Fundamentals of Qualitative Phenomenological Nursing Research. Brigitte S. Cypress

Fundamentals of Qualitative Phenomenological Nursing Research - Brigitte S. Cypress


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non‐stop reading and learning; meeting with experts; networking with philosophers, phenomenologists, scholars, and researchers of qualitative research; presenting multiple times in conferences around the world; teaching and mentoring undergraduate and graduate students about research; being in dissertation committees of my PhD students; how I grew and flourished in this field and expertise – to become today a phenomenologist, qualitative researcher, scholar, and professor. I have been trained and I prepared well to write this book. Eleven years of phenomenological research: conducting inquiries, writing and applying for grants, writing and publishing consistently through the years – which is not so easy to do, and also not for everyone. The experience has been tedious, intense at times, but rewarding as well, and it becomes part of one's life. Philosophy and phenomenology are what I am passionate about.

      I have seen firsthand the “agony” and difficulty of my doctoral students through the years of being in dissertation committees, and have witnessed the work of novice qualitative researchers. As a reviewer of journals for many years, I have also seen the variations, bewilderment, and confusion with qualitative methodology and methods, especially phenomenology. I continuously see it still. It inspired me to write this book. I intend that the text will be a one‐stop resource that can be used by those planning to embark on a qualitative phenomenological study. By all means, this book is not perfect nor an exhaustive reference, but rather a simple, straightforward, and honest guide for new phenomenological researchers and experts alike. Aside from research methods per se, I include topics about the use of data analysis software, phenomenological writing and publishing (including practical tips and recommendations regarding the challenges and dilemmas in conducting phenomenological research), and effective mentoring relationships. What is unique to this book is the articulation and discussion of the outcomes of phenomenological qualitative research: linking findings to evidence‐based practice, policy, theory, and theory development, all in one resource that includes actual exemplars.

      As I reflect back on how I did my first research, it does impact what I know now. The biggest flaw I continuously see in phenomenological studies is the confusion between phenomenology‐as‐philosophy (PP) and phenomenology‐as‐qualitative research (PQR). No one has discussed these two terms more eloquently than John Paley, a colleague at my group – the International Philosophy of Nursing Society (IPONS). He stated these two terms and acronyms in his 2018 book, Phenomenology as Qualitative Research: A Critical Analysis of Meaning Attribution, as he rigorously analyzed the methodological aspect of research studies in the literature using the approaches of experts and PQR methodologists like Amedeo Giorgi, Max van Manen, Jonathan Smith, Paul Flowers, and Michael Larkin. A lot of phenomenological inquiries I have read in the literature are labeled as “phenomenological” but on closer attention to the methods prove to be short of what a correct phenomenological study should be. When I say “methods,” I am referring to the philosophical stance, paradigmatic underpinnings, and approach that are evident in the application of methods of data collection, phenomenological reduction, analysis, and rigor. The debate about PP versus PQR continues to this day. More so, the criticisms by other disciplines of the nursing discipline's “faulty” use of phenomenology as a research method seem to be never‐ending and are still evident.

      The other big aspects of phenomenological research that are many times put into question are the never‐ending issues with rigor and the techniques of sampling, bracketing, and data saturation. My work on these aspects continues. All these steps/techniques, the biggest question on phenomenology‐as‐research, and how to conduct the research correctly – I cannot blame students and novices for stumbling at these hurdles. They are the hardest topics for me to write about in this book. One significant contributing factor is the lack of knowledge of philosophy, because philosophy is not taught, or is not included in the undergraduate and graduate (master's level) curriculum, at most nursing schools. Even at the doctorate level, there is only one philosophy course – which is labeled differently in every school (philosophy of science, philosophies of education, philosophical and theory perspectives in nursing, and many others), and taught in varied ways. One philosophy course at the doctorate level is not sufficient to equip a neophyte researcher for a qualitative phenomenological study. I only learned all the details after being exposed to my philosophy colleagues, co‐phenomenologists, and other scholars from different parts of the world. Eleven years of networking, countless discussions and consultations, presenting in conferences, being critiqued and learning from and with colleagues in seminars, including endless and continuous reading of philosophical texts – all that to reach what I know now. I am still continuously learning, and I don't intend to stop.


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