From these philosophical origins, methods of investigation began to emerge. Spiegelberg (1995) described “doing phenomenology” in a philosophical sense, while Giorgi, Van Kaam, and Colaizzi developed research methods which were inspired by phenomenological philosophy but not bound by it (Omery, 2003). Phenomenological research is evolving and expanding since it is now being used by many disciplines. There is debate about how purely one should follow the method and whether it is appropriate to draw from other related methods such as ethnography and grounded theory.
Phenomenology as a philosophy is so diverse that purity is probably nonexistent. Because of this it would be difficult to derive a pure research method. The primary influences in developing the methodology for this study were Collaizzi (1998) and Merleau Ponty (2002). Both Collaizzi and Merleau Ponty were chosen because of their specific discussion of bodily functions and their desire to maintain the integration and complexity of these functions. They both believed that perception of reality was in fact reality and that this reality can be described.
Careful interpretation can clarify this reality. In the process of interpretation, data are not created, but they are analysed with an attempt to discover their essence. In order to address the research questions posed above, selected individuals will be asked to discuss their experience of holistic healing and the mechanism of their health creation process. Asking people directly seemed an effective way to study meaning, experience, beliefs, expectations, and perceptions of holistic healing.
Benner (2002) pointed out that physiological aspects of healing can be studied readily with traditional quantitative research. Much of the research available on psychological, interpersonal, and personality dimensions of health has also been done using quantitative methods. There is a current interest in exploring holistic healing using qualitative means, but no qualitative studies have explored healing. As healing is a lived experience it seems appropriate to use a qualitative method to ask individuals who are in the process of healing to attempt to articulate what they believe is happening.
Reduction, or bracketing, is considered specifically relevant to the study of healing because there are many unsubstantiated ideas that are thought to relate to healing. In order to bracket one must become aware of as many preconceived notions as possible and put aside or suspend them in order to be astonished and to see the phenomenon with a fresh view (Solomon. 1990). One reduces the world into the essence of the particular phenomenon being observed and attempts to take nothing for granted.
Prior ideas, theories, knowledge, assumptions, and biases must be set aside, as much as possible, to attain the state of a particular beginner (Merleau-Ponty, 1992). This process of bracketing out presuppositions can never be pure nor can it ever be complete (Valle & King, 1998). 1. For this study there has been an attempt to maintain a distinctly phenomenological approach but ethnographers and grounded theorists have been consulted where additional processes are needed. These resources were only consulted when they were consistent with the phenomenological style.
For example, phenomenologists do not address ways to maintain standards of rigor, so Lincoln and Guba`s (1995) standards of trustworthiness were used. Gordon (1995) and Spradley (1999), though not phenomenologists, provided more details on interviewing techniques. Phenomenologists provided more details on interviewing techniques. Phenomenologists do not provide as much information on data analysis as Glaser (1998) and Miles and Huberman (1994) so these resources were also utilized.
These contributions to the method will also be provided about the specific ways phenomenological principles have been used.
REFERENCES
Achterberg, J. (2005). Imagery in healing. Boston: New Science Library. Barasch, J. (2003), Imagery in Healing. Boston: New Science Library. Barker, R. (1998). Ecological Psychology. Stanford California: Stanford University Press. Benner, P. (2002). Quality of life: A phenomenological perspective on explanation, prediction, and understanding in nursing science. Advances in Nursing Science, 8 (1), 1-14.