Consideraciones y procedimientos

3.2 Method

3.2.1 Study Design

This is a small, qualitative, idiographic study using purposive sampling to collect data from eight first-time mothers via semi-structured interviews.

In order to meet the philosophical and epistemological aims of this research van Manen's (1990) phenomenological-hermeneutic method was employed to analyse the data. This was combined with van Deurzen's (1997) framework of Four Dimensions of Existence which was be used as a framework to supervise and give structure to the research findings.

Van Manen (1990) argued that although a method can be addressed as a useful mechanism to undertake research, fixed signposts do not necessarily determine a method and do not support a flexible philosophy of phenomenological hermeneutics. However, he highlights that certain ways can be used to guide phenomenological research rather than being a set of fixed guidelines that need to be followed. For guidance and boundaries of this research journey, I followed the framework of the six methodological themes introduced by van Manen (1990).

1. Turning to a phenomenon which seriously interests us and commits us to the world;

Van Manen (1990) highlights that 'lived experience is the starting point and

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end point of phenomenological research' (p.36), when the phenomenological investigation begins with identifying what it is that deeply interests the researcher, questioning this phenomenon 'as a certain way of being in the world', creatively attempting to capture the essence of this phenomenon in a 'linguistic description that is holistic and analytical, evocative and precise, unique and universal, powerful and sensitive'. Also, van Manen (1990) is stressing that 'the nature and number of possible human experiences are as varied and infinite as human life itself’ (p.36).

Keeping in mind van Manen’s recommendation or signposting, I began the journey of this research from questioning and reflecting on my interest toward the phenomenon of motherhood, as a woman, as a mother and as an existential psychologist. I attempted to think deeply and ask myself questions like 'What is it like to live as a mother?' 'Is there something essential to the experience of motherhood?' What is the essence, the nature, of motherhood, for an individual mother as well as collectively? I realized that I was interested in investigating the phenomenon of ‘motherhood’

within the existential position of ‘being-in-the-world’ (physical, social, psychological and spiritual dimensions).

2. Investigating experience as we live it rather than as we conceptualize it;

Van Manen highlights that the world of lived experience is both the source

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and the object of phenomenological research, and the researcher needs to search, collecting and gathering data in the lifeworld for lived-experience material that, upon reflective examination, might yield something of its fundamental nature. Van Manen (1990:54) further points out that ‘all the recollections of experiences, reflections on experiences, descriptions of experience, taped interviewees about experiences, or transcribed conversations about experiences are already ‘transformations’ of those experiences.

Also, he emphasises the importance of the personal experiences of a researcher as a starting point that may proffer the researcher with clues for orienting oneself to the phenomenon and thus to all the other stages of the research journey.

Applying this to the current study, I was reflective of my own experiences of motherhood while considering and designing questions for the conversational interview as the method of gathering other mothers’

experiences. I designed a set of semi-structured, open-ended questions to provide the participants an opportunity to reflect on, describe and talk openly about their experiences of motherhood. But at the same time, the questions were designed to guide the participants to address their experiences through all four dimensions of existence. This way I hoped to

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gather mothers' lived experiences from all four dimensions of existence, in attempt to garner the fullest descriptions of the phenomenon. Other guidance of conversational interviews were used to prompt the participants to gather recollections and proceed with their stories, while making them feel heard, understood and supported (for instance body language, prompting questions, patience or silence).

3. Reflecting on the essential themes which characterize the phenomenon Van Manen argues that the true phenomenological reflection on lived experience is a deep thoughtful process of grasping and reviling the obscured essential meaning of the phenomenon, reflectively asking 'what is it that constitutes the nature of this lived experience?' (van Manen, 1990:32).

In order to help our reflective grasping and make explicit the phenomenological meaning structure of lived experience, the phenomenon could be addressed and described in terms of meaning units, structures of meaning, or themes. Van Manen described several approaches towards uncovering or isolating thematic aspects of the phenomenon, and for this research the detailed or line-by-line approach was chosen that involves the detailed reading of each sentence cluster and asking 'what does this sentence or sentence cluster reveal about the phenomenon or experience being described?' (van Manen, 1990:93).

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The phenomenological reflecting on the interview transcripts or texts, and then the process of isolating the meaning units or themes were deep and thoughtful processes during which I was reading and re-reading the text trying to wear different hats each time, as a mother, as an existential psychologist and as a woman who is existing in a web of present, past and culture. I tried to hear and interpret each mother’s individual experiences and later identity what were the experiences they shared, what they have in common and identify universal meaning units of the experiences described.

Employing this structure of phenomenological reflection upon the lived-experiences described by the participants allowed and assisted me to observe and identity the implicit meanings or essences of the phenomenon of motherhood.