A PHENOMENOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE ON CERTAIN QUALITATIVE RESEARCH METHODS

In this article the phenomenological approach to qualitative research is compared with certain other qualitative approaches following other paradigms. The thesis is that a deepened understanding of phenomenolog ical philosophy can provide the alternative framework that many of the se authors have been seeking. The comparison with other approaches is made in terms of theoretical and methodical consistency. Theoretically , the argument is that the situation known as ''mixed discourse'' exis ts because practitioners have not sufficiently freed themselves from t he criteria and practices of traditional paradigms in which most quali tative researchers have been trained. The shift from the collection of numerical data to linguistic data takes place without appropriate shi ft in theoretical context. This state of affairs should be overcome in order to strengthen qualitative research. On the other hand, many qua litative researchers carry on practices that seem to be analogous to p henomenological prescriptions which are explicitly usually misundersto od or resisted when stated directly and generically. Thus, greater the oretical clarity and consistency as well as deeper reflection or bette r utilization of imaginative possibilities still seem to be called for in order to bring better theoretical conceptualization and more consi stent practices to qualitative research.