Sunday, April 24, 2011
Phenomenology : The question of validity and reliability
According to Edmund Husserl, the founder of phenomenological research method, the method of phenomenology is as rigrous as any other method and the validity of its results , steps, and the reliability of the method itself are beyond any blemish. However, viewed from the perspective of an objectivist paradigm , these claims do not seem plausible.
What actually we mean by the term validity? Validity actually means that what we are inferring from premises , or what we are concluding from the premises , actually follows from them. That we are well within the freamework of logic when we make a conclusion from premises.
What are the premises? Premises are statements on the basis of which a conclusion is drawn. In the case of deductive logic premises are already established truths or judgments. So, if one concludes , from the premises, All A's are B, Some C's are not A, therefore some C's are not B, then it is quite logical. However , in the case of inductive logic when the premises are to be formed from the particular cases, validity is to be guaranted in a different manner. Here quantitative methods or the method of natural sciences provide us with different means on ensuring validity. However, the logic remains same , and validity means , in almost all cases two things. First it is valid to draw the derived conclusion from the data, and that it is valid to generalize the drawn conclusion over other similar cases.
In quantitative or scientific method falsification of a theory means that it failed to explain one of the instances which it was supposed to explain. So, the theory , or the conclusion no longer remains valid, and both its internal and external validities are challenged. Internal validity means that the conclusion followed from the data and external validity means that it was right to generalize it over the similar cases. Thus, in scientific method , objectivity , in the form of availability of the chance of empirically varifying the results of a theory, or the testing process of a theory, provide with an oppurtunity to validate a theory.
In phenomenology objectivity is a bias, for phenomenology suspends belief in the objective world, it studies the subject and keeps its focus on the subject alone while turning away completely from the object. So, if a researcher establishes something about the inner experience of a person, or a group of people, that conclusion cannot be validated objectively.
So, how phenomenological research can be validated or can be considered as valid? In ensuring validity of phenomenological research we have to proceed stepwise. So, each step has its measures of validity. Let us see these measures one by one.
Validity
Sampling
Sampling should be logical, and sample should be purposefully drawn.
Data Collection
During data collection, the researcher has to excercise epoche' or bracketing. A researcher has to completely suspend his/her beliefs.
Data Analysis
During data analysis themes are to be selected as they emerge from the data. Although a researcher can thematize or focus a particular dimension at his/her discretion, yet there should be a logic for doing this.
Eidetic Reduction
Eidetic reduction for determining essences, should be carried without any biases. One has to imaginatively vary the example to see its possibilities and then from these possibilities one has to separate that which remained invariable in all the possibilities.
So, phenomenological research process establishes its validity in each of the steps. In making generalization one has to prove that what is being generalized is actually generalizable.
Reliability
Reliability of this method is to be ensured through clearly outlining and defining the steps involved. Thus, whoever wants to replicate the steps on the data , can easily do so to find out how reliable the proceedure was. Moreover, if there are certain generalizations made through the research, other researcher, through following the same proceedures should be able to find the same generalized conclusions.
By Khalid Jamil Rawat
http://rawat.blogspot.com
http://pakphilosophy.blogspot.com
What actually we mean by the term validity? Validity actually means that what we are inferring from premises , or what we are concluding from the premises , actually follows from them. That we are well within the freamework of logic when we make a conclusion from premises.
What are the premises? Premises are statements on the basis of which a conclusion is drawn. In the case of deductive logic premises are already established truths or judgments. So, if one concludes , from the premises, All A's are B, Some C's are not A, therefore some C's are not B, then it is quite logical. However , in the case of inductive logic when the premises are to be formed from the particular cases, validity is to be guaranted in a different manner. Here quantitative methods or the method of natural sciences provide us with different means on ensuring validity. However, the logic remains same , and validity means , in almost all cases two things. First it is valid to draw the derived conclusion from the data, and that it is valid to generalize the drawn conclusion over other similar cases.
