bracketing in qualitative research. qualitative social work

• DOI: 10.1080/10503300902798375
• Corpus ID: 40043097

Bracketing in qualitative research: Conceptual and practical matters

• Published in Psychotherapy Research 1 July 2009

470 Citations

From uncomfortable squirm to self-discovery: a phenomenological analysis of the bracketing experience, relational inquiries and the research interview, bracketing: a phenomenological theory applied through transpersonal reflexivity, increasing rigor and reducing bias in qualitative research: a document analysis of parliamentary debates using applied thematic analysis, a framework for enhancing the research culture within the faculty of health sciences at the university of the free state.

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Reflexive Bracketing

• First Online: 02 January 2023

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• Vicki Squires 4  

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The term “bracketing” was first used by Husserl, in his published work in phenomenology (Husserl, 1950, as cited in Schwandt 2015 . The Sage dictionary of qualitative inquiry (4th ed.). Sage Publications.). The term means that researchers should suspend judgment and set aside their assumptions and prior notions, with regard to their object of study.

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“Punctuation, Pause, Next Slide, Please”: The Risks of Research and Self-Disclosure

The subject matter of phenomenological research: existentials, modes, and prejudices

Doing Phenomenological Research. Dwelling with the Mystery

Ahern, K. J. (1999). Pearls, pith and provocation: Ten tips for reflexive bracketing. Qualitative Health Research, 9 (3), 407–411.

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Finlay, L. (2002). “Outing” the researcher: The provenance, process, and practice of reflexivity. Qualitative Health Research, 12 (4), 531–545.

Gearing, R. E. (2004). Bracketing in research: A typology. Qualitative Health Research, 14 (10), 1429–1452.

Merriam, S. B., & Tisdell, E. J. (2016). Qualitative research: A guide to design and implementation . Jossey-Bass.

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Schwandt, T. A. (2015). The Sage dictionary of qualitative inquiry (4th ed.). Sage Publications.

Tufford, L., & Newman, P. (2010). Bracketing in qualitative research. Qualitative Social Work, 11 (1), 80–96.

Additional Resources

Good practices: Reflexivity . https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GfwnLUmCSoM

Reflexivity, biases and bracketing . https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4D8RSnX90yU

Reflexivity in qualitative research. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9Tccc0Ko68

Vicary, S., Young, A., & Hicks, S. (2017). A reflective journal as learning process and contribution to quality and validity in interpretative phenomenological analysis. Qualitative Social Work, 16 (4), 550–565. https://doi.org/10.1177/1473325016635244

Wall, C., Glenn, S., Mitchinson, S., & Poole, H. (2004). Using a reflective diary to develop bracketing skills during a phenomenological investigation. Nurse Researcher, 11 (4), 20–29. https://doi.org/10.7748/nr2004.07.11.4.20.c6212

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Squires, V. (2023). Reflexive Bracketing. In: Okoko, J.M., Tunison, S., Walker, K.D. (eds) Varieties of Qualitative Research Methods. Springer Texts in Education. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-04394-9_66

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Bracketing in Qualitative Research

2012, Qualitative Social Work

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Aim To provide an overview of bracketing as a skill in unstructured qualitative research interviews. Background The researchers have an impact on the qualitative research process. Bracketing originating from descriptive phenomenology entail that the researcher can set aside their pre-understanding and act non-judgementally. In interpretative phenomenology previous knowledge is used intentionally to create new understanding. Data sources Literature search of bracketing in phenomenology and qualitative research. Implications for research Bracketing adds scientific rigor and validity to any qualitative study. Discussion Self-knowledge, sensitivity and reflexivity of the researcher enable bracketing. Conclusion The requirement for practising unstructured qualitative research interviews using bracketing are skilled and experienced researchers.

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PurposeThe purpose of this study is to improve our understanding of bracketing, one of the most central philosophical and theoretical constructs of phenomenology, as a theory of mind. Furthermore, we wanted to showcase how this theoretical construct can be implemented as a methodological tool.Design/methodology/approachIn this study we have adopted an approach similar to a qualitative meta-synthesis, comparing the emergent patterns of two empirical projects, seeking synergies and contradictions and looking for additional insights from new emerging patterns.FindingsOn a philosophical level, we have found that bracketing, as a theoretical construct, is not about the achievement of objectivity; quite to the contrary, it embraces subjectivity and puts it centre-stage. On a theoretical level, we have achieved a better understanding of Husserl's phenomenology, as a theory of mind. On a methodological level, we have achieved a powerful way of supplementing and/or clarifying research fi...

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Bridin Harnett

This paper is a phenomenological exploration of intercultural bracketing. In this exploration, it is hoped to describe and interpret intercultural bracketing in ‘negotiating the troubled waters’ of intercultural communication in context (Kramsch, 1998, p.29), with a view to taping the essence of lived intercultural experiences in an intercultural encounter. I posit that bracketing is experientially unique in intercultural communication and have deemed to term it intercultural bracketing, as it manifests itself in the lived experiences of an intercultural encounter. In my endeavor to understand what it means to bracket in an intercultural sense, I hope to use an eclectic interpretative approach of phenomenology (Palmer et al., 2010, Larkin et al., 2015), with a view to understanding the intersubjectivity occurring between persons-in-context in proffering a notion of intercultural bracketing. By intersubjectivity, I refer to ‘the difference of two minds’ and the ability to supply the knowledge (Davidson, 2001) to scaffold communication in successful communication. In using an eclectic interpretive phenomenological approach to this qualitative research, I draw both on my own lived experience and on a live media text, hoping to represent voices that are both heard and unheard in realizing a representation of intercultural bracketing located in the epistemic space of the penny dropping moment of objectivity as I have coined it, located in the intersubjectivity of persons-in context, in naming and identifying meaning which move our roles and relationships forward.

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To Bracket or not to Bracket: Reflections of a Novice Qualitative Researcher

Qualitative research is a useful method for social work research and continues to be part of the core curriculum in graduate social work education. This paper summarizes my engagement with an initial qualitative research project, which was undertaken by four colleagues and myself, as part of our PhD research methods course. We used Critical Race Theory as our theoretical framework and phenomenology as our methodology to explore aspects of racism in our faculty’s classroom setting. In this paper, I reflect on my experiences with the research process and group activity. I also consider the impact of my personal epistemology as I grapple with the concepts of bracketing and reflexivity. The insight gained from this process would be useful for students and teachers in social work programs who are contemplating utilizing qualitative research and/or group work in research projects.

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