Contributions of Phenomenology as a Methodological Perspective in the Human Sciences

Abstract

Contributions of Phenomenology as a Methodological Perspective in the Human Sciences

Abstract

This article presents phenomenology as a research method that can be applied in different knowledge areas, especially human sciences. Through Edmund Husserl’s phenomenological perspective and his concepts of consciousness intentionality and phenomenological reduction, it is possible to research data originating from subjectivity and consciousness qualitatively. Husserl’s perspective also allows researchers to identify universal essences that characterize the participants’ experiences of the lifeworld. Phenomenology contributes to a better understanding of subjective experiences in human sciences while producing a reflection on authentic, ethical, and rational existence. Although researchers that use phenomenology as a methodological perspective face challenges such as access to subjective experiences and the need for a method that analyses data rigorously through the suspension of judgment (epoché), the phenomenological method is essential to the humanities area.

Key-words: phenomenology – methodological perspective – human sciences – phenomenological reduction – challenges