - knowledge- which in turn informs better practice. It is through phenomenological inquiry that practicing nurses have the opportunity to find meaning in and understand everyday situations with patients, to discuss and communicate their understanding with others, and as a result, to change their actions or the actions of others in subsequent situations on the basis of that understanding. Phenomenology's emphasis on understanding of people in a non-reductionistic manner, and on their experience within their environment, as well as on the nurse-patient relationship, has much appeal for practicing nurses who are wishing to find meaning in their practice. In conclusion, it is evident that phenomenology, with its emphasis on the detailed description of an individual's experience, the context of the experience and the meanings derivable from the experience proffers a form of enquiry that not only meet the needs of the practicing nurse, but also provide information, knowledge and understand that improves the nursing practice and knowledge base about the society they are supposed to care for. References Barkway Patricia (2001) Michael Crotty and Nursing Phenomenology: Criticism or Critique Nursing Inquiry, 8(3):191-195 Carper B.A. (1978) Fundamental patterns of knowing in nursing, Advances in Nursing Science (1): 13-23. Embree, Lester (1997) What is Phenomenology Phenomenology Center, Retrieved online 26th Nov 2006 from http://www.phenomenologycenter.org/phenom.htm Green J.Anita and David G. Holloway (1997) Using a Phenomenological Research Technique To Examine Student Nurses' Understandings of Experiential Teaching and Learning; A Critical Review Of Methodological Issues, Journal of Advanced Nursing, 26:1013-1019. Moran, Dermot (2000) Introduction to Phenomenology, Oxford: Routledge. Maggs-Rapport Frances (2000) Combining Methodological Approaches In Research: Ethnography And Interpretive Phenomenology, Journal of Advanced Nursing, 31(1): 219-225. Paley, John (2005) Phenomenology As Rhetoric, Nursing Inquiry, 12(2): 106-116. Sanders Patricia (1982) Phenomenology: A New Way of Viewing Organizational Research, Academy of Management Review, 7(3), 353-360 Spiegelberg, Herbert (1965) The Phenomenological Movement: A Historical Introduction, The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff Van der Zalm, Jeanne and Vangie Bergum (2000) Hermeneutic-Phenomenology: Providing Living Knowledge for Nursing Practice, Journal of Advanced Nursing, 31(1), 211-218. White J. (1995) Patterns of knowing: review, critique, and update, Advances in Nursing Science (17): 73-86. Read More