Qualitative Study Design Paper

Study Design For the purpose of the proposed research question, the researcher carried out a qualitative research design to explore the meaning and experiences of infertility among African American couples. The researcher utilized a phenomenological qualitative process based on methodology outlined by Moustakas (1994). The goal of phenomenological research is “to determine what an experience means for the persons who have had the experience and are able to provide a comprehensive description of it. From the individual descriptions general or universal meanings are derived, in other words essences or structures of the experience.” (Moustakas, 1994, p.13). The descriptions consist of what the individuals experienced and how they experienced
Edmund Husserl, a German mathematician, founded it in the twentieth century. Husserl believed that there is a relationship between subjective experience and consciousness. He proposed that there is a contrast that exists “between facts and essences, between the real and non-real.” (Moustakas, 1994, p.27). In phenomenological research, Stewart and Mickunas (as cited in Creswell, 2007) indicate there are four philosophical perspectives: a return to the traditional tasks of philosophy; a philosophy without assumptions; the intentionality of consciousness; and the refusal of the subject-object dichotomy. By the end of the 19th century, philosophy was largely associated with science. Phenomenology is a return to the “Greek conception of philosophy as a search for wisdom” (p.
The first step in this process is the epoche. The researcher sets aside all experiences, judgments and understandings in an effort to be open or have “fresh perspective toward the phenomenon under examination” (Creswell, 2007, pp. 59-60). The next step in this process is Transcendental –Phenomenological Reduction (Moustakas, 1994). In this process everything is perceived freshly and in an open way. Moustakas (1994) indicates, “a complete description is given of its essential constituents, variations of perceptions, thoughts, feelings, sounds, colors, and shapes” (p. 34). From this process a combination of the textural description of what the participants experienced and a structural description, called Imaginative Variation (Moustakas, 1994), of how they experienced the phenomenon in terms of conditions, situations, or context are used to convey the overall experience (Creswell,