ABSTRACT
The search for the core meaning and understanding of a phenomenon is what makes phenomenological research distinct. Phenomenological researchers tend not to be concerned with goals that are important to other research methods, such as saturation of data or theory building. Rather, phenomenologists delve into the essence of what a phenomenon is to describe it to others. In this chapter, I share examples from my phenomenological research with South Asian women survivors about their experiences of CSA and resilience. Along the way, I review the historical and disciplinary roots of phenomenology, discuss the social justice implications of phenomenology, and describe phenomenological approaches to data collection and data analysis used in my work. I also review considerations involved in phenomenology when working with historically marginalized people/communities in situations where the researchers hold social justice as both a process and an end goal.
