paper | ISBN: 978-0-8207-0418-0

Reviews:

“In this book Giorgi brings together the vast wealth of his knowledge and offers a sustained discussion of the genuinely phenomenological foundations for qualitative research in psychology. This is a work of impeccable scholarship.” — Scott D. Churchill, editor, The Humanistic Psychologist 

“Giorgi does not get bogged down in pedantic discussions of the finer details of Husserl, but rather remains at a level that is appropriate to a psychological audience. . . . I am hard pressed to think of anyone as talented as Giorgi for rendering Husserl both clear and relevant.” — Scott D. Churchill, University of Dallas

Book Information:

This comprehensive work from one of the leading thinkers in humanistic psychology provides a thorough discussion of the phenomenological foundations for qualitative research in psychology. Amedeo Giorgi's examination operates out of the intersection of phenomenological philosophy, science, and psychology; such a multidisciplinary approach allows him to challenge several long-standing assumptions about the practice of psychology. Giorgi asserts that empiricism is not the best philosophy for grounding the science of psychology—rather, the broader phenomenological theory of science permits more adequate psychological development.

Giorgi draws from Husserl's philosophical principles the reasons for conducting research in psychology, and then offers practical steps for applying a phenomenological method and real examples of applications of the method. In fact, Giorgi proposes a method that is theoretically grounded in phenomenological philosophy and yet treats empirically derived data. This is a rigorous but open qualitative research method that is tolerant of pararational givens as well as one that is supportive of rational criteria.

The analyses and methods presented in Phenomenological Method in Psychology will be attractive to psychologists, phenomenologists, and researchers involved in qualitative research throughout social and human science disciplines.

Author Information:

AMEDEO P. GIORGI has been on the faculty of the Saybrook Graduate School and Research Center since 1986. Giorgi founded The Journal of Phenomenological Psychology and was its editor for 25 years.