van Manen's method and reduction in a phenomenological hermeneutic study

Abstract

Aim: To describe van Manen's method and concept of reduction in a study that used a phenomenological hermeneutic approach.

Background: Nurse researchers have used van Manen's method in different ways. Participants' lifeworlds are described in depth, but descriptions of reduction have been brief.

Data sources: The literature and knowledge review and manual search of research articles.

Review methods: Databases Web Science, PubMed, CINAHL and PsycINFO, without applying a time period, to identify uses of van Manen's method.

Discussion: This paper shows how van Manen's method has been used in nursing research and gives some examples of van Manen's reduction.

Conclusion: Reduction enables us to conduct in-depth phenomenological hermeneutic research and understand people's lifeworlds.

Implications for research/practice: As there are many variations in adapting reduction, it is complex and confusing. This paper contributes to the discussion of phenomenology, hermeneutic study and reduction. It opens up reduction as a method for researchers to exploit.

Keywords: Phenomenology; hermeneutic; lifeworld; methodology; nursing; reduction; van Manen.