Introducing postphenomenological research: a brief and selective sketch of phenomenological research methods

It is argued that using postphenomenology as a research method helps researchers explore technological mediation, a vital and oft-neglected aspect of educational practice, but the method simultaneously entails epistemological commitments such as multistability, reflexivity, and posthumanism.

Abstract

In time, phenomenology has become a viable approach to conductingqualitative studies in education. Popular and well-established methodsinclude descriptive and hermeneutic phenomenology. Based on critiques ofthe essentialism and receptivity of these two methods, however, this articleoffers a third variation of empirical phenomenology: Postphenomenology.The article introduces postphenomenology, a philosophy of technologythat highlights the importance of technological mediation of experience:Technologies transform our perceptions (amplify/reduce) and translateour actions (invite/inhibit). Based on this framework, two approaches toempirical fieldwork are suggested: In-depth exploration of the typicaluse of a given technology and critical comparison of multiple versions ofa technology. It is argued that using postphenomenology as a researchmethod helps researchers explore technological mediation, a vital and oftneglectedaspect of educational practice, but the method simultaneouslyentails epistemological commitments such as multistability, reflexivity, andposthumanism. The article concludes by discussing future challenges forthe postphenomenological method.