Bracketing in Phenomenology: Only Undertaken in the Data Collection and Analysis Process?

Our aim with this article is to demonstrate how the researchers use bracketing as a method of demonstrating the validity after initiating a phenomenological study. Although bracketing is a method of demonstrating the validity of the data collection and analysis process in most phenomenological studies, how the researchers use them in practice is rarely demonstrated explicitly. We collected data through our experiences in preparing a phenomenological research study. We suggest that the concept of bracketing should be adopted upon initiating the research proposal and not merely in the data collection and analysis process. We propose four strategies for doing bracketing that are guided by the thinking activity of reflexivity: mentality assessment and preparation before deciding the research paradigm, deciding the scope of the literature review according to the prevailing gate-keeping policy, planning for data collection using semi-structured interviews guided by open-ended questions, and planning for data analysis using Colaizzi’s method. Our proposition highlights that thorough preparation for doing bracketing is essential before entering the data collection and analysis process in phenomenology, because they are sequentially related.