Exploring human experience through phenomenological research

A phenomenological investigation, according to Creswell (2007) (p. 57), is described as the “life experience of several individuals on a concept or a phenomenon." Transforming individual experiences with a phenomenon to a description of the universal essence is the aim of the phenomenological method (Creswell, 2007, p. 58). This research paper aims to educate the research fraternity on phenomenological research methodology. Phenomenology is one of the most widely utilized qualitative approaches in PhD Thesis and research studies. A study that applies phenomenological research methodology aims to investigate people's perceptions and comprehension of a specific situation. According to Christensen, Johnstone, and Turner (2010), phenomenological research is distinct from other forms of qualitative inquiry in that it aims to comprehend the essence of a phenomenon from the viewpoint of people who have experienced it. To provide diverse perspectives on the topic under investigation, these investigations require a sufficient number of participants (Moustakas, 1994), for the researcher needs to describe the population of interest providing demographic information about the population to be sampled. Sampling is usually purposive or snowball; the sample size is 8-15, depending on the text referenced.

A phenomenological study revolves around the lived experience of a group of people around a particular phenomenon as the main research issue. Its strong methodological and philosophical foundation makes it applicable to practically every subject.