Descriptive Phenomenological Psychological Research   [Archived Catalog]
2018-2019 Academic Catalog and Student Handbook with Spring Addendum
   

RES 3130 - Descriptive Phenomenological Psychological Research


The descriptive phenomenological psychological method is a qualitative research method that is an expression of the human science movement in psychology. This research method is Giorgi's adaptation of Husserl's phenomenological philosophy for psychology. Using the method, researchers interview participants regarding a psychologically meaningful experience and then work in a caring and demanding way to make explicit the psychological meanings in the data using specific steps: employing the phenomenological reduction and epoché, exercising free imaginative variation, and searching for the least-variant psychological structures within a given context. This is a hands-on course the emphasizes and provides mentoring in the concrete steps necessary for phenomenological research, as well as introduce necessary theoretical concepts including intentionality, the phenomenological reduction and "intuition" as understood in phenomenology. This course is an introduction to the practice of research, and is required for students who are considering using phenomenology in their practicum or dissertation. (Ph.D. program only) Prerequisite(s): Completion of RES 1015 . 3 credit(s)