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Introduction to Hermeneutic Phenomenology: A research methodology best learned by doing it

Written by:Erika Goble, PhD Candidate, University of Alberta & NorQuest CollegeYin Yin, PhD Candidate, University of Alberta

Hermeneutic phenomenology is a qualitative research methodology that arose out of and remainsclosely tied to phenomenological philosophy, a strand of continental philosophy. Althoughphenomenology’s roots can be traced back centuries, it became a distinct philosophical project inthe mid-1890s with the work of Edmund Husserl. Husserl argued that we are always already in theworld and that our only certainty is our experience of our world, thus to understand the structure ofconsciousness can serve as the f oundation for all knowledge (Husserl, 1970). Husserl’s project hasbeen extended, contested, and modified by countless philosophers, including Martin Heidegger,Maurice Merleau-Ponty, Jean-Paul Sartre, Emmanuel Lévinas, Jean-Luc Nancy, and Jean-Luc Marion,creating a vibrant and eclectic philosophical tradition. In the mid-1950s, however, thephenomenological “method” was also taken up by a group of non -philosophers in the Netherlands.

They were not interested in phenomenology as a philosophy but as a unique way to understandhuman existence (van Manen, 2014). Retrospectively, this group, comprised of pedagogues,physicians, psychiatrists, and psychologists, were called the “Utrecht School.” They were the first toadopt phenomenology as a distinct research methodology and greatly influenced contemporaryarticulations of the methodology including Max van Manen’s Phenomenology of Practice andAmadeo Giorgi’s descriptive phenomenological psychology.

The basic tenet of hermeneutic phenomenology is that our most fundamental and basic experienceof the world is already full of meaning (Merleau-Ponty, 1962/ 2006; van Manen, 2014). We areenmeshed in our world and immediately experience our world as meaningful because our world —with its other people, its histories and cultures, and its events —precedes any attempt on our part tounderstand it or explain it. The purpose of hermeneutic phenomenological research is to bring tolight and reflect upon the lived meaning of this basic experience. Researchers attempts to describephenomena as they appear in everyday life before they have been theorized, interpreted, explained,and otherwise abstracted, while knowing that any attempt to do this is always tentative, contingent,and never complete. Phenomenology as a methodology is open to nearly any human experience,such as learning online (Adams, Yin, Vargas Madriz, & Mullen, 2014), trying to lose weight (Glenn,2013), or of seeing ugliness (Goble, 2011).

While having a relatively simple objective, doing hermeneutic phenomenological research posesmany challenges. First, the object of our interest is experience before it is put into language and yet

that experience cannot be accessed other than through descriptive account. We are always “toolate” (Adams, 2014), unable to directly access the object of our interest. Second, what do we do withthe accounts once we have them? Unlike some other qualitative methodologies, hermeneuticphenomenology has not set method (van Manen, 1990/1997, 2014). While there are a range ofactivities that may be used, including as line-by-line reading, thematic analysis, and existentialanalysis (see: van Manen, 2014), none of these are guaranteed to result in a phenomenologicalreflection. The “how” must be found anew with each study (van Manen 2014), ma kingphenomenological researchers “perpetual beginners” (Merleau -Ponty, 2006). This is not to say,however, that phenomenology is not a rigorous or specific approach. Instead, it acknowledges thatno one approach is suitable to all phenomena. What is common to all phenomenological research,however, is its sensibility (Henriksson & Saevi, 2009) and a very specific kind of engagement with theworld (Merleau-Ponty, 1962/2006; van Manen, 2014). For any study to be successful, researchersmust develop a “phenomenological eye” through which they can see the uniqueness of the

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phenomenon in all of its complexity and strangeness, as well as a strong “phenomenological pen”through which they can re-evoke and illuminate the phenomenon in their text.

Learning phenomeno logy, then, becomes an issue not of “how” to do it but of developing aparticular orientation to the world. The Chinese philosopher Confucius famously wrote: “I hear and I

forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand.” This is an apt adage for learn ing hermeneuticphenomenology. As much as we might read about and study texts, we cannot truly begin tounderstand hermeneutic phenomenology until we practically engage in its activities. This involvesformulating phenomenological questions, identifying and collecting experiential material, andreflecting on concrete experiences. Through grappling with the challenges of doing phenomenology,we begin to develop a sense of what movements bring us closer to the phenomenon as it is livedthrough and which lead us astray into theory or explanation. For this reason, the most effectivephenomenological workshop and courses are laden with activities that challenge its participants tomove beyond thinking about the methodology and towards embodying it.

References:

Adams, C. (2014). What’s in a name? The experience of the other in onlineclassrooms. Phenomenology & Practice, 7 (2), 51-67.

Adams, C., Yin, Y., Vargas Madriz, F. L., Mullen, C. S. (2014). A phenomenology of learning large: thetutorial sphere of xMOOC video lectures. Distance Education, 35 (2).doi :10.1080/01587919.2014.917701

Glenn, N. (2013). Weight-ing: The Experience of Waiting on Weight Loss. Qualitative HealthResearch, 23 (2), 348-360.

Goble, E. (2011). Facing the Ugly Face. Phenomenology & Practice, 5(2), 6-19.

Henriksson, C., & Saevi, T. (2009). “An event in sound” Considerations on the ethical -aesthetic traitsof the hermeneutic phenomenological text. Phenomenology & Practice, 3 (1), 35-58.

Husserl, E. (1970). The crisis of the European sciences and transcendental phenomenology . Evanston:Northwestern University Press.

Merleau-Ponty, M. (1962, 2006). Phenomenology of perception. New York, NY: Routledge.

Van Manen, M. (1990, 2007). Researching lived experience: Human science for an action sensitive pedagogy. London, ON: Althouse Press

Van Manen, M. (2014). Phenomenology of practice: Meaning-giving methods in phenomenologicalresearch and writing. Walnut Creek, CA: Left Coast Press.

http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/01587919.2014.917701http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/01587919.2014.917701http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/01587919.2014.917701http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/01587919.2014.917701