Examining a qualitative study through a phenomenological lens

 

Introduction

 

The type of method a researcher chooses to complete their research will shape and develop the outcome of a study. In this post, I will take a research paper of my choice and examine it from the point of view of the researcher, researched, research and reader through a phenomenological approach.

 

Overview of chosen paper

 

The research paper I chose is The Daily Text: Increasing Parental Involvement in Education with Mobile Text Messaging (Pakter & Chen, 2013) (“The Daily Text”). In this study, the researchers investigate whether the use of text messaging via cell phones to communicate between teachers and parents has measurable results on the academic performance of students.

 

Parental involvement in a student’s education has been proven to improve student achievement, decrease delinquency, and improve overall student behaviour (Hohlfeld, Ritzhaupt, & Barron, 2010). The study examines the effectiveness of communication forms beyond conventional email and website posts in a lower social economic population as this population generally has lesser access to the Internet. The Daily Text focuses on how communicating by text messages could increase parental involvement in education and what impacts that might have on students.

 

The researchers in The Daily Text, asked two specific research questions:

 

  • What impact does the use of text messages between teachers and parents have on student achievement and attendance?
  • How can text messages between teachers and parents influence the students’ learning?

 

 

The researchers collected quantitative information to examine whether communication via text messaging could impact students’ academic outcomes. The researchers used the following quantitative outlines to measure the students’ performances:

 

  • attendance and;
  • overall grade in the course under study.

 

Twenty-nine students and their families volunteered to receive text messages from teachers.

 

Results

 

The results showed that there was no statistically significant difference in the students’ grades or attendance with the use of text messages. The researchers attribute this to a small sample size and speculate that a school-wide implementation of the strategy would be required to impact grades and attendance.

 

 

Using a phenomenological approach

 

As cited above, the Daily Text used quantitative measures to conduct its research. If the researchers had used a phenomenological method of research, the study as whole would have profoundly changed the way we look and interpret this study.

 

Phenomenology is the study of lived human experience phenomena within the everyday social context of the individual’s perspective that experienced it. It requires a shift in thinking on how we perceive experiences and how we reflect on them to facilitate meaning (Somekh & Lewin, 2004). Attaching this lens to this study would facilitate a significant change in the way the study was carried out.

 

Research

 

Context

 

In the phenomenological approach, what ultimately grants us the ability to reflect on the research is the lived experience as they pass through a state of wonder. As a result, the research would be defined by an individual’s experiences and what questions might arise from their own personal experiences. The context would construct the situated meaning of the individual experience, and develop a sense of the whole.

 

How does this impact us as teachers?

 

Phenomenology stresses that everyday events in our lives can have deeper meaning and the habitual experiences of everyday life can possess hidden and originating ideas (Van Manen, 2014). As teachers, we strive to understand the complexity of our students’ lives that help form the understanding of our relationships. These relationships are the underlining stream that will create meaning to our research.

 

According to the study I chose (Pakter & Chen, 2013), there was minimal investigation and meaningful reflection into the relationship between the student and their families and how an increase of communication would impact the students’ experiences.

 

If relationships and meaningful reflection with the families was made the focus of the study, there could have been an increase in the overall atmosphere and composition of the study. With a focus on relationships, this could have highlighted how the participants experienced the phenomenon and in turn help the researchers develop meaning from it.

 

As a teacher, my everyday experiences create reflection on which methods could create increased communication between families. For example, a teacher who uses text messages to communicate with their significant other and also observes their students using text messages to communicate with their parents might reflect on this. If I as a teacher value text as a meaningful way of communication and parents see it as a reputable way to connect with their own children. This realization could provoke the sense of wonder and curiosity and start the process of reflective insight. Although, this simplified version is not a completely pure phenomenological insight due to it’s objectifying of events, it shows the underlying philosophy of how wonder and experience could lead to inquiry.

 

Understanding that communication can create different outcomes

 

The main goal of the Daily Text was to see if grades and attendance would improve with the changes that they made (Pakter & Chen, 2013). However, through the lens of phenomenological reflection the whole framework and the outcomes it created could have completely shifted.

