What is Phenomenology?

In this introductory episode of The Phenomenology Collective, hosts Dr Lewis Barrett-Rodger and Dr Sally Goldspink offer a gentle but rigorous orientation to phenomenology for listeners who are new to the approach.Drawing on their experience as applied researchers (rather than philosophers), Lewis and Sally explore what phenomenology is concerned with, where it comes from, and what makes it different from other qualitative methodologies. They discuss phenomenology’s philosophical origins, including the contributions of Husserl and Heidegger, and explain how these ideas have been translated into contemporary research practice.Along the way, they unpack key concepts such as lived experience, taken-for-grantedness, and the phenomenological attitude, and reflect on how phenomenological research works with people’s stories of experience to develop insight and understanding — even when that insight cannot be easily measured.This episode is designed as an orientation rather than a methods guide, offering reassurance, clarity, and depth without dense philosophy. It sets the foundations for future episodes on reflexivity, phenomenological interviewing, supervision, and the craft of phenomenological research.