Qual Data Analysis & Phenomenology

by Janet Salmons, PhD, Research Community Manager for SAGE Methodspace

Qualitative data analysis varies by methodology. This post introduces approaches for phenomenological studies and offers a collection of open access articles.

Phenomenology is the reflective study of lived experience... it is the study of the lifeworld as we immediately experience it, rather than as we conceptualize, theorize, categorize, or reflect on it (van Manen, 2008). Houston (2022) observes:

At its simplest, a phenomenological social science privileges study of the ‘world’ – situations, events, living beings, places, objects, ideas, etc. – as it is experienced. Presented like this, three interrelated building blocks emerge: the world; an experience of it; and the experiencing self. Phenomenological social science, then, always involves investigation of these three themes and of relations between them.

Key principles that underpin phenomenological research include:

The research is focused on exploring the phenomenon through the experiences and/or perceptions of the participant.
Researchers have an intense interpretative engagement with descriptions provided by each participant and with the corpus of descriptions from all the participants.

There are several schools of thought about phenomenological research, one of which is interpretive phenomenological analysis (IPA). This excerpt from This summary outlines six steps used in IPA studies (Beck, 2021, Smith, Flowers., & Larkin, 2009).

Step 1. Reading and rereading
Researchers immerse themselves in the data, reading and reading again transcripts from each participant’s interviews or other narrative expression, such as diaries or written materials.
Step 2. Initial noting
This is the most detailed and time-consuming step. In researchers’ notes, three types of comments can be made.
- Descriptive comments focus on the content of what the participant shared regarding the phenomenon being studied.
- Linguistic comments specifically explore the participant’s use of language.
- Conceptual comments concentrate on the researcher’s understanding of the source at a more interpretive level.
Step 3. Developing emergent themes
Researchers review comments to determine emergent themes. Researchers concentrate write concise statements regarding each theme.
Step 4. Searching for connections across emergent themes
At the start of this step, researchers have a set of emergent themes within each transcript or narrative source. Now the researcher looks for connections between the themes and looks for ways to fit the themes together. Smith et al. (2009) suggested six ways researchers can look for patterns and connections among emergent themes.
- Abstraction involves clustering like with like in a “superordinate” theme and giving it a new name.
- Subsumption occurs when an emergent theme itself is considered a superordinate theme as it assists in clustering a series of related themes.
- Polarization includes exploring for oppositional relationships among emergent themes. Here differences, and not similarities, are examined.
- Contextualization requires the researchers to look for connections among emergent themes by identifying the contextual elements, such as temporal or cultural themes.
- Numeration consists of making a frequency count regarding how often the emergent theme is supported.
- Function involves the researchers examining the emergent themes for their particular function within the transcript.
Step 5. Moving to the next case
Now the researchers move on to the next participant’s transcript or narrative and repeat the process. Smith et al. (2009) emphasized that researchers need to allow new themes to emerge with each subsequent narrative.
Step 6. Looking for patterns across cases
Researchers determine how one theme from one narrative aids in illuminating themes in a different narrative. Sometimes this will involve renaming themes or reconfiguring them. At this stage, the analysis reaches a more theoretical level as the researchers now explain that themes or superordinate themes are specific to individual narratives but also represent higher order concepts which narratives share. Smith and colleagues (2009) offered a number of ways the result of this analysis can be presented. A graphic, for instance, can be designed that shows the connections of the themes for the entire group. A table of themes for the entire group of narratives can be constructed illustrating how themes are nested within superordinate themes.

Beck, C. (2021). Jonathan Smith’s interpretive phenomenological analysis. (Vols. 1-0). Sage Publishing, https://doi.org/10.4135/9781071909669

Houston, C. (2022). Why social scientists still need phenomenology. Thesis Eleven, 168(1), 37–54. https://doi.org/10.1177/07255136211064326

Smith, J. A., Flowers, P., & Larkin, M. (2009). Interpretive phenomenological analysis. Los Angeles, CA: Sage Publishing.
Manen, M. v. (2008). Phenomenology. In L. Given (Ed.), The SAGE Encyclopedia of Qualitative Research Methods. Thousand Oaks, California.

This collection of open access articles offers diverse perspectives on data analysis in various schools of phenomenological research.

Gilstrap, D. L. (2007). Phenomenological Reduction and Emergent Design: Complementary Methods for Leadership Narrative Interpretation and Metanarrative Development. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 6(1), 95-113. doi:10.1177/160940690700600107

Abstract. The author's intent in this paper is to discuss new methods for conducting research on and connecting the works of chaos and complexity theorists with interpretive, hermeneutical, and phenomenological theorists as a multiple-method mode of inquiry. He proposes a methodological design that incorporates a recursive process of phenomenological reduction to find connectedness and generate shared meanings among the research performed by leadership theorists. He also provides an emergent metanarrative method for presenting research results, using a complexity-based, interpretive framework.

Groenewald, T. (2004). A Phenomenological Research Design Illustrated. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 3(1), 42-55.doi:10.1177/160940690400300104

Abstract. This article distills the core principles of a phenomenological research design and, by means of a specific study, illustrates the phenomenological methodology. After a brief overview of the developments of phenomenology, the research paradigm of the specific study follows. Thereafter the location of the data, the data-gathering the data-storage methods are explained. Unstructured in-depth phenomenological interviews supplemented by memoing, essays by participants, a focus group discussion and field notes were used. The data explicitation, by means of a simplified version of Hycner's (1999) process, is further explained. The article finally contains commentary about the validity and truthfulness measures, as well as a synopsis of the findings of the study.