In quantitative or scientific method falsification of a theory means that it failed to explain one of the instances which it was supposed to explain. So, the theory , or the conclusion no longer remains valid, and both its internal and external validities are challenged. Internal validity means that the conclusion followed from the data and external validity means that it was right to generalize it over the similar cases. Thus, in scientific method , objectivity , in the form of availability of the chance of empirically varifying the results of a theory, or the testing process of a theory, provide with an oppurtunity to validate a theory.
In phenomenology objectivity is a bias, for phenomenology suspends belief in the objective world, it studies the subject and keeps its focus on the subject alone while turning away completely from the object. So, if a researcher establishes something about the inner experience of a person, or a group of people, that conclusion cannot be validated objectively.
So, how phenomenological research can be validated or can be considered as valid? In ensuring validity of phenomenological research we have to proceed stepwise. So, each step has its measures of validity. Let us see these measures one by one.
Validity
Sampling
Sampling should be logical, and sample should be purposefully drawn.
Data Collection
During data collection, the researcher has to excercise epoche' or bracketing. A researcher has to completely suspend his/her beliefs.
Data Analysis
During data analysis themes are to be selected as they emerge from the data. Although a researcher can thematize or focus a particular dimension at his/her discretion, yet there should be a logic for doing this.
Eidetic Reduction
Eidetic reduction for determining essences, should be carried without any biases. One has to imaginatively vary the example to see its possibilities and then from these possibilities one has to separate that which remained invariable in all the possibilities.
So, phenomenological research process establishes its validity in each of the steps. In making generalization one has to prove that what is being generalized is actually generalizable.
Reliability
Reliability of this method is to be ensured through clearly outlining and defining the steps involved. Thus, whoever wants to replicate the steps on the data , can easily do so to find out how reliable the proceedure was. Moreover, if there are certain generalizations made through the research, other researcher, through following the same proceedures should be able to find the same generalized conclusions.
By Khalid Jamil Rawat
http://rawat.blogspot.com
http://pakphilosophy.blogspot.com
In Depth Interview in Phenomenology
During the data collection phase a researcher has to conduct interviews and focus group discussions. In in depth interviews there are certain guidelines that one can follow. These are:
1. As this is an unstructured interview, therefore , no prepared questions are required. First of all this does not mean that a researcher does not have to prepare for the interview; it simply means that there is no structured instrument needed. A structured interview is the one in which one provides the respondents with the choices to mark as his his response. In a semi structured interview, a researcher has open ended questions to as. However, in an unstructured interview niether open ended nor closed ended questions are required. This is because of the fact that one never knows what form an interview is going to take. Neither the researcher nor the respondent knows what result this interaction between them is going to generate.
2. However, instead of preparing interview questions, the researcher can identify themes for interview. A theme actually is a focus; it is an aspect of the issue under consideration that the researcher wants to focus. Thus, interviewing a kidney patient about his disease , if a researcher wants to focus on pain management issues, then this will become his major focus. Moreover, even during the interview one can narrow down this general focus to issues like (borrowing Glaser's Grounded Theory Example Here) resting, medication and pacing. So, a general focus or theme can be further narrowed during the interview.
3. Since, in phenomenology one is more interested in the experiences of a respondent, therefore, it is not enough to know how a respondent judges something; the important thing is to know the experience/or experiences that led him to this judgment.
4. Since, in phenomenology , the focus is not on the world , rather it is one the subject or person who experiences the world, therefore, it is important to know how the respondent experienced the world, or any particular issue or situation. So, for instance if a researcher is interested in knowing how a respondent has experienced the visit to certain park, he should focus on the way this park was experienced by the respondent, and not the specific details of the park. So, a researcher is not particularly interested in how many entrances, swings and canteens were there in the park, but in knowing the way a respondent experienced these objects. And in doing so , he has to take his respondent to a stage where he starts reflecting on his past experience, and tell the researcher about his feelings, expectations, fears thoughts, stimuli selection etc. In short he has to tell how he was conscious of these things.
So, these are a few guidelines for conducting an interview in phenomenological research.
