The essence of essences – the search for meaning structures in phenomenological analysis of lifeworld phenomena

Abstract

Phenomena may preferably be appreciated as essences, and describing phenomena and their essences is a common methodological goal in phenomenological research, e.g. in the area of health and well-being. Consequently it is important to explore the meaning of essences, thereby answering the questions, What are phenomenological essences? How do they come to be? What are their characteristics? In this article I suggest some possible answers to these questions through an analysis of Husserl's philosophy and especially his understanding of intentionality. Further, I want to show that the analysis of essences in empirical research never can be separated from the context of the phenomenon. Here I draw on the philosophy of Merleau-Ponty and especially his philosophy of ''the flesh''.

The Movement to a New Understanding: A Life-World-Based Study about How People Learn to Live with Long-Term Illness

“…Qualitative interviews are described by Dahlberg et al [16] as being a dialogue whose aim is to get the informant to reflect on her experiences. The reflective process is initialized by the use of questions [16], which lead to new thoughts.…”

“…The approach can be described as a dialectic process, starting with the whole, analysing its parts followed by the synthetic reconstitution of the whole with the aim to reach an understanding of the essence of the phenomenon [14,16]. The analysis starts with the initial whole, where the researcher acquaints herself with the text.…”

“…The reflective process is initialized by the use of questions [16], which lead to new thoughts. The questions are based on what is said in the interview, and their purpose is to direct attention towards the phenomenon and gain a greater understanding of its meanings.…”

Belonging to Multiple Nationalities: A Phenomenological Study

“…Researchers chose to use the concept of bridling, rather than bracketing. Bridling acknowledges that it is impossible to truly set aside one's biases, but during our research process, we can "slacken" our beliefs in order to allow more room for new understandings and meanings to emerge from the phenomena being studied (Dahlberg, 2006). Moustakas method also asserts that the first phase includes data collection.…”

The Negotiation of Motor In/Capabilities by Two Children with Cerebral Palsy as Experienced by their Carers

“…RLR is based on a stance of openness and flexibility towards the phenomenon under study -which in this context is the everyday lives of two girls with cerebral palsythroughout the research process. Dahlberg et al (2006Dahlberg et al ( , 2008 recommend that, in the search for the meaning of the phenomenon, we as researchers must learn how to "bridle" our emerging understandings of the focal phenomenon and its meanings. Instead of setting aside all pre-understanding, "bridling" means that we are to maintain an open, reflective and critical attitude in which we in effect "slow down" the process of understanding in order to see the phenomenon in a new way (Dalhberg, 2006).…”