Textural-Structural Description of an Experience

I'm currently reading Phenomenal Research Methods by Clark Moustakas, a seminal work within Phenomenological qualitative research, to understand how to formulate my own Visual Communication research methodology. Husserl's Noema and Noesis becomes part of the methodology of understanding the meanings and essences of phenomena, through the construction of an Individual Textural Description and an Individual Structural Description.

The Individual Textural Description is constructed from transcripts of the interview going through a rigorous analysis to obtain relevant "validated invariant constituents and themes" (more in another post on that I think?).

The Individual Structural Description of the experience is based upon the textural description and "Imaginative Variation" (another post?).

The overall experience across the group can then be drawn from the descriptions into a Composite Description.

This is based on the Van Kaam method of analysis of Phenomenological data. Although the Stevick-Colaizzi-Keen method is in structure different, the use of the Textural-Structural Description appears to be the same. (pp120-122)

References used:
MOUSTAKAS, C. (1994) Phenomenological Research Methods. Sage Publications.

Noema and Noesis - intentionality

In Aristotelian philosophy intention indicates "the orientation of the mind to its object; the object exists in the mind in an intentional way" (p28). Phenomenologist Moustakas references J.J. Kockelman's summary of Aristotle, and in doing so sets the ground from which he can explain E. Husserl's concept of noema and noesis to describe the "interpretive form" within perception.

Noema = is the phenomena and not the 'real' object (textual)

Noesis = the initial underlying meaning (structural)

The noema-noesis relationship is a working out of the function of intentionality within an experience. The textual and structural dimensions of the phenomenon experienced is to uncover its meaning, moving from initial anonymity of its intentionality towards a conscious understanding.

The noema is what Husserl describes as "perceived as thus", and
the noesis is the "perfect self-evidence".

For every noema there is a noesis and vice versa.

Noematic meanings continually perceptively change depending upon point of view and situation, its meaning a synthesis from continual many-angled perception of "objects (real or imaginery) that are before us in consciousness" (p31).

The noesis comes from "explicating how beliefs about such objects may be acquired". The structural noesis leads us to understand how we experience the phenomena. Once understood this leads to a correlation of "intentionality into meanings and essences of experience" (p32)

References used:
MOUSTAKAS, C. (1994) Phenomenological Research Methods. Sage Publications.