The term bracketing has increasingly been employed in qualitative research. Although this term proliferates in scientific studies and professional journals, its application and operationalization remains vague and, often, superficial. The growing disconnection of the practice of bracketing in research from its origins in phenomenology has resulted in its frequent reduction to a formless technique, value stance, or black-box term. Mapping the subtle theoretical and philosophical underpinnings of bracketing will facilitate identification and delineation of core elements that compose bracketing, and distinguish howdifferent research approaches prioritize different bracketing elements. The author outlines a typology of six distinct forms of bracketing that encompasses the methodological rigor and evolution of bracketing within the richness of qualitative research.
Ahern, K. J. (1999). Ten tips for reflexive bracketing. Qualitative Health Research, 9(2), 407-411.
2.
Anderson, E. H.,& Spencer, M. H. (2002). Cognitive representations of AIDS: Aphenomenological study. Qualitative Health Research, 12(10), 1338-1352.
3.
Andrews, M., Lyne, P.,& Riley, E. (1996). Validity in qualitative health care research: Anexploration of the impact of individual researcher perspectives within collaborative inquiry. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 23, 441-447.
4.
Ashworth, P. (1996). Presuppose nothing: The suspension of assumptions in phenomenological psychological methodology. Journal of Phenomenology Psychology, 27(1), 1-25.
5.
Ashworth, P. (1999). “Bracketing” in phenomenology: Renouncing assumptions in hearing about student cheating. Qualitative Studies in Education, 12(6), 707-721.
6.
Audi, R. (2001). The Cambridge dictionary of philosophy(2nd ed.). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
7.
Baillie, L. (1996). Aphenomenological study of the nature of empathy. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 24(6), 1300-1308.
8.
Beech, I. (1999). Bracketing in phenomenological research. Nurse Researcher, 6(3), 35-51.
9.
Boyd, C. O. (1993). Phenomenology: The method. In P. L. Munhall& C. O. Boyd (Eds.), Nursing research: A qualitative perspective(2nd ed., pp. 99-132). New York: National League of Nursing.
10.
Brentano, F. C. (1973). Psychology from an empirical standpoint(A. C. Rancurello, D. B. Terrell, & L. L. McAlister, Trans.). London: Routledge. (Original work published 1874)
11.
Bufton, S. (2003). The lifeworld of the university student: Habitus and social class. Journal of Phenomenological Psychology, 34(2), 207-234.
12.
Burch, R. (1989). On phenomenology and its practices. Phenomenology + Pedagogy, 7, 187-217.
13.
Caelli, K. (2000). The changing face of phenomenological research: Traditional and American phenomenology in nursing. Qualitative Health Research, 10, 366-377.
14.
Caelli, K. (2001). Engaging with phenomenology: Is it more of a challenge than it needs to be?Qualitative Health Research, 11(2), 273-281.
15.
Carpenter, D. R. (1995). Phenomenological research approach. In H. J. Streubert& D. R. Carpenter (Eds.), Qualitative research in nursing: Advancing humanistic imperative(pp. 29-49). Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott.
16.
Carr, D. (1987). Interpreting Husserl: Critical and comparative studies. Dordrecht, the Netherlands: Martinus Nijhoff.
17.
Cohen, M. Z., & Omery, A. (1994). Schools of phenomenology: Implications for research. In J. M. Morse (Ed.), Critical issues in qualitative research methods(pp. 136-156). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
18.
Cooper, D. E. (1990). Existentialism. Oxford, UK: Blackwell.
19.
Creswell, J. W. (1998). Qualitative inquiry and research design: Choosing among five traditions. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
20.
Cutcliffe, J. R. (2003). Reconsidering reflexivity: Introducing the case for intellectual entrepreneurship. Qualitative Health Research, 13(1), 136-148.
21.
Denzin, N. K. (1998). The new ethnography. Journal of Contemporary Ethnography, 27(3), 405-415.
22.
Ellerman, C. P. (1998). The phenomenological treatment of dissociative identity disorder. Journal of Contemporary Psychotherapy, 28(1), 69-79.
23.
Farber, M. (1967). The foundation of phenomenology: Edmund Husserl and the quest for a rigorous science of philosophy(3rd ed.). Albany: State University of New York Press.
24.
Finlay, L. (2002). “Outing” the researcher: The provenance, process, and practice of reflexivity. Qualitative Health Research, 12(4), 531-545.
25.
Foucault, M. (1977). Language, counter-memory, practice. New York: Cornell University Press.
26.