By Khalid Jamil Rawat
http://rawat.blogspot.com
http://pakphilosophy.blogspot.com
1. As this is an unstructured interview, therefore , no prepared questions are required. First of all this does not mean that a researcher does not have to prepare for the interview; it simply means that there is no structured instrument needed. A structured interview is the one in which one provides the respondents with the choices to mark as his his response. In a semi structured interview, a researcher has open ended questions to as. However, in an unstructured interview niether open ended nor closed ended questions are required. This is because of the fact that one never knows what form an interview is going to take. Neither the researcher nor the respondent knows what result this interaction between them is going to generate.
2. However, instead of preparing interview questions, the researcher can identify themes for interview. A theme actually is a focus; it is an aspect of the issue under consideration that the researcher wants to focus. Thus, interviewing a kidney patient about his disease , if a researcher wants to focus on pain management issues, then this will become his major focus. Moreover, even during the interview one can narrow down this general focus to issues like (borrowing Glaser's Grounded Theory Example Here) resting, medication and pacing. So, a general focus or theme can be further narrowed during the interview.
3. Since, in phenomenology one is more interested in the experiences of a respondent, therefore, it is not enough to know how a respondent judges something; the important thing is to know the experience/or experiences that led him to this judgment.
4. Since, in phenomenology , the focus is not on the world , rather it is one the subject or person who experiences the world, therefore, it is important to know how the respondent experienced the world, or any particular issue or situation. So, for instance if a researcher is interested in knowing how a respondent has experienced the visit to certain park, he should focus on the way this park was experienced by the respondent, and not the specific details of the park. So, a researcher is not particularly interested in how many entrances, swings and canteens were there in the park, but in knowing the way a respondent experienced these objects. And in doing so , he has to take his respondent to a stage where he starts reflecting on his past experience, and tell the researcher about his feelings, expectations, fears thoughts, stimuli selection etc. In short he has to tell how he was conscious of these things.
So, these are a few guidelines for conducting an interview in phenomenological research.
By Khalid Jamil Rawat
http://rawat.blogspot.com
http://pakphilosophy.blogspot.com
Possible and Actual: Phenomenology as the Study of Possible and not of Actual
According to Husserl, phenomenology is not the study of actual or existing, rather than it is the study of possible and logical. How this statement can be interpreted in the context of practical research?
Being is the totality, the unity of all the multiplicity. Being immediately falls into genre, and genre into species and species into particular existing instances. In scientific studies, one does not study the whole being; one study only one genus or certain species of a particular genus. Thus, physics studies the dead matter in respect of its physical properties. Chemistry studies the dead matter qua its chemical properties; it also studies live matter qua its chemical properties. Biology studies live matter qua its vital properties like growth, nutrition, reproduction and vital functions.
These general fields can be further divided into specializations on sub species. So consider the case of a scientist who studies insects. This specie has a large number of members, yet still the existing or actual number of its members is not infinite. Each of its members has a certain property in the absence of which it can no longer be considered an insect. Keeping this essential property as invariant, one can see how other properties vary in different members of the family of insects to make them different from each other. Thus determining the essence one can imaginatively vary other qualities to deduce different members of this species or family. This imaginative variation of the non essential qualities while keeping the essential unchanged, can result in the generation of infinite number of possible insects. One can form infinite number of insects through this method, out which some will be actual, having existence and other will only be possible. So, through this type of method one is connected with infinity of possibilities.
Phenomenology uses this same method, but its field of study is not being itself, rather it studies the experiences of the one who knows about being. It studies the consciousness while deleting the object from the acts of consciousness; the objects of consciousness are studied in natural sciences.
This method of imaginative variation of the non essential qualities, while keeping the essential constant, is what that makes phenomenology a science of possibilities. Suppose we are interested in knowing how people of a certain age experience a certain kind of pain. We will sample certain cases to study, while keeping in view all possible variations in our defined population, and our sample will be representing those possible variations. So suppose we chose 6-8 people of that age group and we interview them.
