ABSTRACT
In this paper I explicate what it means to see phenomenologically for an able-bodied
researcher in the field of disability, and how this seeing yields a non-reductionistic
understanding of the phenomenon of disability. My aim is to show how in this context, I,
as a human and social scientist can use phenomenological methodology for both collecting
and interpreting data. Though phenomenological philosophy can provide the basis of social
scientific epistemology, it does not lend itself easily to a single specific or programmatic social
scientific methodology. I offer possible ways of using phenomenological theory, methodology
and techniques in order to understand the experience of a person with physical disability
learning to use a wheelchair. I use data from a clinical encounter between a physical therapist
(PT) and an adult with Spinal Cord Injury (SCI) in an inpatient rehabilitation hospital in
Midwestern United States in order to flesh out phenomenological seeing. I conclude with
implications for qualitative researchers who use phenomenological methods to inform their
work.
