When doing research, you can use different approaches. The phenomenological method stands out as one of the most used, as it aims to understand the essence of a phenomenon.
Each research approach is based on a philosophical current. The phenomenological method, for example, is related to phenomenology. He opposes the deductive method and the inductive method.
What is phenomenological method?
Phenomenology, as the name implies, is the study of phenomena, that is, everything that happens or can be perceived . The concept was first presented by the German philosopher Edmund Husserl in the 20th century.
To elaborate his analyses, Husserl was based on the philosopher Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, who, in turn, carried out research on the science of consciousness.
Husserl carried out a critique of positivist science, of the objective reason that prevailed among scholars of his time. He believed that a new method had to be built for the phenomenological perspective to exist.
For Husserl, it is no longer possible to rely only on the uncertainties of induction. In line with Descartes, the philosopher seeks to base the sciences on an apodictic truth – whose premises cannot be refuted.
In other words, phenomenology can be understood as “that which is shown by the senses”. Therefore, consciousness manifests itself as an intentional act. Phenomena are experienced by an active subject .
The phenomenological method criticizes positivism, therefore, it leaves aside the assumptions and “preconceptions” of things, popularly known as “common sense”. The intention is to get rid of any inferences to free the mind and observe the experiments.
There are other authors who study Phenomenology and bring a more humanist perspective, that is, totally focused on the human experience. All, however, use Edmund Husserl’s perspective as a basis.
Features of Phenomenological Method
- The object of study is how the subject perceives;
- does not treat the phenomenon in isolation;
- seeks to understand reality in their own experience;
- there is no interference from any observation rule;
- absence of assumptions;
- rigor that avoids data reduction as much as possible;
- seeks to understand and not explain;
- talks about experience with things.
How to apply the phenomenological method in research?
If you are going to carry out qualitative research , perhaps the phenomenological method is a good choice for your study. And to understand the essence of the studied object, apply the phenomenological reduction technique advocated by Husserl.
Step 1: Create a phenomenological question
The methodological question is the problem that drives the entire investigation and is directly linked to the research topic. See some techniques that help define a guiding question .
Step 2: Select the sample
The selection of participants needs to make sense for the overall purpose of the research. Define the profile of the sample and find people who fit this profile.
Step 3: Plan the activity
At this stage, it is necessary to plan the activity responsible for involving the subjects and creating a context. The researcher must create a script to avoid making mistakes during the application and obtain the necessary authorizations to carry out an activity with the sample.
Step 1: Enclose the world in parentheses
The purpose of the reduction is to search the phenomenon, that is, to carry out an “epoché”. This means that the researcher needs to suspend his prejudices, so that his subconscious will not interfere with the analyses.
Imagine that the epoché process is to remove the lenses from the eyes (prejudices, theories and anticipated definitions of things) to understand the essence of the studied phenomenon. There is no prior theoretical reference survey , as with other approaches.
To understand the essence in its entirety, it is necessary to subject the object to different perspectives.
Step 2: Collect the data
Qualitatively, the phenomenological method investigates the essence of a phenomenon in search of significant results. The most used techniques for data collection are:
- interviews
- Document analysis
- Observation
Regardless of the technique chosen, the researcher cannot influence the decision-making of the analyzed subjects.
Step 3: Analyze the data obtained
Remove all naive or repetitive speeches from study participants. What remains are the significant units – parts of the discourses that are of interest to the research. Use these excerpts as citations in research and interpret. Compression is born from various readings and reflections.
The analysis can identify similarities and differences in the experiences lived by each subject during the studied phenomenon. At what moment do the discourses approach and at what moment do the discourses move away? Answer this question and you will have an analysis of the data obtained.
To show the results more clearly in the report, remember to use tables , charts and graphs . In addition, choose authors of relevance in the area of expertise to base your analysis.
Application examples of Phenomenological Method
Example 1: Coffee
A survey sought to understand all the science behind the preparation of good coffee: the bean species, where it was planted, how it was harvested, which type of roasting and what water temperature. The phenomenological method was also applied in the study, from the moment the perception of each person who tasted the coffee was analyzed. Thus, it is possible to notice that phenomenology studies the experience that science does not talk about.
Example 2: Pandemic
The COVID-19 virus spreads when people cough, sneeze, talk, sing or breathe without wearing a mask. So far, the phenomenon has been presented from a scientific perspective. If the study wants to do a phenomenology of the pandemic, it should not say what it is, but how this phenomenon occurs for each group of people or for each person analyzed in particular.
Example 3: Colors
A researcher decided to investigate the interdisciplinarity of colors, so he organized a workshop. He asked people in a group to write what the primary, secondary and tertiary colors were. In addition, he asked each study participant to make a chromatic circle. During the activity, internet searches and parallel conversations were prohibited.
After the experiment, the researcher observed the participants’ behavior and noticed that they felt uncomfortable for not knowing something that seemed simple (observation). In addition, he also carried out the analysis of the chromatic circles that were produced during the activity (document analysis).
Finally, to complement the information written in the observation report, the researcher spoke with some participants in the activity (interview).
