5. Epistemological assumptions in phenomenography

As described in Chapter 2, phenomenography developed from a research approach that was based on a common object of study in the 1980s, to a research approach with an accompanying set of accepted methods in the 1990s, to a research methodology with associated ontological and epistemological assumptions in the 2000s. This last development was initiated by the publication of Marton and Booth’s (1997) book, Learning and Awareness, in particular. This means that, from the 2000s, anyone who attempts to undertake phenomenographic research simply by applying a set of accepted methods, without an accompanying understanding of the theoretical assumptions underpinning those methods, will be short-changing their research. Chapter 5 describes the key epistemological assumptions put forward in Learning and Awareness, and clarifies how they relate to the methods adopted in phenomenography.