Nurs Philos. 2021 Oct 26;e12376. doi: 10.1111/nup.12376. Epub 2021 Oct 26.

Existential phenomenology as a unifying philosophy of science for a mixed method study.

Nursing philosophy : an international journal for healthcare professionals

Birgith Pedersen, Mette Grønkjaer, Charlotte Delmar

PMID: 34699109 DOI: 10.1111/nup.12376

Abstract

This article discusses how existential phenomenology may serve as a frame in a mixed-methods study of changes in weight and body composition among women in adjuvant treatment for breast cancer. In accordance with ontologically and epistemologically fundamental assumptions in nursing, we link mixed-methods and existential phenomenology from the perspective of the French philosopher Maurice Merleau-Ponty and his notion of a unified body subject. Letting this perspective permeate our philosophy, methodology and issues at the method level in mixed-method research undermines the distinction between first- and third-person perspective when applying and integrating different data sources in a mixed-methods study. Applying Merleau-Ponty's third way, the women's bodily experiences appear as gestalt; a 'figure' against a ground of existential threats that are grasped through insight from data integrating in joint displays, which revealed the women's experiences on a deep existential level. Existential phenomenology as a frame in mixed-method studies can speak not only to nurses but also to a multidisciplinary audience in a shared attempt to deepen the understanding of a patient's healthcare problem.

© 2021 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Keywords: Merleau-Ponty; existential phenomenology; mixed-methods research; nursing; patient perspective

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Publication Types

• Journal Article

Grant support

• The study received financial support from Aalborg University Hospital