Honer, A., & Hitzler, R. (2015). Life-World-Analytical Ethnography: A Phenomenology-Based Research Approach. Journal of Contemporary Ethnography, 44(5), 544–562. https://doi.org/10.1177/0891241615588589

Abstract. Life-world-analytical ethnography aims to investigate the subjective perspective—the life-worlds—of other people. Life-world-analytical ethnography is based on the premise that any world which is not apprehended as a life-world—that is, as the totality of a world that is subjectively experienced—is a fiction. For we do not, in fact, have any knowledge of a world that is not subjectively experienced—of the world per se, as it were. The investigation of one’s own life-world is a difficult program in itself, a program that mundane phenomenology, in particular, endeavors to pursue. However, the investigation of the life-worlds of other actors calls for numerous additional precautions and measures. This article discusses the origins and foundations as well as particular challenges of life-world-analytical ethnography.

Horrigan-Kelly, M., Millar, M., & Dowling, M. (2016). Understanding the Key Tenets of Heidegger’s Philosophy for Interpretive Phenomenological Research. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 15(1), 1609406916680634. doi:10.1177/1609406916680634

Abstract. Martin Heidegger’s phenomenology provides methodological guidance for qualitative researchers seeking to explicate the lived experience of study participants. However, most phenomenological researchers apply his philosophy loosely. This is not surprising because Heidegger’s phenomenological philosophy is challenging and the influence of his philosophy in shaping the conduct of interpretive phenomenological research is broadly debated. This article presents an exploration of Dasein, a key tenet of Martin Heidegger’s interpretive phenomenology and explicates its usefulness for phenomenological research. From this perspective, we present guidance for researchers planning to utilize Heidegger’s philosophy underpinning their research.

Moerer-Urdahl, T., & Creswell,J. W. (2004). Using transcendental phenomenology to explore the “ripple effect” in a leadership mentoring program. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 3(2), 19-35. doi:10.1177/160940690400300202

Abstract. Several approaches exist for organizing and analyzing data in a phenomenological qualitative study. Transcendental phenomenology, based on principles identified by Husserl (1931) and translated into a qualitative method by Moustakas (1994), holds promise as a viable procedure for phenomenological research. However, to best understand the approach to transcendental phenomenology, the procedures need to be illustrated by a qualitative study that employs this approach. This article first discusses the procedures for organizing and analyzing data according to Moustakas (1994). Then it illustrates each step in the data analysis procedure of transcendental phenomenology using a study of reinvestment or the “ripple effect” for nine individuals who have participated in a youth leadership mentoring program from the 1970s to the present. Transcendental phenomenology works well for this study as this methodology provides logical, systematic, and coherent design elements that lead to an essential description of the experience.

Paul, K. B. (2017). Introducing Interpretive Approach of Phenomenological ResearchMethodology in Environmental Philosophy: A Mode of Engaged Philosophy in the Anthropocene. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 16(1). https://doi.org/10.1177/1609406917724916

Abstract. Environmental philosophy, needless to say, is going through a transition in the zenith of the Anthropocene. It is high time to carry out engaged philosophy to bring in philosophical understandings in approaching real-world environmental issues for obtaining some novel insights into the human–environment relationship. For the same, I argue, we need to explore some new methodologies that would be capable of offering the opportunity to do engaged philosophy instead of borrowing methodologies from the social sciences. Here, I examine Phenomenological Research Methodology (PRM) for the same. I elaborate on the process of conducting a field study with this methodology. For analyzing narratives, I choose the interpretive stream over the descriptive one. By drawing extensively from the philosophy of phenomenology, I propose a four-step narrative analysis process that can unveil a narrator’s transcendent mode of being. Finally, I share my research experiences while employing PRM in the field and demonstrate how PRM has the potential to sidestep some of the widely held concerns associated with field studies. Along with, I highlight critical reflection of my experiences while employing this methodology, particularly, in the context of India.

Tan, H., Wilson, A., & Olver, I. (2009). Ricoeur's Theory of Interpretation: An Instrument for Data Interpretation in Hermeneutic Phenomenology. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 8(4), 1-15. doi:10.1177/160940690900800401

Abstract. Heidegger's hermeneutic phenomenology, although providing an appropriate philosophical foundation for research in the social sciences that seeks to investigate the meaning of lived experience, does not provide clarity of process, making it difficult to assign the degree of rigor to the work demanded in an era dominated by the positivist paradigm. Ricoeur (1981) further developed both Heidegger's and Gadamer's ideas, in the areas of method and interpretation of hermeneutic phenomenological research, in a direction that has addressed this difficulty. In this article the authors outline Ricoeur's theory, including three levels of data analysis, describe its application to the interpretation of data, and discuss two apparent contradictions in his theory. Ricoeur's theory of interpretation, as a tool for the interpretation of data in studies whose philosophical underpinning is hermeneutic phenomenology, deserves consideration by human sciences researchers who seek to provide a rigorous foundation for their work.