Foucault, M. (1980). Power/knowledge: Selected interviews and other writings, 1972-1977.London: Harvester.
27.
Gadamer, H. G. (1975). Truth and method. New York: Seabury.
28.
Gadamer, H. G. (1976). Philosophical hermeneutics(D. E. Linge, Trans.). Berkeley: University of California Press.
29.
Garfinkel, H. (1967). Studies in ethnomethodology. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
30.
Giorgi, A. (1970). Psychology as a human science: Aphenomenologically based approach. New York: Harper & Row.
31.
Giorgi, A. (1971). Toward phenomenologically based research in psychology. Journal of Phenomenological Psychology, 1, 75-98.
32.
Giorgi, A. (1985). Sketch of a psychological phenomenological method. In A. Giorgi (Ed.), Phenomenology and psychological research(pp. 8-22). Pittsburgh: Duquesne University Press.
33.
Gubrium, J. F., & Holstein, J. A. (1997). The new language of qualitative method. New York: Oxford University Press.
34.
Gubrium, J. F.,& Holstein, J. A. (1998). Standing our middle ground. Journal of Contemporary Ethnography, 27(3), 416-421.
35.
Gyulay, R., Mound, B.,& Flanagan, E. (1994). Mental health consumers as public educators: Aqualitative study. Canadian Journal of Nursing Research, 26(2), 29-42.
36.
Heidegger, M. (1962). Being and time. New York: Harper & Row.
37.
Heidegger, M. (1972). On time and being. New York: Harper & Row.
38.
Husserl, E. (1931). Ideas: General introduction to pure phenomenology(W. R. B. Gibson, Trans.). New York: Humanities Press. (Original work published 1913)
Husserl, E. (1999). The idea of phenomenology(L. Hardy, Trans.). Dordrecht, the Netherlands: Kluwer Academic.
41.
Hutchinson, S. A. (1993). Grounded theory: The method. In P. L. Munhall & C. O. Boyd (Eds.), Nursing research: A qualitative perspective(2nd ed., pp. 180-212). New York: National League of Nursing.
42.
Jaspers, K. (1971). Philosophy of existence(R. F. Grabau, Trans.). Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.
43.
Jennings, J. L. (1986). Husserl revisited: The forgotten distinction between psychology and phenomenology. American Psychologist, 41(11), 1231-1240.
44.
Kaufmann, W. (1989). Existentialism from Dostoevesky to Sartre. New York: Meridian.
45.
Kohak, E. (1978). Idea and experience: Edmund Husserl’s project of phenomenology in Ideas 1. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
46.
Kvale, S. (1984). The qualitative research interview: A phenomenological and hermeneutical mode of understanding. Journal of Phenomenological Psychology, 14(2), 171-198.
47.
LeVasseur, J. J. (2003). The problem of bracketing in phenomenology. Qualitative Health Research, 13(3), 408-420.
48.
Macanin, C. (1992). Martin Heidegger: Critical assessments. London: Routledge.
49.
Mavundla, T. R. (2000). Professional nurses’ perception of nursing mentally ill people in a general hospital setting. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 32(6), 1569-1578.
50.
Merleau-Ponty, M. (1962). Phenomenology of perception. London: Routledge.
51.
Merleau-Ponty, M. (1964). The primacy of perception. Evanston, IL: Northwestern University Press.
52.
Merleau-Ponty, M. (1968). The visible and the invisible. Evanston, IL: Northwestern University Press.
53.
Mohanty, J. N. (1995). The development of Husserl’s thought. In B. Smith& D. W. Smith (Eds.), The Cambridge companion to Husserl(pp. 45-78). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
54.
Moran, D. (2002). Editor’s introduction. In D. Moran& T. Mooney (Eds.), Phenomenology reader(pp. 1-16). London: Routledge.
55.
Moran, D.,& Mooney, T. (2002b). Paul Ricoeur: Phenomenology as interpretation. In D. Moran& T. Mooney (Eds.), Phenomenology reader(pp. 573-600). London: Routledge.
56.
Moustakas, C. (1994). Phenomenological research methods. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
57.
Mulhall, A., Le May, A., & Alexander, C. (1999). Bridging the research-practice gap: Areflective account of research work. NT Research, 4(2), 119-131.
58.
Padgett, D. K. (1998). Qualitative methods in social work research: Challenges and rewards. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
59.
Paley, J. (1997a). Husserl, phenomenology and nursing. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 26(1), 193-197.
60.
Paley, J. (1997b). Misinterpreting phenomenology: Heidegger, ontology and nursing research. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 27(4), 817-824.
