Un[bracketed]: phenomenological polyethnography

Abstract

Purpose Due to the limitations to the purpose and practice of both phenomenological and duoethnographic research methodologies, the purpose of this paper is to propose phenomenological polyethnography as a hybrid qualitative methodology, which would guide skilled researchers in conducting phenomenological exploration of an emergent experience as insiders. Design/methodology/approach This study is an applied a hybridization approach to phenomenology and duoethnography as two distinct qualitative research traditions. Findings Employing a poststructuralist perspective, researcher-participants with relevant difference co-investigate a phenomenological question together. Borrowing elements from both hermeneutic phenomenology and duoethnography, this methodology involves the consideration of a phenomenon, the use of authors with relevant difference who have both special insight into that phenomenon as participants and skill as qualitative researchers, the intentional collection of prereflective data while all researcher-participants are experiencing the phenomenon or immediately after, the subsequent reflection upon and interpretation of the phenomenon as it was similarly and differently experienced by the researcher-participants, and the description of both the essence and meaning of the phenomenon. Research limitations/implications This new, hybrid qualitative methodology will enable researchers to more efficiently analyze and disseminate the research of insider knowledge on emergent phenomena in higher education and other settings. Originality/value As a new methodology, it may be used to investigate events and provide rich, thick description in a way not before seen.

Growth during a global pandemic: A polyethnography among doctoral counselling psychology students.

“…Although our practicum experiences were disrupted in an unprecedented manner, we also recognized that it afforded us the opportunity for continued learning through a reflexive observation of our shared yet diverse experiences. To engage in a multivoiced inquiry and explore how our development was influenced by the pandemic, we chose to employ polyethnography, identifying ourselves as researcher-participants or the “site of research” (Olt & Teman, 2019, p. 147). Polyethnography is grounded in a constructivist-interpretivist paradigm (Ponterotto, 2005) and is characterized by the reflection and interpretation of a particular phenomenon—as experienced by the researchers (Olt & Teman, 2019).…”

“…To engage in a multivoiced inquiry and explore how our development was influenced by the pandemic, we chose to employ polyethnography, identifying ourselves as researcher-participants or the “site of research” (Olt & Teman, 2019, p. 147). Polyethnography is grounded in a constructivist-interpretivist paradigm (Ponterotto, 2005) and is characterized by the reflection and interpretation of a particular phenomenon—as experienced by the researchers (Olt & Teman, 2019). Consistent with our own beliefs in approaching qualitative research, this methodology necessarily meant that our values and perspectives were central to the research process (also referred to as axiology; Ponterotto, 2005).…”

“…The purpose of this paper is to share the process and outcomes of our practical training experiences as counselling psychology doctoral students during COVID-19. To this end, we engaged in a qualitative study to share our voices and find meaning from our education and training experiences, which were interrupted by the global pandemic (Olt & Teman, 2019). Our objective was to explore how COVID-19 influenced our learning while simultaneously enhancing our professional development as psychologists in training.…”

“…As such, our inquiry was guided by the following research question: How was our development as emerging psychologists influenced in the context of a global pandemic? To address this question, we applied the Integrated Developmental Model (IDM; McNeill & Stoltenberg, 2016; Stoltenberg et al, 1998) and engaged in a polyethnographic conversation (Olt & Teman, 2019). IDM promotes both personal and professional growth (McNeill & Stoltenberg, 2016), which allowed us to be more self-aware of what we were experiencing as well as what our clients may have been undergoing.…”

Taking Back the Narrative: Gendered Anti-Blackness in Predominantly White Schools of Social Work

“…Here, we apply BFA to center multiple Black women scholars in dialogue with one another as empowered by phenomenological polyethnography. Phenomenological polyethnography examines a group of researchers' experiences as insiders with a specific phenomenon (Olt & Teman, 2019). Thus, our study deployed BFP to create an experiential commons or what Ward (2021) refers to as "a generative space" that allows Black women to inquisitively reflect upon our differences and similarities of experience, all the while rejecting dominant narratives of race and sex that dehumanize and seek to commodify our existence (p. 260).…”