Thinking about the nature of research findings: A hermeneutic phenomenological perspective

Written in response to an ongoing process of reflexivity, I deconstruct the findings of a recently completed qualitative hermeneutic phenomenological research study which was designed to answer the question: “How is study abroad manifest in the experience of nursing students?” The purpose is to assist and urge other researchers to locate their research, themselves and their research participants more transparently in the social and cultural worlds within which they move and are a part. Following a sketch of the research study upon which the paper is based, the relationships between structure, agency, researched and researcher are explored within a hermeneutic phenomenological framework. In particular, I relate some of the challenges encountered through reflections on specific aspects of the research process. I conclude that research findings might best be understood as being a dynamic and complex, two-way constructed interpretation of phenomena involving both structure and agency. I proceed from the stance that the discursive and the emotional, the artistic and the scientific, need to be balanced partners. Where this relationship is harmonious, intellectual ability increases leading to better meaning making, better decisions and greater understanding.