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

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-m...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Nursing philosophy
Authors: Pedersen, Birgith (Author) ; Grønkjær, Mette (Author) ; Delmar, Charlotte (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Wiley-Blackwell 2022
In: Nursing philosophy
Year: 2022, Volume: 23, Issue: 2
Further subjects:B Nursing
B patient perspective
B mixed-methods research
B Existential phenomenology
B Merleau-Ponty
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Summary: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.
ISSN:1466-769x
Contains:Enthalten in: Nursing philosophy
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1111/nup.12376