phenomenology, a philosophical movement originating in the 20th century, the primary objective of which is the direct investigation and description of phenomena as consciously experienced, without theories about their causal explanation and as free as possible from unexamined preconceptions and presuppositions.

A qualitative research approach that helps in describing the lived experiences of an individual is known as phenomenological research. The phenomenological method focuses on studying the phenomena that have impacted an individual. This approach highlights the specifics and identifies a phenomenon as perceived by an individual in a situation.

It’s digging into questions like: “Why do certain songs make me feel sad?” or “What is it about the ocean that makes me feel calm?” Phenomenology is a way of exploring and explaining those things we feel and think when we encounter the world—looking deep into our personal reactions to what we see, hear, taste, touch, and smell.

Phenomenological research seeks to understand a phenomenon by exploring lived experiences of people.

However when social research is described as phenomenological this often implies that the researcher wants to uncover the meaning that people put on a phenomenon (typically an issue, event, practice). As Finlay puts it phenomenology aims for ‘fresh, complex, rich description of phenomena as concretely lived’ (Finlay, 2013).