International Journal of Qualitative Methods
November 1, 2025
Peter Stilwell, Shaun Gallagher, Allan Køster et al.
This article provides guidance on Front-Loaded Phenomenology (FLP) in qualitative research, an approach where researchers use phenomenological concepts and conceptual distinctions during initial research planning to shape how a study is designed and conducted. FLP studies have precise conceptual foci and enable the generation of nuanced findings that may be difficult to obtain using other...
International Journal of Qualitative Methods
October 1, 2025
Mohammed Al-Sheikh Hassan
Phenomenology remains a central yet often misunderstood approach in qualitative inquiry, valued for its ability to reveal the meanings of lived experience. Despite its influence, researchers continue to face uncertainty in applying phenomenological principles consistently. Two areas frequently present challenges: determining when to adopt descriptive or interpretive phenomenology, and...
International Journal of Qualitative Methods
July 1, 2025
Marius Bytautas
Since the late 1970s, phenomenology has been widely used in nursing, education, psychology, and other disciplines. As one should have expected, its increasing popularity made this methodology vulnerable to criticism. Various authors began to question the credibility and usefulness of phenomenological research. Among the arguments, the vagueness of central concepts is the most notable. Indeed,...
International Journal of Qualitative Methods
January 15, 2025
K. Grajzel
5 citations
In this study, I recounted my experience using mantra meditation during a phenomenological study for the purposes of bracketing. The efficacy and purpose of bracketing have been debated from Husserl (1931), whose aimed was to achieve objectivity, to Heidegger (1962) who advocated for immersion of the researcher, through the French school (Merleau-Ponty, 1964) of middle ground, by whom...
International Journal of Qualitative Methods
2021
Peter Stilwell, Katherine Harman
43 citations
Qualitative research approaches under the umbrella of phenomenology are becoming overly prescriptive and dogmatic (e.g., excessive and unnecessary focus on the epoché and reduction). There is a need for phenomenology (as a qualitative research approach) to be renewed and refreshed with opportunities for methodological flexibility. In this process paper, we offer one way this could be achieved....