Introduction to Phenomenology and its Application in Qualitative Research (FutureLearn)

Find out about the philosophical fundamentals of phenomenology and how it can be integrated in qualitative research. Build strong qualitative research methods and learn how to use phenomenology. Phenomenology is one of the most influential philosophy schools. It focuses on exploring in-depth aspects of lived experience in a variety of contexts. On this four-week course, you’ll get to know the main themes of philosophical phenomenology and how it can be put to use in qualitative research.

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Through real-life examples, you will find out how qualitative researchers have benefitted from using this philosophical tradition.

You’ll also discover how phenomenology and qualitative methods work together and how you can integrate phenomenology at different stages of a qualitative research project.

Using phenomenology in the study of human lived experience enables researchers to access insights that other approaches cannot achieve. Often, it can be the only possible way to study certain topics in social sciences.

Nevertheless, guidance for researchers in the humanities and social sciences is scarce. This course will help fill this gap by showing you how phenomenology can be put to use in academic fields focusing on, for example, education, sport, psychology, and health.

You’ll critically examine examples of how phenomenology has been applied and gain practical skills in how this can be done.

Discover phenomenological research with The Open University and the University of Southern Denmark

Throughout the course, you will engage in debates with other learners to help you evaluate the challenges of integrating phenomenology and qualitative research methodologies. You will also have the opportunity to start thinking about your own research project and interests.

This course has been designed by The Open University – an industry lead in distance education – and the SDU (University of Southern Denmark), to provide you with a supportive social learning experience.

What will you achieve?

By the end of the course, you‘ll be able to...

- Explore the main themes of philosophical phenomenology.

- Assess the benefits of using this philosophical tradition in qualitative research.

- Explore how to integrate phenomenology at different stages of a qualitative research project.

- Evaluate the challenges of integrating phenomenology and qualitative research methodologies.

- Engage with debates related to this interdisciplinary methodology.

- Evaluate examples of research which integrate phenomenology and qualitative methodologies in education, health and sport.