61.
Parse, R. R. (1996). Building knowledge through qualitative research: The road less traveled. Nursing Science Quarterly, 9(1), 10-16.
62.
Porter, S. (1993). Nursing research conventions: Objectivity or obfuscation?Journal of Advanced Nursing, 18, 137-143.
63.
Ray, M. A. (1990). Phenomenological method for nursing research. In N. Chaska (Ed.), The nursing profession: Turning points(pp. 173-179). St. Louis, MO: C. V. Mosby.
64.
Ray, M. A. (1994). The richness of phenomenology: Philosophic, theoretic, and methodologic concerns. In J. M. Morse (Ed.), Critical issues in qualitative research methods(pp. 173-179). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
65.
Reitz, R. R. (1999). Batterers’ experiences of being violent: A phenomenological study. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 23(1), 143-165.
66.
Ricoeur, P. (1965). History and truth. Evanston, IL: Northwest University Press.
67.
Ricoeur, P. (1967). Husserl: Ananalysis of his phenomenology. Evanston, IL: Northwestern University Press.
68.
Ricoeur, P. (1973). Phenomenology, language, and the social sciences. London: Routledge.
69.
Ricoeur, P. (1981). Hermeneutics and the human sciences: Essays on language, action, and interpretation(J.B. Thompson, Trans.). New York: Cambridge University Press.
70.
Scheler, M. (1970). The nature of sympathy. Hamden, CT: Archon.
71.
Scheler, M. (1973). Selected philosophical essays(D. Lachterman, Trans.). Evanston, IL: Northwestern University Press.
72.
Scheler, M. (1980). Problems of a sociology of knowledge(M. S. Frings, Trans.). London: Routledge.
73.
Schutz, A. (1970). On phenomenology and social relations. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
74.
Small, R. (2001). A hundred years of phenomenology: Perspectives on a philosophical tradition. Burlington, VT: Ashgate.
75.
Smith, B.,& Smith, D. W. (1995). The Cambridge companion to Husserl. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
76.
Smith, M. C. (1989). Facts about phenomenology in nursing. Nursing Science Quarterly, 2(1), 13-16.
77.
Sokolowski, R. (2000). Introduction to phenomenology. New York: Cambridge University Press.
78.
Spiegelberg, H. (1965). The phenomenological movement: A historical introduction. The Hague, the Netherlands: Martinus Nijhoff.
79.
Spiegelberg, H. (1973). Is the reduction necessary for phenomenology? Husserl’s and Pfander’s replies. Journal of the British Society for Phenomenology, 4(1), 3-15.
80.
Spiegelberg, H. (1974). “Epoche” without reduction: Some replies to my critics. Journal of the British Society for Phenomenology, 5(3), 256-261.
81.
Spiegelberg, H. (1975). Doing phenomenological: Essays on and in phenomenology. The Hague, the Netherlands: Martinus Nijhoff.
82.
Spiegelberg, H. (1976). The phenomenological movement: A historical introduction(2nd ed., Vols. 1-2). The Hague, the Netherlands: Martinus Nijhoff.
83.
Stewart, D., & Mickunas, A. (1990). Exploring phenomenology: A guide to the field and its related literature. Athens: Ohio University Press.
84.
Valle, R. S., King, M., & Halling, S. (1989). An introduction to existential-phenomenological thought in psychology. In R. S. Valle & S. Halling (Eds.), Existential-phenomenological perspectives in psychology(pp. 3-16). New York: Plenum.
85.
van Hazewijk, R., Stam, H. J.,& Panhuysen, G. (2001, August). Existential questions: No, one or two Utrecht schools? Paper presented at the 20th Conference of the European Society for the History of the Human Sciences, Amsterdam.
86.
van Manen, M. (1995). On the epistemology of reflective practice. Teachers and Teaching: Theory and Practice, 1(1), 33-50.
87.
van Manen, M. (1997). Researching lived experience: Human science for an action sensitive pedagogy(2nd ed.). London, Canada: Althouse.
88.
Waksler, F. C. (2001). Medicine and phenomenological methods. In S. K. Toombs (Ed.), The handbook of phenomenology and medicine(pp. 67-86). Dordrecht, the Netherlands: Kluwer Academic.
89.
Walters, A. J. (1995). The phenomenological movement: Implications for nursing research. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 22, 791-799.
90.
Woolgar, S., & Pawluch, D. (1985). Ontological gerrymandering: The anatomy of social problems explanations. Social Problems, 32, 214-227.
