INTRODUCTION TO THE PHENOMENOLOGICAL METHOD

Whilst the origins of phenomenology can be traced back to Kant and Hegel, Vandenberg (cited in Groenewald, 2004) regards Husserl as “the fountainhead of phenomenology in the twentieth century”. Husserl disagreed with the idea that objects in the external world exist independently, and that the information about objects is reliable. He maintained that people can be sure about how things look in, or present themselves to their consciousness (cited in Groenewald, 2004). In order to arrive at a determination, anything outside immediate experience has to be ignored, thereby reducing the external world to the contents of personal consciousness. Accordingly, realities are treated as pure ‘phenomena’ and the sole absolute data from where to begin. Husserl called his philosophical method

‘phenomenology’, the science of pure ‘phenomena’ (Eagleton, 1983, p. 55). The aim of phenomenology is eloquently captured by the slogan: ‘Back to the things themselves! ’ (Eagleton,1983, p. 56; Kruger, 1988, p. 28; Moustakas, 1994, p. 26).

Martin Heidegger, who was a student of Husserl, introduced the concept of ‘Dasein’ (being-in-the-world) and the dialogue between an individual and their world. Heidegger differed from Husserl, arguing that all concepts appear within a ‘horizon’ of conventional meaning within a shared history. Heidegger’s existential phenomenology was taken forward by amongst others Jean-Paul Satre and Maurice Merleauy-Ponty, who expanded the influence of Husserl and Heidegger (Vanderberg, cited in Groenewald, 2004).

Having explored phenomenology, the following section will outline Giorgi’s (1994) phenomenological method used in this study. It begins with the description of phenomena, then a description the reduction, followed by a description for the search of essences, and thereafter Dreyer Kruger’s method of phenomenological analysis is outlined.

Giorgi (1994) argues that the phenomenological method basically involves three interrelated steps, namely description, the reduction and the search for essences.

4.7.1 Phenomenological Method

In this study, the researcher has had to study the descriptions of phenomena as presented by the participants, and thereafter he/she has to present them precisely without adding or subtracting from what has been given. Patton labels the first step of phenomenological analysis epoche. Epoche has its origin in the Greek language and means to refrain from judgement and from the common everyday way of perceiving things. Common

“understandings, judgements, and knowings are set aside and the phenomena are revisited,

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116 visually, naïvely, in as wide-open sense, from the vantage point of a pure transcendental ego” (Moustakas, 1994, p. 33).

Through the process of epoche, the researcher attempts to remove prejudices, viewpoints or assumptions regarding the phenomenon under investigation. Accordingly, the researcher is able to approach and investigate the phenomena from a fresh and open point of view, without imposing meaning prematurely. The researcher’s setting aside of their personal view and their suspension of judgement is crucial in phenomenological investigations, because in so doing, the researcher is able to see the experience for itself or to see it as it is presented (Patton, 2001).

4.7.2 The Reduction

Description of the phenomenon occurs within the attitude of the phenomenological reduction.

This necessitates that the researcher (a) brackets or disengages from all past theories or knowledge about the phenomenon, and (b) withholds existential agreement of the phenomenon. According to Kvale (1996), phenomenological reduction does not require a total absence of presupposition, but rather a critical analysis of one’s own presuppositions.

Hence, the researcher cannot base her insights on traditional or well-established theories, be they philosophical or scientific, since s/he is concerned with the phenomenon as it presents itself (Stewart & Mickunas, 1990).

Giorgi (1994) argues that a number of researchers have difficulty with the idea of

phenomenological reduction. Frequently, researchers believe that it has to be practiced at its ideal limit (i.e. everything given to consciousness has to be reduced at once), or that once having entered the attitude, one is frozen in the neutrality state. The reduction means that one attempts to bracket all past knowledge or theories about the phenomenon being researched that might be relevant to the research question. This implies that the researcher cannot base his/her insights on traditional or well established theories, either philosophical or scientific, but has to base them immediately on insight into the phenomena themselves (Stewart & Mickunas, 1990). Within the reduction, the researcher avoids speculating, but rather looks at the research information with an attitude of relative openness. According to Van Maanen (1982, p. 16) the crucial question to be asked in qualitative research is “What is going on here?” This differs from the position of “I will speculate that X is going on and I shall attempt to prove it, or alternatively hope that it is Y that is actually occurring.”

4.7.3 Search for Essences

The third step in the phenomenological analysis is the search for essences. The search for essences entails uncovering the core meanings of phenomena. The researcher endeavours to describe the invariant characteristics of a phenomenon and their connection to one another, and that becomes the structure of the phenomenon. Kvale (1996) contends that in the investigation of essences the researcher moves from describing separate phenomena to searching for that which they have in common and which makes then what they are.