On the basis of the data collected through this exercise, the researcher has to determine the essence of that experience, so that afterwards, the non essential qualities of this experience can be varied while keeping the essential constant. This will yield an infinite number of possibilities, and one only has to give the concepts that determine and define these possibilities.
Thus, phenomenology studies the possible. It tells us about the all possible ways an experience can be had by a certain population.Phenomenology connects us with the infinite; yet this infinite is comprehensible, it can be defined and understood.
By Khalid Jamil Rawat
http://rawat.blogspot.com
http://pakphilosophy.blogspot.com
Being is the totality, the unity of all the multiplicity. Being immediately falls into genre, and genre into species and species into particular existing instances. In scientific studies, one does not study the whole being; one study only one genus or certain species of a particular genus. Thus, physics studies the dead matter in respect of its physical properties. Chemistry studies the dead matter qua its chemical properties; it also studies live matter qua its chemical properties. Biology studies live matter qua its vital properties like growth, nutrition, reproduction and vital functions.
These general fields can be further divided into specializations on sub species. So consider the case of a scientist who studies insects. This specie has a large number of members, yet still the existing or actual number of its members is not infinite. Each of its members has a certain property in the absence of which it can no longer be considered an insect. Keeping this essential property as invariant, one can see how other properties vary in different members of the family of insects to make them different from each other. Thus determining the essence one can imaginatively vary other qualities to deduce different members of this species or family. This imaginative variation of the non essential qualities while keeping the essential unchanged, can result in the generation of infinite number of possible insects. One can form infinite number of insects through this method, out which some will be actual, having existence and other will only be possible. So, through this type of method one is connected with infinity of possibilities.
Phenomenology uses this same method, but its field of study is not being itself, rather it studies the experiences of the one who knows about being. It studies the consciousness while deleting the object from the acts of consciousness; the objects of consciousness are studied in natural sciences.
This method of imaginative variation of the non essential qualities, while keeping the essential constant, is what that makes phenomenology a science of possibilities. Suppose we are interested in knowing how people of a certain age experience a certain kind of pain. We will sample certain cases to study, while keeping in view all possible variations in our defined population, and our sample will be representing those possible variations. So suppose we chose 6-8 people of that age group and we interview them.
On the basis of the data collected through this exercise, the researcher has to determine the essence of that experience, so that afterwards, the non essential qualities of this experience can be varied while keeping the essential constant. This will yield an infinite number of possibilities, and one only has to give the concepts that determine and define these possibilities.
Thus, phenomenology studies the possible. It tells us about the all possible ways an experience can be had by a certain population.Phenomenology connects us with the infinite; yet this infinite is comprehensible, it can be defined and understood.
By Khalid Jamil Rawat
http://rawat.blogspot.com
http://pakphilosophy.blogspot.com
Phenomenological Research Method
Phenomenology is different from all other research methods because its field of investigation is different from other methods. What then is this difference? To understand this difference first of all , phenomenology should be differentiated from natural sciences' research methods. The first difference is , natural sciences study the world of nature , the physical nature that follows its own laws commonly known as the laws of nature. Physical nature exists in time and space and it follows the laws of time and space for example causality. Rather than having events in nature as its subject matter, phenomenology studies the purely mental phenomenon. It studies consciousness.
The subject matter of phenomenology is the structure of consciousness, while every thing pertaining to time and space , to the physical nature is eliminated from the consciousness. How phenomenology attains to this aim of eliminating every thing bound by time and space , every thing physical from its subject matter? It is done through a change in attitude of the researcher. Phenomenology asks a researcher to suspend all judgments about the physical world. This is called epoche' in the language of phenomenology. Epoche' means 'to pocket'. A researcher , while excercising epoche' holds back , or pockets or brackets all judgments about the physical nature. A researcher has to bracket or hold back even the most basic beliefs about the nature. The most fundamental belief is the belief in the existence. So , while doing a phenomenological investigation , one is not concerned about the existence of an object of consciousness. For example if some one is doing a research on the notion of human soul , one should not be concerned about the existence of human soul; rather one has to think about the way the respondents experience human soul in their consciousness. If a researcher is doing a research about the magical practices of a community , he or she should not be concerned about the truth or existence or veracity of such practices. All judgments are to be suspended and the only thing to be considered is how people are experiencing the phenomenon in their consciousness.
