Interpretive approaches in nursing research: the influence of Husserl and Heidegger

This paper aims to throw some light on Husserlian phenomenology and Heideggerian hermeneutics, and to discuss their influences and applicability to the nursing research agenda. There are definite distinctions between Husserlian transcendental phenomenology and Heideggerian hermeneutic phenomenology and these distinctions have implications for the methodology employed. These traditions are discussed with respect to some fundamental research issues: the philosophical perspectives of the traditions and the notion that data that result from the inquiry are created by the interaction between researcher and researched. The central recommendation in this paper is that nurse researchers appraise the philosophical underpinnings of the methodologies they pursue.