Chapter 3 Notes

CHAPTER3:
ALTERNATIVES TO EXPERIMENATION: Elements of Phenomenological Research

NONEXPERIMENTAL DESIGN
1. It attempts to identify shared experience among
Describing Research Activities various individuals experiencing the same
phenomena.
 All approaches to research can be
described along two major dimensions: (1) 2. It attempts to locate the universal nature of an
the degree of manipulation of antecedent experience.
conditions and (2) the degree of imposition
of units 3. It attempts to locate the essence of the
 Experiments are typically high in degree of experience.
manipulation; nonexperimental are usually
low
4. The account of their experience includes
a.What was experienced?
b. How they experienced it?
Phenomenology may lead us into areas of

discovery that might otherwise go unnoticed. This
can be a useful source of information that may lead
us to formulate hypotheses
CASE STUDY is a descriptive record of a single

Internal Validity – research is high in internal
individual’s experiences, or behaviors, or both, kept
validity if we can demonstrate with certainty that the
by an outside observer. This method involves no
changes in the behavior observed across treatment
manipulation of antecedent conditions.
conditions were actually caused by differences in
treatments.
Kazdin (2003) argued that case studies serve five
major purposes
External Validity – is the extent to which results of a
study are generalizable to other situations or 1. They are a source of inferences,
groups. hypothesis, and theories.
2. They are a source for developing therapy
PHENOMENOLOGY is the description of an techniques.
individual's immediate experience.
3. They allow the study of rare phenomena.
Rather than looking at behaviors and events that
4. They provide exceptions, or
are external to us, we begin with personal
counterinstances, to accepted ideas,
experience as a source of data. theories, or practices.
Antecedents are not manipulated and data may 5. They have persuasive or motivational value.
consist of any immediate experience; no
constraints are imposed. Limitations
Pure phenomenological research seeks essentially 1. Working with only one or perhaps a few
to describe rather than explain, and to start from a subjects, we cannot be sure the people we
are evaluating are representative of the
perspective free from hypotheses / pre-conceptions
general population.
(Husserl,1970)
2. If we are not able to observe an individual
directly all the time, we cannot be sure that
we are aware of all the relevant o Disease rates
aspects of that persons’ life. Where to access these Informations?
o Library
3. Subjects or others providing data for case o Films
studies might neglect to mention important o Newspapers
information, either because they believe it is o Magazines
irrelevant or because they find it Example of an archival study
embarrassing. Bowman (1992)
- Studies some controversial issues about African
4. Case studies frequently rely on American men – namely,
retrospective data. documented discouragement over employments
and problems with family roles –
Retrospective data are data collected in the form a positive perspective.
present that are based on the recollections of
past events. QUALITATIVE RESEARCH
Relies on words rather than numbers for data being
5. Lastly because we have not created collected.
antecedent conditions in case studies, we It focuses on:
cannot make cause and effect statements o Self-reports
about the behaviors we have observe. o Personal narratives
o Expression of ideas
FIELD STUDIES are nonexperimental o Memories
approaches used in the field or in real-life o Feeling
settings. Antecedent conditions are not o Thoughts
manipulated in field studies, but the degree Paradigm
- a set of attitudes, values, beliefs, methods, and
of constraint on responses varies
procedures that are generally accepted
considerably from study to study.
within a particular discipline at a certain time.
 Naturalistic Observation Studies is  Qualitative research is used to study
the technique of observing behaviors phenomena that are contextual, meaning
as they occur spontaneously in they can’t be understood without the context
natural settings. which they appear.
 Participant-Observer Studies is Example on how a qualitative method can
where the researcher actually sometimes enhance quantitative research
becomes part of the group being
studied. “Pinkerton Investigators Surveil Individuals Driving
with a Suspended License.”
Empirical phenomenology (contemporary

ARCHIVAL STUDY phenomenology)
- A descriptive research method in which already Relies on researchers own experiences or
existing records are examined for a experiential data provided by others.
new purpose.
Datas’ collected by: Empiric data relies on one or more of the
o Governments and private agencies following sources of data
o Hospitals - The researchers self-reflection or experiences
o Businesses relevant to the phenomenon of
o Schools interest.
o Institutes and so on. - Participants oral or written description of their
Data information’s that are accessible are: experiences of the phenomenon.
o Crime rate - Accounts of the phenomenon obtained from
o Death rate literature, poetry, visual arts, Television,
o Education levels theatre, and previous phenomenological research.
o Salaries Example of an Empirical phenomenology
Buchbinder and Eisikovits (2002)
o Housing patters
- Conducted a remarkable qualitative study of
female victims of domestic violence in Israel.
There are many sources of potential bias in

qualitative research. The most important measure
of the goodness of a qualitative study lies in
reproducibility. Others Should be able to replicate it
with similar result.

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CHAPTER3:

ALTERNATIVES TO EXPERIMENATION: Elements of Phenomenological Research

Phenomenology may lead us into areas of

CASE STUDY is a descriptive record of a single

Empirical phenomenology (contemporary

There are many sources of potential bias in

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