Phenomenology (science)

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The term phenomenology in science is used to describe a body of knowledge that relates empirical observations of phenomena to each other, in a way that is consistent with fundamentaltheory, but is not directly derived from theory. For example, we find the following definition in the Concise Dictionary of Physics: Phenomenological Theory. A theory that expresses mathematically the results of observed phenomena without paying detailed attention to their fundamental significance.[1] The name is derived from phenomenon (from Greek o, pl. - phenomena and - - logia, translated as "study of" or "research"), which is any occurrence that is observable.
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1 Phenomenology in social statistics 2 Phenomenology in qualitative research 3 See also 4 References

[edit]Phenomenology

in social statistics

In the science of statistics, the collection of quantifiable data from people involves a phenomenological step. Namely, in order to obtain that data, survey questions must be designed to collectmeasurable responses that are categorized in a logically sound and practical way, such that the form in which the questions are asked does not bias the results. If this is not done, data distortions due to question-wording effects (response error) occur, and the data obtained may have no validity at all, because observations that do not have the same meaning (it would be like"adding up apples and pears") are counted up.[2] A prerequisite of a good survey is that all respondents are really able to give a definite and unambiguous answer to the questions, and that they understand what is asked of them in the same way. One could, for example, ask farmers, "How much risk do you run on your farm?" with a scale of response options ranging, for example, from "a lot of risk" to "no risk". But this yields quantitatively meaningless data that is not objective, since the interpretations of "how much risk" by farmers could focus, for example, on the number, size, frequency, severity, likelihood or consequence of risks, and each farmer will have his own idiosyncratic idea about that. All farmers may suffer, for example, from a lack of rainfall, but some will personally consider it a large risk, others a low risk, and some not a risk at all.

Furthermore, in actually asking the questions of respondents and subsequently coding the responses to numerical values, a technique must be found to ensure that no misinterpretation occurs of a type that would lead to errors. In other words, in designing the survey instrument, the researcher must somehow find a satisfactory "bridge" of meaning between the logical and practical requirements of the survey statistician, a statistical classification scheme, the awareness of respondents and the processors of the raw data. Finding this "bridge" involves an abstraction process that necessarily goes beyond logical inference, theory and experiment and involves an element of "art", because it must establish an appropriate connection between the language used, the intersubjective interactions between the surveyor and the respondent, and how respondents and those who process the data construct the meaning of what is being asked of them. For this cognitive process, it is impossible to provide a standard procedure that will always work, only "rules of thumb"; it requires a "practical" human insight.[3]

[edit]Phenomenology

in qualitative research

Generally, in the qualitative context, phenomenology is a method that "aims to get 'to the things themselves' through creating written descriptions of personal experience as the source of all claims to knowledge" (Conklin, 2007, p. 276).[4] A mode of inquiry that illuminates the complexity of human experience, phenomenology relies on the interpretive sensitivity, inventive thoughtfulness, scholarly tact, and writing talent of the human science researcher (van Manen, 1990, p. 34).[5] It relies on those things instead of arbitrary measures of consistency, uniformity, generalizability, and so on. Indeed, the phenomenologist aspires to understand the worldor a particular thing within itat the individual level, often in personal terms (Conklin, 2007, p. 276).[6]One dimension of phenomenology, according to Moustakas (1994), requires the researcher effectively to block out his or her assumptions and presuppositions, to eliminate them. That allows the researcher to look at things with an open mind and ultimately to make sense of them by allowing his or her consciousness to interact with the things in the world. As Moustakas said, What appears in consciousness is an absolute reality while what appears to the world is a product of learning (p. 27).[7]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phenomenology_(science) october 12,2012