A guide to conducting intersectional phenomenological research in family science

Abstract

An increasing number of scholars suggest the need to enhance the incorporation of diversity and social justice across all areas of family science. Part of this work has seen family science more strongly and explicitly incorporate intersectional theorizing to problematize individual biases and power positions, generally, and of researchers and participants, more specifically. More work is needed to connect theory, method, and methodology to advance the call of scholars. Here, we attend to this call by providing methodological considerations for conducting intersectional phenomenological research in family science. We begin with an overview of phenomenology, including its philosophical and methodological foundations and variations. We then introduce the history of intersectionality, followed by critical methodological considerations for intersectional phenomenological research in family science. This integration of intersectionality and phenomenological research centers the lived experiences of individuals and families with historically marginalized identities while attending to power dynamics often part of scholarship.