Drowning in Muddied Waters or Swimming Downstream?: A Critical Analysis of Literature Reviewing in a Phenomenological Study through an Exploration of the Lifeworld, Reflexivity and Role of the Researcher

Abstract

This paper proceeds from examining the debate regarding the question of whether a systematic literature review should be undertaken within a qualitative research study to focusing specifically on the role of a literature review in a phenomenological study. Along with pointing to the pertinence of orienting to, articulating and delineating the phenomenon within a review of the literature, the paper presents an appropriate approach for this purpose. How a review of the existing literature should locate the focal phenomenon within a given context is illustrated by excerpts from the first author’s literature review within a descriptive phenomenological study. Also discussed is the important issue of when the researcher should fully enter the attitude of the phenomenological reduction and how this may influence the study.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Jane Fry

Dr Jane Fry is a Senior Lecturer in midwifery in the Faculty of Health and Social Sciences at Bournemouth University in England, and was previously a practising midwife in a community setting. Her areas of scholarship and publication include student case loading, the humanisation of midwifery care, midwifery epistemology, and phenomenology.

Dr Fry recently completed her doctoral research at Bournemouth University, with her dissertation entitled A Descriptive Phenomenological Study of Independent Midwives’ Use of Intuition as an Authoritative Form of Knowledge in Practice.

Janet Scammell

Professor Janet Scammell is an Associate Professor of Nursing in the Faculty of Health and Social Sciences at Bournemouth University in England.

She is an experienced nurse academic with research interests in nurse education and health inequalities affecting older people as well as people from Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) backgrounds. She teaches humanising care issues at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels.

Professor Scammell is a Principal Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and has considerable experience of leading innovative curriculum development. Currently she is leading funded research concerning nurse retention in collaboration with NHS partners.

Sue Barker

Dr Sue Barker is a Lecturer in Mental Health at Cardiff University in Wales. A mental health nurse for over 30 years, she is a Chartered Psychologist and an Associate Fellow of the British Psychological Society.

Dr Barker has a long-standing interest in emotional wellbeing, and her PhD focused on emotional care. Her phenomenological approach to understanding people’s emotional experiences has supported both her practice and writing related to person-centred, humanised and compassionate care.