Page 432 - Encyclopedia of Nursing Research

PHeNOMeNOlOGY n 399

inconsistencies within the literature, and as which refers to the inseparable connected-
a result, the magnitude of the health benefits ness of human beings to the world. Subject
may be over or underestimated, begging the and object are united in being-in-the-world. P
question as to whether the populations that One cannot describe either the subjective or
benefit would faire just as well enjoying other objective world but only the world as expe-
living environments like gardening or walk- rienced by the subject. The observer is not
ing in green spaces, and so forth. even rig- separate from the observed. One can know
orous experimental designs used in natural what one experiences only by attending to
settings are subject to intervening variables perceptions and meanings that awaken con-
that are outside of the researchers’ control scious awareness. Phenomenologists hold
(Wilson & Barker, 2003). Other considerations that human existence is meaningful only in
include sample selection within specific the sense that persons are always conscious
populations (i.e., patients with Alzheimer’s of something. Meaning emerges from the
disease), which makes randomization mean- relationship between the person and the
ingless (Wilson & Barker, 2003) and is not world as the person gives meaning to expe-
always accurate in generalizing groups from riences. Phenomenology focuses on lived
one facility to another. experience, that is, human involvement in
With that being said, Beck and Hatcher the world.
(2003) concluded that the available data do In phenomenology, the process of
suggest that animals play a significant role in recovering our original awareness is called
benefiting the lives of humans, and despite reduction. Through phenomenological
the deluge of anecdotal evidence and rela- reduction, one refrains from preconceived
tively fragile empirical data, the field of AAT notions and judgments. The layers of mean-
continues to be vibrant and alive in a vari- ing provided by a researcher’s knowledge
ety of clinical and nonclinical settings. In an and interpretation are preserved by being
effort to make the practice more mainstream temporarily set aside—that is, bracketing.
and accepted throughout the various disci- Through phenomenological reduction, the
plines, current practitioners conducting evi- world of everyday experience becomes
dence-based research are needed to provide accessible.
well-designed research studies to further edmund Husserl is considered the father
scientifically demonstrate the efficacy that so of phenomenology. His is a descriptive phe-
many have experienced while using animal- nomenology. He was interested in the episte-
assisted interventions. mological question, How do we know about
man? The goal of his phenomenology is the
Amy R. Johnson description of the lived world. Husserl’s
student, Martin Heidegger, took phenom-
enology in a different direction and was
more interested in the ontological question,
Phenomenology What is being? The goal of his phenomenol-
ogy, called hermeneutic phenomenology,
was understanding. This understanding is
Phenomenology refers to both a philosoph- achieved through interpretation. Heidegger
ical movement and a research method. The argued that it was not possible to bracket
philosophical underpinnings of phenom- one’s being-in-the-world.
enology are first summarized to provide a The phenomenological philosophies of
backdrop for what this methodology aims Husserl and Heidegger have different meth-
to accomplish. One of the philosophical odological implications for nurse research-
tenets of phenomenology is intentionality, ers. Husserlian phenomenology focuses