Jirah

A Phenomenological Research
Thomas Groenewald
Thomas Groenewald, Professional Educational Services, University of South Africa, Florida,
South Africa
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.
Keywords: phenomenology, methodology, Husserl
Citation Information:
Groenewald, T. (2004). A phenomenological research design illustrated. International Journal of Qualitative Methods.

Introduction
Novice researchers are often overwhelmed by the plethora of research methodologies, making the selection of an appropriate research design for a particular study difficult. The aim of this article is to illustrate to researchers, both novice and experienced but with little experience in phenomenology, a thorough design, complete with an explication of how it was implemented.
Following seven years of study of research methodology (including periods of formal study, as well as the attendance of short courses and self study) I came to the conclusion that one needs a grasp of a vast range of research methodologies in order to select the most appropriate design, or combination of designs, most suitable for a particular study. One further needs to make a thorough study of the methodology(ies) chosen, to execute good research practice. Often,

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