Abstract
Despite a long history of researchers who combine phenomenology with qualitative or quantitative methods, there are only few examples of working with a phenomenological mixed method—a method where phenomenology informs both qualitative and quantitative data generation, analysis, and interpretation. Researchers have argued that in working with a phenomenological mixed method, there should be mutual constraint and enlightenment between the qualitative (first-person, subjective) and quantitative (third-person, objective) methods for studying consciousness. In this article, we discuss what a framework for phenomenological mixed methods could look like and we aim to provide guidance of how to work within such framework. We are inspired by resources coming from research in mixed methods and existing examples of phenomenological mixed-method research. We also present three cases of phenomenological mixed methods where we study complex social phenomena and discuss the process of how we conducted the studies. From both the research inspiration and our own studies, we depict the landscape of possibilities available for those interested in mixing phenomenology with qualitative and quantitative methods, as well as the challenges and common pitfalls that researchers face. To navigate in this landscape, we develop a three-fold structure, focusing on (1) the phenomenological frame, (2) the phenomenologically informed generation of qualitative and quantitative data (tier one), and (3) the phenomenologically informed analysis and interpretation of data (tier two).
Highlights
How do we investigate consciousness with its manifold nuances and complexities? Philosophers working within the philosophical tradition of phenomenology have, since its inception, tried to answer this methodological question, while breaking up disciplinary frontiers and working in interdisciplinary contexts
Inspiration: Mixing With Phenomenology, we discuss what we mean by “phenomenological” in a mixedmethod context, look at challenges found in the literature for working with phenomenological mixed methods, and discuss two inspirational examples, namely, microphenomenology (Bitbol and Petitmengin, 2017) and the EASE interview (Parnas et al, 2005) from phenomenological psychopathology. This inspiration was the point of departure from which we engaged in our three studies and which helped us in dealing with the methodological challenges, which we present in section Process: Three Cases of How to Use Phenomenological Mixed Methods
Challenges, and few cases of phenomenological mixed methods presented above, we engaged in three different studies to investigate complex social phenomena using phenomenological mixed methods
Summary
Philosophers working within the philosophical tradition of phenomenology have, since its inception, tried to answer this methodological question, while breaking up disciplinary frontiers and working in interdisciplinary contexts. Despite this effort, there are fewer examples of working with a phenomenological mixed method. To work with a phenomenological mixed method is to phenomenologically inform both the qualitative and quantitative data generation, analysis, and interpretation. Varela argued that in order for cognitive science to work as a scientific method for studying consciousness, a mutual constraint [ called mutual enlightenment (Gallagher, 1997)] should exist between firstperson (qualitative) and third-person (quantitative) methods in generating, analyzing, and validating both subjective and objective data. Philosophical phenomenology was used as the theoretical foundation for framing the mutual constraint and enlightening the two methods
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