The population of seniors in Canada is increasing, and the numbers of seniors who remain in or return to the workforce rather than retire are also on the rise. However, work experiences of older individuals have been understudied in research. This study explores the meaning of work to a group of individuals over age 65 in Thunder Bay, a city in Northwestern Ontario. The researcher conducted ten interviews following phenomenological methods of inquiry. Using identity theory, life course perspective, and continuity theory, the study also sought to understand the importance of continuity to older individuals’ experiences of work. Findings revealed eight themes that influenced older workers’ experiences: socio-historical trends, the work environment, health, financial circumstances, purpose, choice, life beyond work, and perceptions of age. Ultimately, continuity of behaviours, life stories, and self-understandings are important features of older workers’ experiences and may influence whether this important group will continue to work.

Embodied design is a response to what I know of landscape architecture. At the heart of this practicum lies the question of how to better connect the body, mind and environment. It is through the simple act of walking that I begin to uncover the body (both emotionally and physically) as well as the landscape(and all its many attributes). Through an investigation of the phenomenological body I attempt to dissolve dualistic thinking and get back to the lived experience, in turn creating a stronger connection to the sensuous world, as well as the people, plants and animals who we ultimately design for.

This article investigates the experience of loneliness among a group of elderly ladies. Elderly persons are making up an increasing portion of the population. Research is therefore important, because loneliness is a threat to quality of life and indicates a bad prognosis during aging. Aging is associated with a decline in the different abilities and body functions. It is marked by changes and multidimensional losses that often imply the redefinition of roles. Little research is available that explores the subjective experiences of elderly women. It was decided to do a qualitative, phenomenological study on the experiences of loneliness among white Afrikaans-speaking women. A phenomenological research approach enables the researcher to discover participants' perceptions, experiences and unique understanding of what loneliness involves. The research was undertaken in the context of a service centre where functioning elderly ladies voluntarily participated in the research. Fifteen elderly ladies were involved in the research by means of purposeful sampling, and their experiences of loneliness were shared through visual clay projections (known as the Mmogo method™), a focus group discussion, individual interviews and journal entries. The Mmogo method™ attaches value to the symbolic, contextual foundation of meanings and provides valuable information about socially constructed aspects that are often difficult to verbalise. Various guidelines were followed to ensure the reliability of the findings, such as the triangulation of data sources, checking the findings with the participants, an extended period in the research field and the inclusion of rich descriptions to corroborate the findings. Two central themes emerged from the thematic data analysis process, namely causes of loneliness and strategies to deal with loneliness. The causes of loneliness which were identified, point towards multiple losses at a personal level, interpersonal losses, changed family relations and a world of living that keeps getting smaller. The strategies to deal with loneliness were indicated by elderly women as the actualising of religion, reminiscing on the past, an active involvement in life and denial. The most important contribution made by this research is the discovery that elderly white ladies experience an intimate loss of the "self" because their own identity was strongly associated with the specific roles and functions that were defined by the socio-cultural context in which they were socialised. These functions and roles emphasised the ultimate authority of the man, as opposed to women's dependence and subjection. In this process, women did not develop an independent identity that could continue once the prescribed traditional roles no longer applied. Another interesting finding is that elderly women find it comforting to reminisce on the past and they also find that the knowledge they gain from the experience can be applied in their lives again. This study could possibly have been extended to elderly women in other cultures, in order to obtain a richer description of the research phenomenon. Various practical suggestions were made to the service centre to support elderly women to process the multiple losses, to question socially acceptable roles and functions of women and to create own interests. / Thesis (M.A. (Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2009.

Declining science enrolment, with the greatest decline in physics, has generated concern surrounding students’ future abilities to function in an increasingly scientific and technology-focused society. In an attempt to understand why students select or reject physics, a multiphase qualitative phenomenological study was designed, with the following questions: (a) Why do students select or reject physics courses? (b) What role does physics identity play in student course selection? (c) What other factors, extrinsic or intrinsic, affect their choices to pursue physics? Questionnaire, interview, focus group and student drawing data indicate students reject physics when it is not required for further studies in university based on their belief that physics is a difficult math-reliant subject, they do not identify with physics, and they are unsure what physics is and what they would study. Recommendations include teaching physics aligned with students’ interests, and teaching physics to promote a positive physics student identity.

Declining science enrolment, with the greatest decline in physics, has generated concern surrounding students’ future abilities to function in an increasingly scientific and technology-focused society. In an attempt to understand why students select or reject physics, a multiphase qualitative phenomenological study was designed, with the following questions: (a) Why do students select or reject physics courses? (b) What role does physics identity play in student course selection? (c) What other factors, extrinsic or intrinsic, affect their choices to pursue physics? Questionnaire, interview, focus group and student drawing data indicate students reject physics when it is not required for further studies in university based on their belief that physics is a difficult math-reliant subject, they do not identify with physics, and they are unsure what physics is and what they would study. Recommendations include teaching physics aligned with students’ interests, and teaching physics to promote a positive physics student identity.