However, the belief that things exist accompanies our consciousness, so this belief should also be included in the phenomenological study. The belief in existence is an immanent part of our consciouness.
Phenomenology is also termed as the study of phenomenon. The word phenomenon actually stands for the phrase' how things appear to one's consciousness. In order to understand the meaning of phenomenon in the context of phenomenology one has to understand that things only give appearance in the consciousness and they are never fully given. So, when you see a horse , you only see a phenomenon of it , neither you see the particular horse you are looking at , fully and completely , in one act of perception , nor you can perceive the universal horse, that you mean when you say the word horse. You only see or are aware of or conscious of a single perspective of a horse , and the inference that what you are looking at is a complete horse is to transgress or transcend your immediate consciousness. So, if after looking at a perspective , a phenomenon of a thing , one infers the whole thing from it , one violates the limits of phenomenology. For , the inference that there is a horse standing in front of you is not immanent in your single perception of a thing. If I see a profile of a picture and infer from this profile the whole image , it means that I have transcended what is given to my consciousness and I have brought my judgment , my learning from my previous experiences to this perception. Where as phenomenology does not allow this inference.
The meaning of the word phenomenon is to be further elaborated. For this we have to understand a basic property of consciousness. Consciousness is always intentional . This has a specialized meaning; by saying that consciousness is always intentional , it means that consciousness is always of something and never of nothing. Thus, consciousness is always of something , it is always directed towards something , it always has an object. So while one is conscious of something one is aware of that thing, and that awareness can be attained through various modes of consciousness. You can be aware of a tree through perceiving the tree, through remembering the tree, through imagining the tree, through performing an act on the tree, through making a picture of the tree, through studying about the tree, through talking about the tree. These are different modes of awareness through which you become conscious of an object , the tree. However , in all modes of awareness, the object remains the same , the same tree is the object of your consciousness in all these modes. That common tree is called noema in phenomenology and different modes of getting awareness about this tree are called noesis. Thus , the object of consciousness that remains same in its different phenomenon is called the noema and the modes to access this noema are called noesis.
One can access this content of noema and noesis through reflection. So, if I am interested in knowing how people are aware of a 'mobile phone ' I have to consider certain examples of this experience. These experiences cannot be called purely phenomenological, because a purely phenomenological experience is purely mental. However , this purely phenomenological is always embedded in the concrete space time time events , therefore search for the purely phenomenological starts from these experiences. Once we have studied some examples , we can imaginatively vary the experiences in our minds , to achieve a full range of all the possible experiences of the type under consideration. This step is called imaginative variation. If I look at a computer from four sides, I can think about the infinite possible perspectives from which I can possibly see a computer. But I cannot actually perform these infinite number of perceiving experiences. Thus , I have to rely on my imagination and perform such experiences in my imagination . During these imaginative experiences I try to change certain details and see what is that which remains self same in all the variations. I have to look for invariant attributes , things that are essential to my perceiving of a computer. This is called determination of essences , or eidetic reduction.
Eidetic reduction means to reduce an experience to ideas or essences. So , Initially I look at a house from say five perspectives, and then I repeat the experience of looking at the house from other possible perspectives in my imagination. And in each of these experiences, carried out imaginatively I will try to find out that which remained un changed , or whose absence from my awareness will not leave that particular house a house. These essential features will constitute the object , the noema in its fullest sense. This noema will be different from the actual objects because it will include in its description all possibilities of that object. Such an understanding of an object is also called horizonal understanding.
