Understanding the Marriage of Technology and Phenomenological Research: From Design to Analysis

Researchers using phenomenological data from traditions heavily rooted in the work of Moustakas (1994) and Giorgi (2009) often encounter two challenging points within their research process. Once when they collect text through interviewing and again when they must analyze, read/reread and make sense of that text. For instance, Moustakas (1994) recommends multiple steps in analyzing interview transcription that include the use of grouping, reduction, elimination, and clustering among others. Giorgi (2009) provides concrete steps that include holistic reading, determination for meaning units, and transformation from the natural attitude among others. Given the complexity of these steps, we suggest here a marriage of technology and phenomenology. Of course, phenomenologists can utilize numerous traditional methods for this process (Creswell, 2007; Giorgi, 2009; Moustakas, 1994); Patton, 2002; Sokolowski, 2008; Van Manen, 1990), however there are a number of applications and software packages available as alternatives. These applications and software packages can assist the researcher in making the overall process less cumbersome and more efficient while ensuring the complexity of the lived experience remains whole. For instance, interview tools (e.g. audio recorders, virtual voice-over internet protocols and audio editors) provide methods of recording, editing and working with interview text that is secure, transferable and permanent. During the transcription process, additional tools allow for more efficient and safe renderings of recorded text through the combination of the transcription, voice recognition and word processing software. Finally, the use of a common office program (MS Excel), typically thought of as a formula/number cruncher, is very much an appropriate tools for making sense of the text during the analysis phase (Meyer & Avery, 2009). In Moustakas (1994) and Giorgi (2009), the analysis phase fits nicely within the often linear and column-based underlying structure found in a spreadsheet application like MS Excel. In fact, our initial decision to investigate a spreadsheet application came about when we carefully read through Giorgi (2009) and his application of the method in chapter six. He uses the experiences of jealousy to illustrate his method. Using columns, Giorgi provides the meaning units in "language revelatory of the psychological aspect of the lived-through experience-" (2009, p. 145). The language within these columns connects the various stages of his analysis together and provide an overall cohesiveness to the process. After reviewing his process, we found a spreadsheet program an ideal fit with these techniques. In conjunction with other techniques, these tools offer important benefits in terms of effort and time and they also create additional opportunities for helping the researcher interpret the text, especially within phenomenological research. As much of phenomenological research requires multiple interviews, multiple re-readings of collected text and multiple interactions with the text, the process of collecting, creating and analyzing through these possible tools preserves the essence of the phenomenological process and gives the researcher the opportunity to expend time and resources in learning about the lived experience of the participants. As Meyer and Avery (2009) note, the need to be able to connect qualitative data from one bit to another has led to a plethora of choices in qualitative data analysis software. Many of these choices offer numerous tools for conducting, transcribing and analyzing text and they are often efficient for organizing large amounts of data. While these programs are powerful, many of them require a steep learning curve and additional training. In addition to this learning curve, these programs are often costprohibitive to many researchers. Benefits for Small Scale Studies For many phenomenologists working with a smaller pool of participants, many prepackaged qualitative software programs often provide little benefit when weighed against other less expensive and more common tools. …