The phenomenological ethnographic perspective: A research tool for enhancing the empowerment of the disabled

From an early stage of my development as an anthropolo- balance to be had in adopting a phenomenological eth- gist I had been fascinated by the need for phenomeno- nographic position where the researcher needs to situate logical ethnographic research to be carried out. Drawing themselves between a community insider and outsider upon the practice theory of Pierre Bourdieu (1977, 1990) (Howe and Silva, 2012). As researchers we have a mor- and the phenomenological position of ‘being in the world’ al obligation to not only present our work for scholarly triumphed my Maurice Merleau-Ponty (1962, 1965) that digestion but make it easily accessible to practitioners together can help establish a robust understanding of and clients alike. This paper endeavours to provide peda- embodiment, this paper highlight how social researchers gogical insights from a lifetime as a flaneur and a short in APA would benefit from using ethnographic methods, career as an academic in the field of APA that will help particularly participant observation. The embodied re- researcher embrace this useful method. Ultimately it is searcher is in a great position to shed light upon the cul- hope with more researchers embracing a phenomenologi- tural practice of APA through the use of the ethnographic cal ethnographic perspective we can begin to fast track tool kit that includes not only participant observation but APA’s empowering potential in the lives of the impaired, also archival work and discourse analysis, as well as vari- which for so long has promised so much but to date has ous forms of interview techniques. There is of course a often failed to deliver.

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