Engaging Phenomenological Analysis

Phenomenologists seeking to explicate “lived experience” need above all to do justice to the phenomenon under study; research methods need to be responsive to the phenomenon, towards capturing something of its “is-ness.” This article aims to clarify some processes involved in doing phenomenological analysis, whatever the variant of phenomenology. A phenomenological sensibility is suggested rather than offering cookbook guidelines. Four key processes are identified: seeing afresh, dwelling, explicating, and languaging. Specific examples of research and writing are provided, with special attention to the principal phenomenological sources used in psychology: the “descriptive phenomenology” of Giorgi and Wertz, van Manen’s “hermeneutic phenomenology,” and Smith et al.’s “Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis.” The article ends with my personal top ten tips for novice researchers.