Brigitte S. Cypress - Fundamentals of Qualitative Phenomenological Nursing Research

Brigitte S. Cypress

Rutgers University School of Nursing Camden, New Jersey, USA

I would like to sincerely thank Wiley for publishing this book.

I gratefully acknowledge permission from Sage, Taylor and Francis, Springer, BMJ Publishing Group, and Wiley for the following sources:

1 Alexander, R.K., Diefenbeck, C.A., and Brown, C.B. (2015). Career choice and longevity in U.S. psychiatric–mental health nurses. Issues in Mental Health Nursing 36 (6): 447–454.

2 Creswell, J.W. and Poth, C.N. (2017). Qualitative Inquiry & Research Design: Choosing Among Five Approaches, 4e. Sage Publications.

3 Elliott, R.A, Lee, C.Y., Beanland, C. et al. (2017). Development of a clinical pharmacy model within an Australian home nursing service using co‐creation and participatory action research: the Visiting Pharmacist (ViP) study. BMJ Open 7: e018722, 1–10.

4 Giorgi, A. (2008). Concerning a serious misunderstanding of the essence of the phenomenological method in psychology. Journal of Phenomenological Psychology 39: 33–58.

5 Patton, M.Q. (2014). Qualitative Research and Methods: Integrating Theory and Practice, 4e. Sage Publications.

6 Silverman, D. (2005). Doing Qualitative Research, 2e. Sage Publications.

7 St. John, W. and Johnson, P. (2000). The pros and cons of data analysis software for qualitative research. Journal of Nursing Scholarship 32 (4): 393–394.

8 Tolman, D., Hirschman, C., and Impett, E.A. (2005). There is more to the story: the place of qualitative research on female adolescent sexuality in policy making. Sexuality Research and Social Policy: Journal of NSRC 2 (4): 4–17.

9 Whittemore, R., Chase, S.K., and Mandle, C.L. (2001). Validity in qualitative research. Qualitative Health Research 11 (2): 117–132.

Thank you to Dr. Max van Manen for the great ideas in his two books:

1 Van Manen, M. (2014). Phenomenology of Practice: Meaning‐Giving Methods in Phenomenological Research and Writing. Left Coast Press.

2 Van Manen, M. (1990). Researching Lived Experience: Human Science for an Action Sensitive Pedagogy. State University Press.

I am grateful to Dr. Janice Morse for her qualitative books:

1 Morse, J. (2012). Qualitative Health Research: Creating a New Discipline. Left Coast Press.

2 Morse, J. (2012). Qualitative Health Research: Creating a New Discipline, 1e. Routledge.

3 Morse, J., Swanson, J.J., and Kuzel, A.J. (2001). The Nature of Qualitative Evidence. Sage Publications.

4 Morse, J. (1997). Completing a Qualitative Project: Details and Dialogue. Sage Publications.

5 Morse, J. and Field, P.A. (1995). Qualitative Research Methods for Health Professionals, 2e. Sage Publications.

6 Morse, J. (1994). Critical Issues in Qualitative Research Methods. Sage Publications.

7 Morse, J. (1991). Qualitative Nursing Research: A Contemporary Dialogue. Sage Publications.

My sincere gratitude to Dr. Kathleen Ahern Gould for her ideas and suggestions on topics to write and present to our journal audience. The qualitative research methodological article series I wrote for DCCN inspired me to write this book. Thank you also for writing Chapter 7on Publishing Qualitative Phenomenological Research Findings. I am thankful to Dr. Vickie Miracle. I published my first article in that same journal when she was the chief editor. I learned a lot, and honed my writing skills through the years working with both of them. Coincidentally, Wiley (which publishes DCCN ) accepted my book proposal when I submitted it. I think this is meant to be – that I continue to be working with this great group of experts, and this publishing company.

My heartfelt thanks to Dr. Keville Frederickson and Dr. Donna Nickitas for their mentorship, guidance, support, and friendship through the years. You have always been there for me.

Thank you to Dr. Meriam Caboral‐Stevens for the views and thoughts we share, and for your friendship.

The ideas for this text I have pondered, presented, and discussed with colleagues and friends from the International Coalition of North American Phenomenologists (ICNAP), the International Philosophy of Nursing Society (IPONS), and the International Human Science Research Conference (IHSRC) group over the years. I am indebted to all of you who listened, questioned, argued, and gave suggestions for my work. I learned a lot from you all.

To all my research students, for whom I have learned so much – my reason for writing this book is YOU!

What is this textbook designed to do? As a whole, there are very few phenomenological nursing research textbooks published that are singly authored and offer a one‐stop holistic resource for novice researchers, graduate students, and experts alike. This text aims not only to guide qualitative phenomenological researchers on the selection of appropriate methods and techniques (as many books in the literature already do) but also to provide detailed discussions about rigor and the philosophical, paradigmatic, and conceptual aspects of phenomenological research, with full exemplars in each case drawn from my own studies. It also includes practical tips on the use of data analysis software, writing, publishing, the importance of mentoring relationships, and the challenges and dilemmas facing new researchers when they conduct a phenomenological inquiry. This will be the first qualitative book that presents the outcomes of qualitative research and specifically links them to evidence‐based practice, policy, theory, and theory development – all in one resource.

I started by sharing in the Preface my lived experience of conducting my first phenomenological study, looking back to how I continuously learned and grew through the years using this qualitative research methodology, how it impacted what I know now, and how I applied the knowledge I gained moving forward.

This book is divided into six parts. Part I first describes qualitative research as a whole, and then more specifically examines the philosophical, paradigmatic, and conceptual underpinnings of phenomenological inquiry. Part II looks at the methods of phenomenological data collection, reduction, analysis, interpretation, and presentation. Part III focuses on enhancing rigor and validity in phenomenological studies. Part IV provides a description of phenomenological writing, reporting, and publishing. Part V is about the practical aspects of phenomenological investigations. Finally, Part VI deals with phenomenological outcomes and applications in evidence‐based practice, policy, theory, and theory development.

Chapter 1 presents a snapshot of what qualitative research is and what its components are, before delving into the specifics of phenomenological philosophy and methodology.

Chapter 2 discusses methods appropriate for conducting a qualitative phenomenological research study that evolves from philosophical, paradigmatic, inductive, and conceptual perspectives. It includes a discussion of the philosophers Edmund Husserl, Martin Heidegger, and Maurice Merleau‐Ponty, and offers phenomenological studies applying the methods of Merleau‐Ponty, Giorgi, and van Manen as exemplars.

Chapter 3 discusses ethical issues, means and methods for collecting, recording, and securely storing data, approaches to data analysis, the organization, reading, and coding of themes, and the representation and interpretation of data. It looks at potential unanticipated issues in each of these areas, and offers appropriate solutions.

Chapter 4 examines the role of computer‐assisted qualitative data analysis software, focusing on the methodological issues surrounding program use. It offers a brief review of two very common and widely used qualitative data analysis software packages.