Attuning to trustworthiness and final reflections

In this final chapter, we focus on how to achieve trustworthiness in hermeneutic phenomenology (HP) studies and offer some final reflections for those embarking on or using HP in their work. Trustworthiness and rigour are central concepts to achieving quality in research – they encompass whether the design and methods are appropriate and an assessment of the quality, authenticity, and veracity of the research. Trustworthiness and rigour tend to be used interchangeably in the wider literature, though trustworthiness is generally perceived to be more aligned with qualitative methodologies. Here, we draw on the etymological meanings of these terms and question whether either is suitable for the unbounded nature of HP studies. While there are different frameworks and criteria for “trustworthiness” in existence, here we use the work of Lincoln and Guba's due to their broad and encompassing concepts. We use their framework to re-visit the work of the chapter authors; the concepts of credibility, confirmability, dependability, transferability, and reflexivity are used as a lens to consider how quality in HP studies can be achieved. Each chapter has shown how HP is able to be sculpted by the researcher's focus on a lived experience and phenomenon of interest by attuning in a certain way and adopting a phenomenological attitude. We contend that while HP is a creative, and flexible methodology, a similar style can be adopted when attuning to “quality.” Accommodating methods can be used while not compromising a methodology that strives for “showing” ontological depths. In the final sections, we offer closing sentiments about how the use of HP can be perceived as political. HP offers a differing perspective to the “gold standards” of positivist methodologies super-valued within the research community. The HP approach can be perceived as a less privileged methodology due to not operating within a rigid methodological and easily replicable framework. HP studies are also often limited to postgraduate dissertations due to difficulties in obtaining funding. We close by offering some final sentiments as to where next in the use of HP and the challenges and gifts of using this approach.