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A Phenomenological Study
Dissertation   Open access

A Phenomenological Study

Donna Maria Richards Lohr
University of West Florida Libraries
Doctor of Education (EDD), University of West Florida
2010

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Abstract

The lived experiences of grandmothers who have grandchildren diagnosed with cancer are explored in this qualitative research study. Four women participated in this comparative case study by sharing their stories to provide a holistic view and insight into the real life setting of childhood cancer. The theoretical perspective of phenomenology guided this study as a basis for understanding the lebenswelt (life-world) of grandmothers and the social reality of the lived experiences when a grandchild is diagnosed with cancer (Schutz & Luckmann, 1973). The once taken-for-granted world, the world of the familiar, no longer exists when a child is diagnosed with cancer. Using the hermeneutic circle as a driving force and metaphor, I pieced together the meaning of the lived experiences of childhood cancer for these grandmothers. I built a collective conscious framework in order to understand the shared meanings of grandmothers as caregivers through naturalistic inquiry into the life-world when their grandchild is diagnosed with cancer. I also built a lived experiences model which illustrates the common themes among grandmothers who have grandchildren diagnosed with cancer. The collective conscious framework and lived experiences model allow me to illuminate and make sense of the lived experiences of these grandmothers.
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