How Phenomenological are Phenomenology Studies in EducationalSocial Sciences: A Sample from TR Dizin

Abstract

The main purpose of this research was to examine phenomenological studies in the field of social sciences and educational sciences, published between 2015 and 2023 in the TR Dizin database, in order to evaluate to what extent these studies meet the requirements and characteristics of the phenomenological research. We utilized the descriptive research model to achieve the research purpose in this study. We located 1048 research papers in TR Dizin that used phenomenological model. Then, we employed stratified sampling technique and chose 84 studies as the sample. Moreover, we created the Phenomenological Research Examination Form. The aforementioned form was used by two raters in addition to researchers. Reliability coefficient between four raters was found to be .91. We have found that a significant number of the studies in the sample collected their participants’ opinions, perspectives or perceptions. In terms of research questions of studies in the sample, we determined that a significant portion of the questions aimed at describing the consequences of the experience (opinion, perspective, perception, etc.) rather than understanding and making sense of it. The average number of participants in the phenomenological studies we examined was 55. Only a few of the research studies used observation as a data collection technique. We conclude that phenomenological research should be conducted by employing qualitative research understanding instead of quantitative one. Additionally, in phenomenological research, experience should be prioritized and studied instead of studying only opinion, perspective and perception.