The above corresponds with what Patton terms imaginative variation. According to Patton (2002), during this step of phenomenological analysis, all aspects of the bracketed data is treated with equal value and is considered to be of equal weight. Then, the data is organized into meaningful clusters. The researcher adopts a process whereby irrelevant, repetitive or overlapping data are demarcated and eliminated. Following this, the researcher identifies the invariant themes within the data in order to carry out an “imaginative variation” on each theme. Through imaginative variation, the researcher develops better or increased versions of the invariant themes.

The researcher uses these better and increased versions of the invariant themes to address the textural portrayal of each them. Patton (2002, p. 486) argues that the textural portrayal is an “abstraction of the experience that provides content and illustration, but not yet essence”.

4.7.4 Application of the Phenomenological Analysis 4.7.4.1 The Phenomenological Method According to Kruger

Patton (2002) argues that finding a way to creatively synthesize and present findings is one of the challenges of qualitative analysis. When a number of cases have to be compared, an inductive approach begins by constructing individual cases without categorizing or

classifying them. As such, each case is a text, and each text is explored to find ‘fundamental’

or identified ‘themes’. These subsequently merged, and several themes or core elements across the cases were identified.

In accordance with this inductive methodology, Kruger (1979) identified the six steps or sub-phases, which he used in the application of the method. These steps or sub-phases are not viewed as operating independently, and may overlap with one another. The following sub-phases were used in the analysis of the data in this study.

118 4.7.4.2. An Intuitive Holistic Grasp of the Research Information

In the initial reading of the protocols, the researcher should bracket her own preconceptions and judgement, to the extent that she is able to, so as to remain faithful to the research information. Pursuant to having achieved a holistic sense of the research information, the protocols are reread as many times as is necessary, in order to assist the researcher in retaining a sense of wholeness of the research information; despite its breakdown in the subsequent phases.

4.7.4.3 Spontaneous emergence of Natural Meaning Units (NMUs)

The function of this phase is to articulate the central themes of each protocol. During this phase, the research information is broken down into naturally occurring units, each passing on a particular meaning which has emerged spontaneously from the research information.

This unit, which is called a Natural Meaning Unit (NMU), may be defined as a statement made by the subject, which is self-definable and self-limiting in the expression of a single, recognized aspect of the subject’s experience.

The intention conveyed by each NMU is then expressed in a reduced form as succinctly and precisely as possible. It is preferable for the subject’s own terminology and phraseology to be adhered to wherever possible. Notwithstanding, the researcher may articulate the central themes (reductions of NMUs) in words other than those used by the subjects, in order to unambiguously express the intended meaning.

4.7.4.4 Constituent Profile Description

After listing all the reductions of the central themes of each protocol, the researcher then eliminates those units which are repeated or which convey the same intention of meaning, as well as irrelevant units that are not concerned with the experience being investigated. The remaining statements are considered tentatively to be non-repetitive, and relevant

descriptive statements concerning the experience and are termed the First Order Profile.

Thereafter, the First Order Profile is converted to a Constituent Profile Description, which can be briefly described as a compacted summary of the original research information containing the essence of what the participant expressed.

4.7.4.5 Second Order Profile

The second order profile is a consequence of the repetition of phases one through three, but carried out on the Constituent Profile Description. The elements emerging from this

procedure are listed and numbered. This final elimination procedure performed on the

constituent description aims at eliminating any redundant constituents and, as stated, is termed the Second Order Profile.

The afore-mentioned phases as outlined were repeated for all respondents.

4.7.4.6 Hierarchical Categorization

Subsequent to having repeated the aforementioned four phases for all the respondents, the researcher gathers those descriptive statements with similar – though not identical – meanings into clusters termed categories. Any category may contain elements from only one subject or from perhaps all the subjects. These categories, or key themes, are then arranged in a hierarchical fashion to set in motion the next phase.

4.7.4.7 Extended Description

By using the first few clusters of categories, the researcher writes an extended description of what these categories tell her about the overall question being investigated. Thereafter, she adds to this description the next category in the hierarchy, and so either extends or modifies it in light of the new information in the additional category.

This procedure is repeated, until further addition of categories is made superfluous, since the essence of the research information is already contained in the extended description.

Then, the researcher carefully and systematically checks the remaining categories, making sure that they are compatible with the extended description. The thematic elements, which are contained in the categories and which are not compatible, are described, and where possible, the researcher shows that these elements are only apparently compatible.

The extended description puts forward a condensed understanding of the essential or invariant meanings of the phenomenon. This final description of the phenomenon, now separated from the individual experience, makes the commonalities of human experience clear.

4.8 CONCLUSION

In this chapter, the research design and method was discussed. Fundamental terminology such as phenomenological analysis and qualitative data analysis and interpretation was discussed. Subjects such as sampling, method of data collection, and data analysis that were applied in this study were explicated in order to find the essential aspects of the fours fathers’ experiences which will be discussed in the following chapter.

120 CHAPTER 5