Phenomenology &

Interpretative Phenomenology
OLEH:
DR. ANUGRIATY INDAH ASMARANY
 Background
• Phenomenology is a philosphy initiated by
Enmund Husserl
• Phenomenological research instructs us to allow
the phenomenon to reveal itself in its fullness. 
• You "look" at it from all perspectives, using all
your senses, even attending to your thoughts and
feelings. 
• Phenomenologists say that phenomena are
apodictic, which means the "speak for
themselves"  --  which means in turn that we
should be prepared to listen!
• We do this by
(1) understanding intentionality and
(2) practicing bracketing.
 INTENTIONALITY

•   In phenomenology, we say "all

consciousness is consciousness of.... 
• Don Ihde explains:  "Every experiencing
has its reference or direction toward what is
experienced and, contrarily, every
experienced phenomenon refers to or
reflects a mode of experiencing to which it
is present." (1986, pp. 42-43.)
• All experiences have both an objective and a
subjective component, and so understanding a
phenomenon means understanding both. 
• The objective "pole" of a phenomenon is called
the intended object or noema (plural:  noemata,
adjective: noematic)  and the subjective "pole" of
a phenomenon is called the intending act or noesis
(plural: noeses, adjective: noetic):
Basic Phenomenological concept
• Intending acts might include seeing, hearing,
feeling, thinking, judging
• intended objects the sights seen, the words heard,
the feeling felt, the thoughts thought, the ideas
judged, and so on.  Note that intended objects
include not only objects in the traditional sense,
but also such slippery little devils as feelings,
thoughts, and ideas!
•        
• More practically, intentionality means being
open to all aspects of the phenomenon, not
leaving out what belongs.  Spiegelberg said
"The genuine will to know calls for the
spirit of generosity rather than for that of
economy...." (1965, p. 657.)
 BRACKETING
• Bracketing, also called phenomenological
reduction or the epoché, is the other side of
the coin.  Bracketing means setting aside all
our usual, "natural" assumptions about the
phenomena. 
• You can't hear it if you are loudly telling it
what it is!
• Practically speaking, this means we must put aside
our biases, prejudices, theories, philosophies,
religions, even common sense, and accept the
phenomenon for what it is. 
• If therapists brought all their prejudices into the
therapy situation with them, they would never be
able to understand their clients in all their
frustrating uniqueness. 
• The same is true for any phenomenon.
• So bracketing ultimately means a
suspension of belief in the existence or non-
existence of the phenomenon: 
• We must not be concerned with
explanations of what the phenomenon
"really" might be.
Phenomenological Psychological
Research
• Aims: to clarify situations lived through by person
in everyday life
• Phenomenology aims to remain as faithful as
possible to the phenomenon and to the context in
which it appears in the world.
• A situation is sought in which individuals have
first hand experiences that they can describe as
they actually took place in their life
• Attemps to discern the psychological esence
of the phenomenon psychological
meaning that constitute the phenomenon.
• Example of instruction to participants:
“Please describe for me a situation in which you
failed to learn.”
“Please describe for me a situation in which you
learned.”
• TITLE: ‘Getting on with life’: The
experiences of older people using
complementary health care

