Phenomenology and Qualitative Data Analysis Software (QDAS): A Careful Reconciliation

Computer-Assisted Qualitative Data Analysis Software, Phenomenology, and Colaizzi’s Method

“…CAQDAS usage is on the rise, but not without controversy in phenomenology (Sohn, 2017). Phenomenology describes the essence or whole of the experience rather than individual parts that are the focus of coding in other philosophies (Sohn, 2017).…”

“…CAQDAS usage is on the rise, but not without controversy in phenomenology (Sohn, 2017). Phenomenology describes the essence or whole of the experience rather than individual parts that are the focus of coding in other philosophies (Sohn, 2017). While the use of coding and CAQDAS is allowed, some prominent phenomenologists argue against the use of CAQDAS as they believe the essences are too large to be coded and then revealed (Goble et al, 2012;Sohn, 2017).…”

“…Phenomenology describes the essence or whole of the experience rather than individual parts that are the focus of coding in other philosophies (Sohn, 2017). While the use of coding and CAQDAS is allowed, some prominent phenomenologists argue against the use of CAQDAS as they believe the essences are too large to be coded and then revealed (Goble et al, 2012;Sohn, 2017). Phenomenologists who disagree and support CAQDAS believe that the right tool or CAQDAS should assist or complement the qualitative analysis (Sohn, 2017).…”

“…While the use of coding and CAQDAS is allowed, some prominent phenomenologists argue against the use of CAQDAS as they believe the essences are too large to be coded and then revealed (Goble et al, 2012;Sohn, 2017). Phenomenologists who disagree and support CAQDAS believe that the right tool or CAQDAS should assist or complement the qualitative analysis (Sohn, 2017). They argue that phenomenology still follows the same process of other qualitative methods through the disaggregation and reconceptualization of texts before the essence can be discovered (Sohn, 2017;van Manen, 2014).…”

“…Phenomenologists who disagree and support CAQDAS believe that the right tool or CAQDAS should assist or complement the qualitative analysis (Sohn, 2017). They argue that phenomenology still follows the same process of other qualitative methods through the disaggregation and reconceptualization of texts before the essence can be discovered (Sohn, 2017;van Manen, 2014). In addition, coding traditionally occurs with the methods of underlining or highlighting text, and CAQDAS is another method that allows for the identification of text to reconceptualize the essences (Sohn, 2017;van Manen, 2014).…”