Introducing phenomenological research

By Linda Finlay

Phenomenology is an umbrella term encompassing both a philosophical movement and a range of research approaches. The phenomenological movement was initiated by Husserl (1936/1970) as a radically new way of doing philosophy. Later theorists, such as Heidegger (1927/1962), have recast the phenomenological project, moving away from a philosophical discipline which focuses on consciousness and essences of phenomena towards elaborating existential and hermeneutic (interpretive) dimensions.

This paper outlines ways phenomenological philosophy is applied to research covering the following in turn:

* Foundational concepts for research
* Variants of phenomenology
* Gathering and analysing phenomenological data
* Evaluating the quality of phenomenological research

http://www.lindafinlay.co.uk/An%20introduction%20to%20phenomenology%202008.doc.