Chapter IV

METHODOLOGY

Research Design

This study utilizes Van Manen’s interpretative phenomenological research design as a

methodological approach to explore and gather rich descriptions of pregnant women's lived

experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic. According to Van Manen, interpretive

phenomenology provides a comprehensive method for the researcher to analyze and interpret

the phenomenon of interest. This method is utilized when the researcher needs to uncover a

lesser-known or unexplained occurrence by an in-depth investigation of the pregnant

woman's lived experiences during the CVID-19 pandemic (Manen, 2006). IPA delves into

these meanings for the participants, as well as how they comprehend and make sense of their

personal and social environments are explored in-depth in IPA. (Lyons & Coyle, 2007).

Specifically, Van Manen’s (1990) methodology, consistent with the call for narrative and

revealing everydayness, aims to tell the most captivating stories, precisely those that help us

better understand what most common taken-for-granted and what concerns the pregnant

women most ordinarily and directly is.

Research Participants

The researchers will be selecting pregnant women of different civil status, parity,

occupation, and education level. Inclusion criteria include Filipino pregnant women at the

time of the announcement of the pandemic, but have already given birth or are currently

pregnant at the time of the interview, registered at the public health center, 18 years of age or

above, with the ability to comprehend the content of the interview, currently living in Ormoc

City and willing to be one of the participants. Exclusion criteria will include those who are
not pregnant, mentally impaired, unregistered in public health centers, and age below 18 will

not be considered a qualified participant for ethical and legal purposes.

Table 1. Selection of the participants based on Inclusion and Exclusion criteria.

Criteria Inclusion Exclusion

Age 18 and above Below 18
Location Residing in Ormoc City Outside the city
Category of Experience Pregnancy during COVID-19 Pregnancy before COVID-19
pandemic pandemic

Nationality Filipino Others

Sampling Procedure

The research participants will be selected through maximum variation sampling

among pregnant women registered in public health centers. It is a purposive sampling

technique used to capture a wide range of perspectives relating to pregnant women's lived

experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic. The researchers will choose a varied sample of

participants including both pregnant women at the time of the announcement of pandemic but

has already given birth and currently pregnant at time of interview, housewives and employed

women, single parent and married women, primiparous and multiparous women, and women

with different education levels. Sampling will occur until the data is saturated. Sampling

must carry on until the data saturation point, where no new information or theme is observed

in the data.

Time and Place of Study

 The research study will be implemented within the school year 2020-2021 of the

Visayas State University. This will be conducted at Ormoc City, a first-class city in the Leyte

province, Philippines. Ormoc is an independent coastal component in the province of Leyte.

The city has an area of 613.60 square kilometers of land, or 236.91 square miles, which is

9.72 percent of the entire area of Leyte. Its population was 215,031, as calculated by the 2015

Census. This accounted for 12.47 percent of Leyte province's total population, or 4.84 percent

of the Eastern Visayas region's overall population. It is comprised of 110 different barangays

as well (Phil Atlas, 2015).

Figure 1. Map of Ormoc City, Leyte

Research Instrument

Semi-Structured Guide Questionnaire

Guide Questionnaires consists of open-ended questions will be given to the
participants that will serve as a guide to construct their thoughts and experiences.
Interview
After the formulation of the questionnaire, the researchers will then interview selected
participants.
Recorder/ Smart Phone
The recorder/ Smart Phone will be used to record the interview.
Field Notes
Field notes will be utilized to take down important details and observations from the
responses of participants.

Reflexive Journal
 Reflexive Journal will be use to record the researcher’s thoughts and emotions in
order to identify and document any personal experiences or problems of subjectivity that may
emerge.

Data Gathering Procedure

The data gathering procedure will be through in-depth semi-structured interviews with

the lived experience of pregnant woman during the COVID-19 pandemic. In-depth interview

is meant to draw out reflections on experiences, events, and emotions related to the lived

experience so that the interviewer can describe the phenomena as concretely and distinctly as

possible (Manen, 1990). Each participant will be interviewed in a semi-structured interview

that will lasts about 30-60 minutes.

Before conducting the interview, the researchers will first have to identify research

participants from the list obtained from the three major barangay health centers in Ormoc,

namely: Linao, Curva, and Ipil. Individuals who will be identified will be approached to

ensure that the inclusion criteria will be meet.

Subsequently, the potential participants will be given a packet information sheet and

informed consent form. An informed consent form will be obtained from individuals who

will agree to participate in the study. Prior to participating in the interview, the participants

will be allowed to address the research's purpose, clarify confidentiality issues, and discuss

any ethical concerns. The researchers will also obtain permission from the participants to

have the interview be in the record. The researchers would assure the respondents that the

data gathered will remain strictly confidential and solely use for research and that their actual

names will not be used in the research study and they could withdraw from the research

interview at any point with no consequences.

 Prior to the interview, the researcher and each participant will agree on a mutually

agreeable interview time, date, and place.  Every interview will begin with the completion of

an Informed Consent Form. The interviews will be audio recorded via smartphone with the

participants' consent.

