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Deep Swimming and Murky Waters: Phenomenological Interviewing - Reflections from the Field

Received: 16 April 2014     Accepted: 4 May 2014     Published: 20 May 2014
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Abstract

The overall aim of this exercise is to reflect on the merits and caveats of phenomenological interviewing as an educational research tool. To this end, I endeavor to conduct small-scale research using phenomenological interviewing and analysis and to reflect on the process. The phenomenon being researched is junior secondary pupils’ (13-16) lived experience of teacher-pupil mentoring as part of a 2011-2012 school based mentoring initiative in a mixed gender community school in South East Ireland. Issues related to the use of phenomenology in educational research shall be presented, leading to the derived research question. Interviews as a research instrument shall be discussed, with particular emphasis on phenomenological interviewing, followed by sampling and ethical concerns. Interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) and discussion of findings are presented, followed by conclusions drawn from the study. Finally, I shall reflect on whether the process has succeeded in answering the research question whilst also offering my opinions on the promises and pitfalls of phenomenological interviewing and suggestions for future practice.

Published in Education Journal (Volume 3, Issue 3)
DOI 10.11648/j.edu.20140303.18
Page(s) 170-178
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2014. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Phenomenology, Interviewing, Teacher-Pupil Mentoring

References
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    David King. (2014). Deep Swimming and Murky Waters: Phenomenological Interviewing - Reflections from the Field. Education Journal, 3(3), 170-178. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.edu.20140303.18

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    David King. Deep Swimming and Murky Waters: Phenomenological Interviewing - Reflections from the Field. Educ. J. 2014, 3(3), 170-178. doi: 10.11648/j.edu.20140303.18

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    AMA Style

    David King. Deep Swimming and Murky Waters: Phenomenological Interviewing - Reflections from the Field. Educ J. 2014;3(3):170-178. doi: 10.11648/j.edu.20140303.18

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  • @article{10.11648/j.edu.20140303.18,
      author = {David King},
      title = {Deep Swimming and Murky Waters: Phenomenological Interviewing - Reflections from the Field},
      journal = {Education Journal},
      volume = {3},
      number = {3},
      pages = {170-178},
      doi = {10.11648/j.edu.20140303.18},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.edu.20140303.18},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.edu.20140303.18},
      abstract = {The overall aim of this exercise is to reflect on the merits and caveats of phenomenological interviewing as an educational research tool. To this end, I endeavor to conduct small-scale research using phenomenological interviewing and analysis and to reflect on the process. The phenomenon being researched is junior secondary pupils’ (13-16) lived experience of teacher-pupil mentoring as part of a 2011-2012 school based mentoring initiative in a mixed gender community school in South East Ireland. Issues related to the use of phenomenology in educational research shall be presented, leading to the derived research question. Interviews as a research instrument shall be discussed, with particular emphasis on phenomenological interviewing, followed by sampling and ethical concerns. Interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) and discussion of findings are presented, followed by conclusions drawn from the study. Finally, I shall reflect on whether the process has succeeded in answering the research question whilst also offering my opinions on the promises and pitfalls of phenomenological interviewing and suggestions for future practice.},
     year = {2014}
    }
    

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    AB  - The overall aim of this exercise is to reflect on the merits and caveats of phenomenological interviewing as an educational research tool. To this end, I endeavor to conduct small-scale research using phenomenological interviewing and analysis and to reflect on the process. The phenomenon being researched is junior secondary pupils’ (13-16) lived experience of teacher-pupil mentoring as part of a 2011-2012 school based mentoring initiative in a mixed gender community school in South East Ireland. Issues related to the use of phenomenology in educational research shall be presented, leading to the derived research question. Interviews as a research instrument shall be discussed, with particular emphasis on phenomenological interviewing, followed by sampling and ethical concerns. Interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) and discussion of findings are presented, followed by conclusions drawn from the study. Finally, I shall reflect on whether the process has succeeded in answering the research question whilst also offering my opinions on the promises and pitfalls of phenomenological interviewing and suggestions for future practice.
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  • Hibernia College, Dublin

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