By horizonal understanding I mean the total understanding of an object , along with all its possibilities; possibilities that are not given in a single perspective. For example , the fact that a certain physical object , follows the law of inertia , is not given in any of the single perceptions of that object. Rather , such an inference can only be achieved through imaginative variation , in which I imaginatively think about a physical object as a self moving object and the consider this property as something accidental to an object or in fact an impossibility .
In practical applications of phenomenology (Husserl's) , one first has to identify a phenomenon to be investigated. Then one has to sample different exemplary examples of that phenomenon. These examples are to be studied in depth , and then one has to perform imaginative variation on these examples to find out the invariant element . During imaginative variation one has to consider almost all possible ways of looking at the phenomenon. Eidetic reduction , will then yild the essences.
In social research , one finds a phenomenon to study , say how children of grade 10 experience the learning of a certain mathematics topic. One then has to sample a certain number of exemplary examples. This usually is done through purposive sampling. One selects four or five respondents, or four or five carefully selected groups for group discussion. Then one conduct in-depth interviews or focus group discussions , and try to access the first hand experience of the respondents through using un-structured questions. Interviews usually are very lengthy, and last for an hour or two.
These interviews are recorded and transcribed , and then comes the phenomenological analysis. In this analysis one finds certain themes or underlying currents that are to be focussed. The data in each interview seems to cluster around these themes. This is called thematic analysis. Once themes are determined , one has to put together or rearrange the data from all interviews under the found themes , so that no bit of data is left out.
This organized data is then to be subjected to imaginative variation. Each time a noema-noetic stucture is analyzed to find out it invariant elements, and thus essences are found. This reduces the actual to the possible and ideal and a phenomenon is constructed through exposing the full horizon of its possiblities.
Khalid Jamil rawat
The subject matter of phenomenology is the structure of consciousness, while every thing pertaining to time and space , to the physical nature is eliminated from the consciousness. How phenomenology attains to this aim of eliminating every thing bound by time and space , every thing physical from its subject matter? It is done through a change in attitude of the researcher. Phenomenology asks a researcher to suspend all judgments about the physical world. This is called epoche' in the language of phenomenology. Epoche' means 'to pocket'. A researcher , while excercising epoche' holds back , or pockets or brackets all judgments about the physical nature. A researcher has to bracket or hold back even the most basic beliefs about the nature. The most fundamental belief is the belief in the existence. So , while doing a phenomenological investigation , one is not concerned about the existence of an object of consciousness. For example if some one is doing a research on the notion of human soul , one should not be concerned about the existence of human soul; rather one has to think about the way the respondents experience human soul in their consciousness. If a researcher is doing a research about the magical practices of a community , he or she should not be concerned about the truth or existence or veracity of such practices. All judgments are to be suspended and the only thing to be considered is how people are experiencing the phenomenon in their consciousness.
However, the belief that things exist accompanies our consciousness, so this belief should also be included in the phenomenological study. The belief in existence is an immanent part of our consciouness.
Phenomenology is also termed as the study of phenomenon. The word phenomenon actually stands for the phrase' how things appear to one's consciousness. In order to understand the meaning of phenomenon in the context of phenomenology one has to understand that things only give appearance in the consciousness and they are never fully given. So, when you see a horse , you only see a phenomenon of it , neither you see the particular horse you are looking at , fully and completely , in one act of perception , nor you can perceive the universal horse, that you mean when you say the word horse. You only see or are aware of or conscious of a single perspective of a horse , and the inference that what you are looking at is a complete horse is to transgress or transcend your immediate consciousness. So, if after looking at a perspective , a phenomenon of a thing , one infers the whole thing from it , one violates the limits of phenomenology. For , the inference that there is a horse standing in front of you is not immanent in your single perception of a thing. If I see a profile of a picture and infer from this profile the whole image , it means that I have transcended what is given to my consciousness and I have brought my judgment , my learning from my previous experiences to this perception. Where as phenomenology does not allow this inference.