Next, the semi-structured in-depth interview will be conducted by the researchers.

Demographic data will be gathered at the beginning of each interview, followed by open-

ended questions. The participants will also be given the opportunity to include some relevant

comments or opinions not covered by the interview questions at the end of each interview.

Before the data will be analyzed, participants will be told that they would receive a copy of

the interview transcription to revise for accuracy and to provide clarification.

Throughout the data collection and analysis process, the researchers maintained a

reflexive journal to record their thoughts and emotions in order to identify and document any

personal experiences or problems of subjectivity that may emerge. Bracketing was used as a

precaution to ensure that the researcher's biases and preconceptions will not distort the

interpretation of the phenomenon.

Identifying
research
participants

Packet
Inclusion 1:1 Participants
YesCriteria information
Yes Interviews
Interviews
will reviewData analysis
Interested will be
Met
sheet and with the the will begin
informed transcribed
participants transcripts
consent

No
Researcher
begins
Journaling
Thank you Thank you

Figure The Research Methodology

Data Analysis

The researchers will make use of Van Manen’s Six-Step Interpretative

Methodological Approach to analyze the research data. The selective and detailed or line-by-

line approach can be used to distinguish thematic statements (Manen, 2006). Van Manen has

recommended the following six (6) steps for researchers which will be utilized in the research

study:

(1) Concentrate on the phenomenon that piques our interest and keeps us thinking: in

this regard, the researcher’s mind was constantly engaged with this question: what is the lived

experience of pregnant women during the COVID-19 pandemic? Throughout the research

process, this question has been constantly referred back to in order to ensure that the

methodology have remained appropriate to answer it.

(2) Investigate the experience as something we live in rather than what we

conceptualize: Women who have personally witnessed this phenomenon will be asked to

engage in our study to allow the researcher to interact with the main experience. The data

collection method used to explore the lived experience of pregnant women during COVID-19
Pandemic will be semi-structured, in-depth interviews, audio recorded and eventually will be

transcribed. Interviews will enable the participants and the researchers to re-live the original

experiences of the participants as they described them. In-depth semi-structured interviews

will allow the researchers to examine the unique experiences of the participants and uncover

the layers of meanings and perceptions. Participants will be encouraged to explain their

experience during the COVID-19 pandemic in their own descriptions, and these narratives

were intended to put depth and scope to the current understanding of the lived experience of

pregnant women during COVID-19 pandemic as a whole.

(3) Reflecting on the essential themes that shows the intrinsic characteristics of the

phenomenon: To focus on the major themes, it is essential first to classify the themes and

sub-themes that will be prevalent in the results. During the interview, the researchers will

recognize the significant themes of the participant's responses and to facilitate a detailed

explanation of these points in order to ensure that appropriate data will be gathered for

analysis. The reflective notes that will be taken before and directly after the interview will

help in the subsequent analysis and will influence the course of the following interviews. 

After each interview, the audio recording will be transcribed verbatim and then will

be analyzed by finding recurring themes and assigning meaning to these experiences

(Polkinghorne, 1983). This will be accomplished by immersion in data, reading and re-
reading transcripts, and by switching between transcripts searching for shared definitions of

experience of participants. Statements, words and phrases that will be perceived to be of

importance will be chosen when reading and re-reading the data; and these will be the early

themes and sub-themes.

(4) Using the art of writing and rewriting to describe the phenomenon:

phenomenological research is mostly a written practice which will enable the researchers to

gain the meaning of experience through practice. The focus of the process is to put forth the

full description of the research participants' feelings, thoughts, and experiences through

considerate reflection and expression. The foundation of the approach was to put forth the full

definition of the study participants' emotions, ideas, and perceptions through reflective

observation and speech. As the writing and re-writing processes will occur throughout this

research process, continual revision and refinement of thoughts will take place. Ideas created

during data collection and transcription can be clarified during writing and re-writing, reading

and re-reading. Constant inquiry and reflecting on emerging themes would enable a better

understanding of the lived experience.

(5) Establishing and maintaining a strong link with the phenomenon: the researchers will be

concerned with the lived experience of pregnant women during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Creating a consistent connection between the text and the phenomenon, and using rich and

in-depth descriptions of the data, decreases the risk of divergence from the main path.
(6) Balancing the research context by informing the researcher that parts of the data must be

viewed in light of the whole phenomenon: in the last step, Van Manen’s method instructs the

researcher to recognize the parts of the data in the context of the whole phenomenon.

According to Manen (1990), it is possible to get so lost in writing that one no longer knows

where to go, what to do next, and how to get out of a trap that one has dug, in

phenomenological research. Although these steps are described in order, the process was

iterative, with no definite beginning and end; reflection, analysis, writing, and rewriting took

place during the data analysis.