A Day With The Mountain is an inquiry that ventures into the experience of self-movement through the context of freeskiing. This inquiry focuses on both my experience with three freeskiers; Leah Evans, Josh Dueck, and Mark Abma and my personal experience with freeskiing. The intention behind this inquiry is to challenge, celebrate, and evoke the self-movement experience in order to gain understandings of something so fundamental to human development. This intention is met by asking the main research question; ‘What is the experience of self-movement?’ Self-movement was fleshed out in this inquiry within a phenomenological approach. Phenomenology aims to evoke human experience through descriptive writing, which also proved to be the main challenge of this study. Stories, poetry, and images within a narrative entitled A Day With The Mountain were used to address this challenge and to invite the reader into deeply textured experiences of self-movement. A Day With The Mountain is a day of freeskiing where accumulation, threshold, breakthrough, and release make up the rhythms of the experience; these same rhythms also serve as the chapters of this text. Woven within the evocative writing of the experience of freeskiing are theoretical insights into self-movement, movement itself, of wonder. Emerging from this inquiry are ideas and questions about self-movement and movement that challenge the ground of formal physical education. I sense a potential pedagogical approach that combines movement, self-movement, and wonder as presented in this text. The emerging pedagogical approach focuses on evoking wonder, situates movement as a realm of possibility, and self-movement as possible freedom. The margins of self-movement and movement itself remain beyond the horizon of this text, and those margins are in need of more evocative description. Continuing to inquire into self-movement may reveal new possibilities and expanded understandings of self-movement, which may have significant pedagogical potential.

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore the role of the Good Shepherd, a Catholic charitable organization, in the lives of those involved in it. Data collection methods consisted of semi-structured interviews and a limited amount of participant observation. A reflexive journal was also kept to help challenge and reflect on the assumptions I had as a researcher throughout the study. Three major themes emerged from data analysis: (1) experiencing complex interactions within Good Shepherd, (2) fostering a culture of support, and (3) acknowledging that everyone has a different life story. The first theme described participants’ experiences in terms of associating with other individuals involved with the organization. The second theme demonstrates the different types of support that are felt by all associated with the Good Shepherd. The third theme illustrates how those involved in the Good Shepherd learn to appreciate each individual and to value everyone’s life story. As a result of this phenomenological study, I challenged my original assumptions of those facing homelessness and developed a new understanding based on my experiences with all participants at the organization. Specifically, my beliefs changed in three ways. I learned that the problem of homelessness is a complicated phenomenon that involves more than the lack of a house, but a complex array of factors. I learned that those facing homelessness still value their dignity and constantly fight to maintain their sense of self-worth. And finally, I learned that those who are facing homelessness have not given up on life. Four recommendations for future research emerged from this study: (1) studies comparing the perspectives of staff and clients associated with charitable organizations should be examined in order to identify the discrepancies between the two, (2) the benefits of leisure stress coping should continue to be tested to see its effects on those who are faced with homelessness, (3) studies comparing the differences between leisure usage and leisure opportunities for those facing homelessness should be addressed, and finally, (4) the specific benefits of having a sense of belonging to a community for those who are homeless should be identified.

This phenomenological study explored the experiences of farm families starting and operating agritourism. Many extant studies of agritourism have privileged positivistic methodologies and quantitative approaches. To better understand the lived experiences of farm families who have started and embrace agritourism and to fully appreciate the intertwined and complex nature of the various factors involved within the family, a more interpretative approach was required. Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis(IPA) guided the design, analysis, and overall implementation of the study. Phenomenology allowed meaningful experiences and essential structures associated with the phenomenon of agritourism, from the perspective of those directly involved in it, to be fully and deeply explored. In this study, three multi-generational farm families actively engaged in agritourism within Ontario participated. Unlike previous agritourism studies which just involved one family member, usually the farmer, as many members of each farm family as possible were included in this study. A total of 17 members across the three families participated and data were collected through a combination of on-site observations and active interviews. Beginning with a simple introductory question of each participant, “Can you tell me how agritourism got started on your farm”, a number of themes emerged. By taking an interpretative stance, the individual themes were further baled into six super-ordinate themes: • Retailing, Educating, Entertaining– describing agritourism; • Being the Face of Farming–the re-connecting of farms and farmers to consumers; • We Are the Farm–impressions about how agritourism is retaining and sustaining a farming identity while introducing unique challenges associated with embracing agritourism on the farm; • Family Comes First–speaking to the prevalence of economics as a reason for embracing agritourism, while also further exploring agritourism’s role in sustaining the family farm; • Coming Home–focuses on the inseparability of the farm as a place of residence and work where new challenges, opportunities, and attitudes towards intergenerational transfer of the farm emerge; and finally, • Becoming an Agritourism Farm–captures the incremental process and key watershed moments associated with switching into agritourism. By exploring the experience of agritourism from the perspectives of the families, our understanding of agritourism has been expanded, while some of our pre-existing beliefs and assumptions about agritourism are also challenged. Getting involved in agritourism was articulated by farm families as occurring through a series of smaller, incremental decisions usually over several years as the farm naturally took on new and additional activities and eventually evolved into an agritourism enterprise. The transition revealed the place – the farm, and the people integral and historically associated with it – as a productive agricultural space was changing into being consumptive spaces. The unplanned transition into agritourism affected the farmer as well as other members of the family. However, the transition also sustained a farming identity and way of life in an era of intense globalization and agricultural intensification. This study sheds light on how different members of the families have been involved in the process, as well as illuminated new perspectives on: how agritourism sustains key characteristics defining a family farm, how the farm re-engages with consumers, how an entrepreneurial spirit is fostered, and how continuous adaptation on the farm ensures its viability for future generations of the family.

