Phenomenology is a study of people’s conscious experience of their lifeworld, that is, the lived experience that gives meaning to each person’s perception of a particular phenomenon (Polit & Beck, 2004). The goal of the phenomenological inquiry is to fully describe lived experience and to depict the essence or basic structure of the experience (Merriam, 2009). In order to get to the essence of the basic underlying structure of the experience in a phenomenological study, the main data source is in-depth conversations, with researchers and informants as full coparticipants. Through this in-depth conversation, the researcher tries to gain entrance into the participant’s world to have full access to their experience as lived (Polit & Beck, 2004).
Link to article: Introduction to Phenomenological Research Designs