by Creswell’s (2013: 260) recommended standards when assessing the quality of a phenomenological study. These evaluation standards, which are presented by Creswell in the form of questions, are placed in bold and italics below, following each of which the researcher explicates how these standards were adhered to.
Does the author convey an understanding of the philosophical tenets of phenomenology? Yes. An elaborate deconstruction of the phenomenological philosophy and tradition was provided by the researcher in Chapter 3 of this thesis. A distinction was made between Husserl’s transcendental phenomenology and the hermeneutic stance embraced by Heidegger. The researcher then continued to provide justification for his adoption of the hermeneutic stance.
Does the author have a clear ‘phenomenon’ to study that is articulated in a concise way? Yes. ‘Investigating human trafficking for sexual exploitation’ as the phenomenon under study was clearly articulated in Chapter 1. Any possibility of misinterpretation by participants was guarded against by including a description of Heidegger’s reference to alētheia, denoting the notion of ‘truth’ as unconcealment, and
Erschlossenheit (see Section 1.7.3), denoting a process of disclosure, which allowed
for the capturing of a variety of experiences (both direct and indirect) related to ‘investigating’. Van Manen’s (2014: 39) deconstruction of the meaning of ‘lived experience’ was also provided, which allowed for a deeper understanding by participants of what the study sought to achieve.
Does the author use procedures of data analysis in phenomenology? Yes. The crux of the data analysis centred on Creswell’s (2013: 193-194) simplified version of Moustakas’ (1994) phenomenological analysis which was described in Chapter 3 and operationalised in Chapter 4, 5 and 6. Codes were created from transcribed data and combined into broader categories and themes. Both textural and structural descriptions of participants’ lived experiences were illuminated with verbatim quotes from interviews. Continuously dwelling in the data, the researcher continued to iteratively read, think, write, reread, rethink, and rewrite as he awaited glimpses of the phenomenon and identified multiple meanings and experiences associated with the investigation into human trafficking for sexual exploitation.
Does the author convey the overall essence of the experience of the participants? Does this essence include a description of the experience and the context in which it occurred? Yes. The overall essence of participants’ lived experiences was written up in a detailed paragraph in Chapter 6. Both a textural and structural description of the experiences was written and the experiences were
explicated and positioned within the South African, and the broader international, context.
Is the author reflexive throughout the study? Yes. In addition to the reflexive autobiographical problem statement written by the researcher in Chapter 1, he continued to be reflexive throughout the study by explicating his views and disagreements where he deemed this was justified. The researcher also has an audit trail available in the form of journal entries, which provides insights into his thinking, reasoning, biases and decision-making processes.
In addition to the aforementioned methodological standards of evaluation in phenomenological research, as proposed by Creswell (2013: 260), the researcher also reflected on Van Manen’s (2014: 355-356) criteria for evaluating the phenomenological quality of a study. The criteria, their descriptions, and the researcher’s responses to the criteria are presented in Table 3.1 below.
Table 3.1: Criteria for evaluating the phenomenological quality of a study
Criteria Description Response
Heuristic questioning Does the text induce a sense of contemplative wonder and questioning attentiveness – ti estin (the wonder what this is) and hoti estin (the wonder that something exists at all)?
Yes
Descriptive richness Does the text contain rich and recognisable experiential material?
Yes
Interpretive depth Does the text offer reflective insights that go beyond the taken-for-granted
understandings of everyday life?
Yes
Distinctive rigour Does the text remain constantly guided by a self-critical question of distinct meaning of the phenomenon or event?
Yes
Strong and addressive meaning
Does the text ‘speak’ to and address our sense of embodied being?
Yes
Experiential awakening Does the text awaken prereflective or primal experience through vocative and
presentative language?
Criteria Description Response Inceptual epiphany Does the study offer us the possibility of
deeper and original insight and, perhaps, an intuitive or inspirited grasp of the ethics and ethos of life commitments and practices?
Yes
Source: Van Manen (2014: 355-356)
Finlay (2009: 8) notes that a phenomenological method is sound if there is an appropriate nexus with some phenomenological philosophy or theory, and if its assertions about method are “justified and consistent”. Moving into the hermeneutic realm, Spence (2016: 5) argues that a worthy phenomenological thesis must ‘show’ and ‘tell’. The findings should “constitute a contribution to the dialectic between human
experience, science, reflective practice, and practical wisdom”. Findings should
provoke further contemplation and possible meanings as “all understandings open to
growth and change” (Spence, 2016: 5).
A defining quality indicator in Heideggerian research, according to Lowes and Prowse (2001: 478), is a detailed elucidation of the interviewer’s preconceptions and reference to these throughout the research process. As with most qualitative studies, a large volume of research-generated data emerged over the course of five years. An elaborate and transparent audit trail was created by the researcher, which includes notations on the context in which the study was conducted, methodological decisions, data analysis procedures and self-awareness of the researcher. Such an audit trail is particularly important as a means of substantiating the trustworthiness of the research (Rodgers & Cowles, 1993: 219) and of conveying what was done to the reader (Malterud, 2001: 486). The interpretations in this study were submitted to a rigorous process of analysis which amplifies possibilities for interventions, policymaking, philosophy and research (Crist & Tanner, 2003: 205). A dialectical researcher’s engagement with philosophy, methodology and method, as encouraged by Spence (2016: 6), was practised, which exemplified the “part-whole relationships” that constitute hermeneutic scholarship to realise the internal congruence necessary for robust research.
3.6 SUMMARY
The chapter began by outlining the philosophical overview, in which postmodernism and constructivism were deconstructed and positioned as the most appropriate philosophical worldview for achieving the research aim and objectives that were set out by the researcher. Phenomenology and its hermeneutic school of thought were then discussed within a qualitative research approach, which allowed for the essence and meaning of participants’ lived experiences to emerge whilst moving towards a place of ‘unconcealment’ as advocated by Martin Heidegger’s hermeneutic stance. With due consideration to the wisdom of crowds, the sampling was presented and included a multipronged representation of participants that had first-hand experience in the investigation of human trafficking for sexual exploitation. The variety of participants included in the research also served as an enabler for this study’s application of complex systems theory to the investigation of human trafficking for sexual exploitation. Data analysis, ethical considerations and strategies for ensuring the accuracy of the research were also discussed. The lived experiences of participants are presented in the next chapter.
CHAPTER 4 ‘LIVED EXPERIENCES’: INVESTIGATING HUMAN TRAFFICKING