Session Content
Preliminary Reading
NITTA, Keith A., HOLLEY, Marc J. & WROBEL, Sharon L. (2010). ‘A phenomenological study of rural school consolidation.’ Journal of Research in Rural Education. 25(2). 1-19. Retrieved from http://jrre.psu. edu/articles/25-2.pdf. Review Article.
CRESWELL, J. (2012). Qualitative Inquiry and Research Design: choosing among five approaches. Third Edition. Thousand Oaks. Sage. Sections on phenomenology and Appendix C.
The aim of phenomenological research is to attempt to understand what it is like to experience a phenomenon, to get at the essential nature of the experience. In the case presented in the review article, the researchers are trying to get at the essential nature of the experience of school consolidation—where two schools are combined to form one school. In phenomenological research the researcher aims to set aside—to ‘bracket’—their own experiences in order to allow the subjects experiences to be heard. Data is gathered to gather accounts of experiences relating to the phenomenon of interest—the experience of school consolidation—and of the contexts influencing these experiences. Methods will generally include in-depth interviews, but observation and other methods of data collection may also be recruited. The data is scrutinised for significant statements and clusters of meaning, a textural description is produced describing what the subjects experienced and a structural description describing the influencing context is also produced. Finally, a composite description is constructed which purports to describe the essence of the phenomenon. Because resources are always limited, there is a trade-off between the number of subjects who can be interviewed or the range of observations that can be carried out and the depth or richness of the data that can be collected. Phenomenological research is generally aiming at very rich data and so sample sizes are often small. As is generally the case with qualitative research, there is no intention to generalise to a wider population, nevertheless, the choice of sampling strategies is relevant to the argument and claims that are being made in a particular piece of research and a scrutiny of these is an important element of a critical review. Although this is qualitative research, the numerical data in the research reported in the review article is important to the extent that the size of a community has a bearing on the experience of being a member of that community.
Observation Activity for Next Session
In preparing for this observation task, you should identify a site to which you can have access as a non-participant or as a participant observer. Ideally, this should be an obviously public site (such as a park, but probably not a children’s playground, unless you’re there as a parent accompanying a child) or one over which you have legitimate authority (such as part of your domestic space) and not a site where you might reasonably be expected to ask permission to observe and record. A televised scene might be a possibility, but you would need to take into account the editing strategies of the broadcaster. You also need to think of a particular focus for the observation. You might, for example, look at the gendering of the space and of movement within it or the ways in which participants in the space move around it or relate to each other. It is often a good idea to use a camera where this will not be too intrusive but, other than that, it is not suggested that you make video or audio recordings of the site. Rather, you should make handwritten field notes, including sketches, where relevant. First make a plan of the site, possibly using photography. Divide your journal page into two vertical columns. In the left hand column you should write a chronicle of events; on the right you should write your emerging interpretations and speculations. The intention is that this should be a qualitative study and not simply a counting exercise.
Key Methodological Terms from the Preliminary Reading
anonymity
composite description
exploratory study
in-depth interview
participant
phenomenological approach
population
purposive sample
structural description
textural description