In order to be open to the data of experience in using a
phenomenological approach, one strives to eliminate "the _a priori_"
(that which exists in his mind prior to and independent of the
experience). This is done by attempting to "bracket" (hold in abeyance)
theoretical presuppositions, interpretations, labels, categories,
judgments, and so forth. Granted, a person cannot be completely
perspectiveless. Man is an individual; he is a unique here and now
person. So naturally, _necessarily_, he has an "angular" view for he
experiences reality from the angle of his own particular "here" and his
own particular "now." Or, stated differently, as a knowing, experiencing
subject, each man must have _some_ perspective of the phenomenon being
experienced. However, by recognizing and considering the particular
perspective from which he is experiencing it, a person may become more
open to the thing itself.
Furthermore, this kind of openness to one's own perspective can be
developed through deliberate practice. Several approaches may be used.
To begin with, a person can develop the habit of recognizing and
exposing his own biases. This could involve something as basic as
stating the actual physical situation or circumstance in which the
phenomenon was experienced. For example: the phenomenon could be
something seen from above or below, at a distance or nearby; something
heard in a quiet room or above the din of background noise; a patient's
behavior in a large group or in a small group, with his family, with on
particular nurse, with his doctor; a patient's response while being fed,
bathed, monitored.
Beyond this unavoidable bias of the angle of perception, the nurse's
experience of her lived world may be dulled by habituation. It is
necessary to break through the tunnel vision of routine. For instance, a
nurse new to a situation may notice a patient's response to her and
remark about it to another nurse. The second nurse, to whom the
patient's behavior is familiar, may respond, "Oh, he's done that for
years." Often this is the end of the dialogue; it should be the
beginning, for the duration of a phenomenon is not {81} equal to its
description or meaning, but rather, is an indication of its
significance.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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