AUTHOR: Tina Cartwright

– University of Westminster, London, UK
– Available online 31 January 2007
 Abstract
• The aim of the current qualitative study is to
explore the experiences of older people using
subsidised complementary health care.
• Semi-structured interviews were conducted with
17 regular attendees of a single centre offering low
cost complementary health care to the over-60’s in
London, UK.
• The sample was randomly drawn from the patient
register and included patients from mixed social
and ethnic backgrounds. Transcripts were
analysed using interpretative phenomenological
analysis (IPA).
• The core theme underlying participants’ accounts
related to the desire to ‘get on with life’ and
maintain physical and social functioning within
the constraints imposed by chronic conditions.
• Consequently, the physiological effects of
treatment were highly valued, particularly
reductions in pain and improved mobility.
Psychological effects operated at a more subtle
level, influencing perceptions of health and well-
being. The empowering nature of treatment
enabled participants to regain a sense of control
over their health, which reduced anxiety and
facilitated ‘normal’ functioning.
• The whole package care was perceived as an important
• source of support and reassurance in contrast to the impersonal
experiences of orthodox medicine. Complementary health
• care was therefore perceived as an important adjunct to orthodox
medicine, particularly in terms of its impact on everyday
• functioning and well-being. Implications for the quality of life of older
people with complex health needs and limited access
• to private complementary health care are discussed.
• r 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
• Keywords: Uk; Older people; Complementary medicine; Quality of
life
 ARTICLE
• TITLE: In Their Own Words: Seven Advanced
Cancer Patients Describe Their Experience with
Pain and the Use of Opioid Drugs

• AUTHORS: Nessa Coyle, PhD, NP, FAAN

• Journal of Pain and Symptom Management Vol.

27 No. 4 April 2004
 Abstract
• Seven individuals living with advanced cancer,
had at least once expressed a desire for hastened
death, describe how both pain and the use of
opioid drugs affected their quality of life.
• Their description is part of a broader
phenomenological inquiry on the experience of
living with advanced cancer and how that
experience affected attitudes towards life and
death.
• Serial, “in-depth semi-structured” interviews were
conducted (mean 3 interviews/patient).
• Themes that emerged in relation to pain and
opioid use reflect struggle—with self, with God,
and with desire to live and/or readiness to die.
• Recognizing the appraisal process that patients
undertake regarding the cost/benefit of reporting
pain and accepting opioids, as well as the impact
on severe pain on desire for death, from the
patients’ own word, gives a framework for the
clinician to intervene.
 Method
• Phenomenology (from the Greek, phenomenon,
which means to show itself) was the
methodological basis for this qualitative study.
• This approach is one of discovery and description,
and emphasizes meaning and understanding in the
study of the lived experience of individuals.
• Phenomenology aims to translate personal lived
experience into consensually validated social
knowledge.
• phenomenological research requires active
involvement from the researcher, the study
participants, and the audience who
eventually read and evaluate the research
report.
• Reinharz (pp. 77–79) has outlined specific
steps to explain this process. These include:
– self-revelation by the study participant;
– listening, interpreting, and production of a
coherent and meaningful written account of the
phenomenon by the researcher;
– and creation of a personal understanding by the
reader of the final report.
• A good phenomenological description is
“something that we can nod to, recognizing
it as an experience that we have had or
could have had” (van Manen,27 p. 18).
 Analysis
• For the initial content analysis of the data, each
line of the text was the unit of analysis.
• The researcher coded for meaning clustered codes
into conceptual categories, and identified the need
for further data collection for clarification or
expansion of categories.
• At the completion of the formal data collection the
steps taken for data analysis
• This report explores the conceptual categories
related to pain and opioid use.
 Analysis
• The entire set of interviews was examined as a
whole to get an overall understanding of the text.
• The text of each interview, and then all interviews
of each participant were summarized (narrative
summary/ individual portraits).
• Themes were identified from the codes. Excerpts
from the interviews were organized to support
interpretations resulting in thematic consensus.
• A second person reviewed the coding and themes.
Where necessary clarification was achieved
through data review and discussion.
• Meta-themes that cut across all participants and
overarching themes that cut across all meta-
themes were identified as supported from the data.
• An interpretive narrative using the identified
metathemes and overarching themes was written.
Sufficient data were organized to support the
interpretive analysis and allow for validation of
the findings by the reader.
THE ESSENCE OF DISGUST
In the last exercise, we started going beyond the
individual, unique phenomenon, and  looked for
essences.   Essences refer to patterns, structures,
invariant features..., what is necessary rather than
merely incidental to the phenomena..., what, in
some "class" of phenomena, is essential to the
class, makes them what they are, causes us to
think of them as belonging together.  We were
trying to describe anger, not just some individual
examples of anger.