Research is an approach with which human beings can attempt to answer questions and discover the unknowns. Research methodology is something that is determined by the researcher's attitude toward the universe as well as by the question he is trying to answer. Some essential questions regarding the research process are: "What is the nature of reality?", "What is the nature of the relationship between the scholar and the subject of interest?", and "How can one understand the subject, and what are the methods?". Research approaches can be categorized as quantitative and qualitative. In the former, measurement, prediction, and control are the bases, while in the latter, exploring, describing, and explaining the phenomena are fundamental. Among qualitative research methods, phenomenography is one of the newest methods. However, in spite of proving to be useful in various disciplines, it has yet to become popular, and many scholars mistake it for phenomenology. The focus of phenomenography is on what is known as the second-order perspective and the different ways that people can experience the same phenomenon, while phenomenology primarily emphasizes the first-order perspective and the similar essences that are derived from various experiences. This article aims to provide a better understanding of phenomenography through explaining it and comparing it with phenomenology in order to facilitate its proper and timely application in medical studies.
I NT ROD U CT I ONResearch and its diverse methodologies have a long history in human-related sciences and have contributed to the understanding of behaviors and ideas of human beings in complex and ever-changing situations (1). Many studies are done using experimental or quantitative methods, and they focus on observable aspects in order to measure, predict, and control the phenomenon of interest. But, many human behaviors are not measurable and predictable by the use of this approach. On the other hand, there are qualitative methods which emphasize exploring, describing, and explaining human behavior (2, 3), and these can be employed to study human behaviors with an approach that goes beyond quantification. These methods help scholars to understand thoughts, emotions, and behaviors of people in various situations and contexts (4, 5). One less known qualitative method is phenomenography which was first introduced by Ference Marton and his colleagues in 1970 (1, 6). This research method originated from studies that were done on educational psychology in Sweden's Gutenberg University. At that institute, the scholars were interested in qualitative evaluating of learning and thinking experiences (6) which eventually led to the development of the phenomenographic method (7).The term phenomenography consists of two Greek words: phainomenon which means becoming visible and luminous, and graphia which means describing something (8). This term was first introduced by Sonnemann in 1954, but the real momentum to develop phenomenography as a research approach did not begin until the 19...