The meaning of the word phenomenon is to be further elaborated. For this we have to understand a basic property of consciousness. Consciousness is always intentional . This has a specialized meaning; by saying that consciousness is always intentional , it means that consciousness is always of something and never of nothing. Thus, consciousness is always of something , it is always directed towards something , it always has an object. So while one is conscious of something one is aware of that thing, and that awareness can be attained through various modes of consciousness. You can be aware of a tree through perceiving the tree, through remembering the tree, through imagining the tree, through performing an act on the tree, through making a picture of the tree, through studying about the tree, through talking about the tree. These are different modes of awareness through which you become conscious of an object , the tree. However , in all modes of awareness, the object remains the same , the same tree is the object of your consciousness in all these modes. That common tree is called noema in phenomenology and different modes of getting awareness about this tree are called noesis. Thus , the object of consciousness that remains same in its different phenomenon is called the noema and the modes to access this noema are called noesis.
One can access this content of noema and noesis through reflection. So, if I am interested in knowing how people are aware of a 'mobile phone ' I have to consider certain examples of this experience. These experiences cannot be called purely phenomenological, because a purely phenomenological experience is purely mental. However , this purely phenomenological is always embedded in the concrete space time time events , therefore search for the purely phenomenological starts from these experiences. Once we have studied some examples , we can imaginatively vary the experiences in our minds , to achieve a full range of all the possible experiences of the type under consideration. This step is called imaginative variation. If I look at a computer from four sides, I can think about the infinite possible perspectives from which I can possibly see a computer. But I cannot actually perform these infinite number of perceiving experiences. Thus , I have to rely on my imagination and perform such experiences in my imagination . During these imaginative experiences I try to change certain details and see what is that which remains self same in all the variations. I have to look for invariant attributes , things that are essential to my perceiving of a computer. This is called determination of essences , or eidetic reduction.
Eidetic reduction means to reduce an experience to ideas or essences. So , Initially I look at a house from say five perspectives, and then I repeat the experience of looking at the house from other possible perspectives in my imagination. And in each of these experiences, carried out imaginatively I will try to find out that which remained un changed , or whose absence from my awareness will not leave that particular house a house. These essential features will constitute the object , the noema in its fullest sense. This noema will be different from the actual objects because it will include in its description all possibilities of that object. Such an understanding of an object is also called horizonal understanding.
By horizonal understanding I mean the total understanding of an object , along with all its possibilities; possibilities that are not given in a single perspective. For example , the fact that a certain physical object , follows the law of inertia , is not given in any of the single perceptions of that object. Rather , such an inference can only be achieved through imaginative variation , in which I imaginatively think about a physical object as a self moving object and the consider this property as something accidental to an object or in fact an impossibility .
In practical applications of phenomenology (Husserl's) , one first has to identify a phenomenon to be investigated. Then one has to sample different exemplary examples of that phenomenon. These examples are to be studied in depth , and then one has to perform imaginative variation on these examples to find out the invariant element . During imaginative variation one has to consider almost all possible ways of looking at the phenomenon. Eidetic reduction , will then yild the essences.
In social research , one finds a phenomenon to study , say how children of grade 10 experience the learning of a certain mathematics topic. One then has to sample a certain number of exemplary examples. This usually is done through purposive sampling. One selects four or five respondents, or four or five carefully selected groups for group discussion. Then one conduct in-depth interviews or focus group discussions , and try to access the first hand experience of the respondents through using un-structured questions. Interviews usually are very lengthy, and last for an hour or two.
These interviews are recorded and transcribed , and then comes the phenomenological analysis. In this analysis one finds certain themes or underlying currents that are to be focussed. The data in each interview seems to cluster around these themes. This is called thematic analysis. Once themes are determined , one has to put together or rearrange the data from all interviews under the found themes , so that no bit of data is left out.
This organized data is then to be subjected to imaginative variation. Each time a noema-noetic stucture is analyzed to find out it invariant elements, and thus essences are found. This reduces the actual to the possible and ideal and a phenomenon is constructed through exposing the full horizon of its possiblities.
Khalid Jamil rawat
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