Concentrate on the
phenomenon that piques
our interest and keeps us
≈ ≈
thinking: The lived
experience of pregnant
women during the
COVID-19 pandemic
Consider parts Investigate the
and whole of
experience as
research
something we live in
rather than what we
conceptualize

Becoming a fully
human: To understand
the essence of the lived
experience of pregnant
women during COVID-
19 pandemic
Establishing and
maintaining a strong
Reflecting on the
link with the
essential themes:
phenomenon
Analyze the data: read
and re-read the
transcripts find
patterns in statement
that can be put into

Describe the
phenomenon
through the art of
writing and
rewriting
Figure Van Manen’s Six inseparable steps

Coding

The researchers will utilize Van Manen’s (1990) framework for phenomenological

research in coding and analyzing the data. Themes will be created that will illustrate the lived

experiences of the pregnant women during the COVID-19 pandemic. As outlined below, the

data analysis process is iterative in order to achieve a holistic perspective of the pregnant

woman's lived experience. Although the description of the data analysis is linear, the

procedure steps are interconnected as they lead back to the research question and the

interview transcript (see Figure ).

 Statements
Highlighted

Writing
Statements
Process
Read in Excel
Begins
Interview
Transript

Meaning
Labels Meaning
Compared Labels
Assigned

2nd coder
Meaning
Labels

Figure The coding method used in this study based on van Manen's (1990) framework.

 The interview transcript will be read a minimum of three times.

 Statements that exposed the participant’s experience will be highlighted.

 The transcript will be read in entirety to confirm essential text was selected.

 The highlighted statements will be extracted verbatim and will be copied into a Microsoft

Excel spreadsheet with each statement in an individual cell. The spreadsheet will be designed

to track the statements to the participant and interview question.

 Statements to be made by the individual that are not relevant to the phenomenon will not be

included in the spreadsheet.

 The research questions and interview transcripts will be reread to remain grounded on the

pregnant woman’s experience.

  Reflecting on the story of pregnant woman’s experience during the COVID-19 pandemic after

phrases that define the participant’s meaning were recorded on the spreadsheet.

 In order to identify the meaning of the data, the researcher will also return to the complete

transcript of the interview to stay grounded in the overall experience.

 This process will be repeated for each participant’s transcript.

 The second coder will engage in the process by reading the research questions and interview

transcripts at least three times before finding the phrases that will define the individual’s

experience.

 The researcher and second coder will examine and compare the assigned phrases of meaning.

Where the labelled data were identical in meaning but different phrases were recorded, the

phrase will be modified. If there were inconsistencies in the labels, the researchers will

address the differences while going back to the interview transcript to determine a mutually

agreed label.

 The meaning labels will be sorted, and themes will be assigned that will address the

phenomenon of pregnant women during COVID-19 pandemic.   

 Reflection and review of the interview transcripts, in accordance with Van Manen's (1990)

sixth step of data analysis, will contribute to the combination of the themes to

identify essential themes that reflect the participants' description of the phenomenon.

Trustworthiness

Credibility, confirmability, dependability, and transferability guarantee the rigor of

qualitative research (Lincoln and Guba,1985). Maximum variation sampling, participation

and long immersion of the researcher in the field, persistent observation, data triangulation,
reflexive journaling, comprehensive field notes, peer-checking, and member-checking will be

used to ensure our study's credibility. To maintain dependability, the first author will instantly

document and transcribe all interviews with the participants.

An audit trail of analytical procedures will also be held to ensure the dependability

and confirmability of the study. It will build a clear and explicit decision-making process,

enabling themes to be tracked back to comments made. The reader may evaluate the

credibility of themes based on participants' information in their interviews and quotes from

participant accounts.

The researchers will also maintain a reflective journal in which she will write down

her preconceived ideas about pregnant women's lived experiences during COVID-19

pandemic. It will be initiated prior to interviews and will last until the study is completed in

such a way that the findings can be checked at any time by researchers to ensure that there is

no unequal emphasis on specific themes. The main themes extracted by the lead researcher;

however, discussion with the coauthor will be used to ensure that the interpretations will

correctly represent the raw data, with no over-or under-representation of the raw data. The

context of data gathering will be thoroughly defined to ensure transferability.

Ethical Considerations

A hallmark of research is confirming that participants have sufficient information to

make an informed decision to participate in a study (American Anthropological Association,

2013).

An Informed Consent Form will be reviewed and signed by each participant in this research

study. This consent process contained details of the interview process, possible interview
subjects, and assurances of privacy and confidentiality. Actual names were not included, and

all personal information was excluded from the data collected. Pseudonyms will be used all

throughout the research process. Prior to conducting interview, participants will be given

the opportunity to contact the interviewer to resolve any inquiries or concerns. Participants

will be informed that they could leave the interview at any point with no consequences.

Participants will also be given Packet Information Sheet outlining the research, including the

researchers and research supervisors' contact information. If the participants will need to

reach me after the interview, my personal phone number will also be included. The study's

objectives, benefits, and possible risks were thoroughly clarified to all participants. Since the

information requested will be personal, there was a chance of participant anxiety, such as

when remembering a terrible experience. A certain effort will be taken to ensure that the

participants' mental and emotional well-being will not be jeopardize, and they were told that

they could end the interview at any moment.