 

Communication can open up spaces that can allow a relationship to evolve (Manen & Adams, 2009). In the example of the Daily Text, the relationships of the teachers with the families would have significantly impacted how the text messages were initially received and interpreted. For example, if the relationship was in its infancy, the initial text might have a feeling of judgement or adjudication, although this is likely not the intention of the teacher. As communication continued and trust is formed the experience of the families would not be as static and rigid but would become dynamic.

 

The Researched

 

In the Daily Text, the researchers use grades and attendance to measure changes created by increased communication with parents (Pakter & Chen, 2013). The phenomenological method does not aim to create an explanation but instead aims to provide a meaningful description and interpretation of the reflection (Somekh & Lewin, 2004). Through a phenomenological lens, the study would be altered, as it would look at a multitude of different aspects instead of just concrete outcomes.

 

The study could have focused on many different aspects. Some examples are as follows:

 

  • Does increased parent involvement change the individual experience of success?
  • Does one individual’s experience indicate a change in the community as a whole?
  • How do relationships between individual’s experiences impact families, teachers and their community?

 

The Researcher

 

What is their role?

 

In this case the role of the researcher is not to find quantitative information but rather to look at how “lived experience” can inform reflection and meaning. The researcher should not be looking at shifts in grades or attendance but instead should reflect on how the students and their own experiences could lead to wonder and inquiry and over-arching meaning to collective outcomes.

 

How is the experience lived out?

 

The researcher must look at how everyday experiences of relationships between teachers, students and parents, create meaning and thoughtful practices. By using the phenomenological method, the researchers would have explored and reflected on communication, and its impacts on experience. If a relationship does not yet exist, a text message creates a very different experience for the recipient as it is created by text alone. Although, the teacher might have met the guardians of the student and a relationship might have been formed, the essence of the conversation is “through only one modality”: text, and is therefore the only method that meaning, presence and contact are formed (Manen & Adams, 2009:17). If face-to-face communication has occurred then the two parties know the underlying gestures and tones of the person, and the text can potentially be read differently creating a different lived experience for all parties involved.

 

Reader

 

The readers and their role

 

By using the phenomenological method, the relationships between the parents, teachers, students, learning community and classroom environment would fuel the study and influence how the narratives are explained and how they develop meaning. The questions that would emerge and be reflected on, would ultimately drive the researcher and reader to dive deeper into inquiry and force new lines of inquiry that quantitative research would not.

 

How would it impact your practice and what would others see in the class?

 

I believe that the relationships built between the families and the teacher would greatly impact the classroom culture and environment. Social and cultural context would have to be investigated further by the teacher, and this would lead to stronger ties and understanding between the teachers, students and community.

 

Conclusion (Questions and Insights)

 

My main insight from the articles is that phenomenology does not focus on quantitative information but focuses on individual context and meaningful reflection that develop over time. I believe that this type of research is emerging and challenging the paradigm of traditional research methods that relay heavily on non-personal interviews and data. As this occurs this will allow for deeper investigations into the context of studies.

 

Phenomenological research would allow an openness to be brought to the space that is being researched. It would allow investigation into cultural issues that are not explored in other types of research, which in turn would allow for a deeper understanding of these issues. This shift of research would allow for a better understanding of Indigenous education and reflect on how colonialism has impacted education in a broader sense.

 

Image credit: Photo by Steven Wright on Unsplash

 

 

 

Hohlfeld, T. N., Ritzhaupt, A. D., & Barron, A. E. (2010). Connecting schools, community, and family with ICT: Four-year trends related to school level and SES of public schools in Florida. Computers & Education, 55(1), 391–405. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2010.02.004

Manen, M. V., & Adams, C. (2009). The Phenomenology of Space in Writing Online. Educational Philosophy and Theory, 41(1), 10–21. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-5812.2008.00480.x

Pakter, A., & Chen, L.-L. (2013). The Daily Text: Increasing Parental Involvement in Education with Mobile Text Messaging. Journal of Educational Technology Systems, 41(4), 353–367. https://doi.org/10.2190/ET.41.4.f

Somekh, B., & Lewin, C. (2004). Research Methods in the Social Sciences. Retrieved from http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/uvic/detail.action?docID=254604

Van Manen, M. (2014). Phenomenology of practice: Meaning-giving methods in phenomenological research and writing. Walnut Creek, California: Left Coast Press.