Subscribing to Hans-Georg Gadamer's belief that human beings are called to be insightful and discerning, this dissertation explores Gadamer's idea and practice of listening to language in order to understand the relationship between a constitutive theory of language and a life of wisdom. As Gadamer's texts reveal, the hermeneutic practice of listening to language is a reflective engagement of language that is theoretically grounded in a constitutive view of language. First, we need to listen to language because language, not consciousness, is the critical element in understanding. Second, the ontological priority of language over subjectivity comes with the nature of our primary relationship to language--we belong to it. Language is the medium in which we think and live, which makes us human. This means that our primary and most consequential relationship to language is as hearers, not users, of language. Third, the nature of language is both binding and expansive; hence the problems that come with its binding nature can be attended to from within language itself, by engaging its expansive nature. In other words, Gadamer does not believe in linguistic determinism. <br>The first chapter explores the conversation between Gadamer and communication studies by surveying what communication scholars have found significant for communication theory and practice in Gadamer's thought. The next three chapters examine Gadamer's idea and practice of listening to language through a close interpretive reading of Gadamer's texts. This reading reveals three key relationships that define the hermeneutic practice of listening to language: the relationship between ordinary language and conceptual thought (chapter two); the relationship between hearing and understanding (chapter three); and the relationship between language and reason (chapter four). The last chapter takes the conversation between Gadamer and communication studies further by considering some ways in which the hermeneutic practice of listening to language can assist communication scholars and practitioners in becoming discerning and insightful. / McAnulty College and Graduate School of Liberal Arts / Communication and Rhetorical Studies / PhD / Dissertation

This phenomenological study explored the experiences of farm families starting and operating agritourism. Many extant studies of agritourism have privileged positivistic methodologies and quantitative approaches. To better understand the lived experiences of farm families who have started and embrace agritourism and to fully appreciate the intertwined and complex nature of the various factors involved within the family, a more interpretative approach was required. Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis(IPA) guided the design, analysis, and overall implementation of the study. Phenomenology allowed meaningful experiences and essential structures associated with the phenomenon of agritourism, from the perspective of those directly involved in it, to be fully and deeply explored. In this study, three multi-generational farm families actively engaged in agritourism within Ontario participated. Unlike previous agritourism studies which just involved one family member, usually the farmer, as many members of each farm family as possible were included in this study. A total of 17 members across the three families participated and data were collected through a combination of on-site observations and active interviews. Beginning with a simple introductory question of each participant, “Can you tell me how agritourism got started on your farm”, a number of themes emerged. By taking an interpretative stance, the individual themes were further baled into six super-ordinate themes: • Retailing, Educating, Entertaining– describing agritourism; • Being the Face of Farming–the re-connecting of farms and farmers to consumers; • We Are the Farm–impressions about how agritourism is retaining and sustaining a farming identity while introducing unique challenges associated with embracing agritourism on the farm; • Family Comes First–speaking to the prevalence of economics as a reason for embracing agritourism, while also further exploring agritourism’s role in sustaining the family farm; • Coming Home–focuses on the inseparability of the farm as a place of residence and work where new challenges, opportunities, and attitudes towards intergenerational transfer of the farm emerge; and finally, • Becoming an Agritourism Farm–captures the incremental process and key watershed moments associated with switching into agritourism. By exploring the experience of agritourism from the perspectives of the families, our understanding of agritourism has been expanded, while some of our pre-existing beliefs and assumptions about agritourism are also challenged. Getting involved in agritourism was articulated by farm families as occurring through a series of smaller, incremental decisions usually over several years as the farm naturally took on new and additional activities and eventually evolved into an agritourism enterprise. The transition revealed the place – the farm, and the people integral and historically associated with it – as a productive agricultural space was changing into being consumptive spaces. The unplanned transition into agritourism affected the farmer as well as other members of the family. However, the transition also sustained a farming identity and way of life in an era of intense globalization and agricultural intensification. This study sheds light on how different members of the families have been involved in the process, as well as illuminated new perspectives on: how agritourism sustains key characteristics defining a family farm, how the farm re-engages with consumers, how an entrepreneurial spirit is fostered, and how continuous adaptation on the farm ensures its viability for future generations of the family.