In the last twenty years, there has been a significant increase in the application of the phenomenological method in empirical psychological research. The present study is a descriptive and critical appreciation of how the phenomenological method was used in 34 Brazilian articles (between 1996 and 2007), and 21 scientific articles published in the North American Journal of Phenomenological Psychology (between 2000 and 2008). The analysis focused on the operational description of the technical steps related to the sections on research methodology, with particular emphasis on the concept of phenomenological reduction, considered to be the central, logical element of this investigative orientation. The results of the review point to a logical, technical plurality in the application of phenomenological reduction among the articles published in Brazil, and applicable uniformity among the research published in the international journal. This resource was generally described as a technical means for clustering reports and also a definition of essentiality in an hermeneutic understanding of the reporting of experiences. Heterogeneity and the possible convergences associated with this practice are discussed.
Data collection; Phenomenological research; Psychology