Using Phenomenography to Research Sociological Interpretations of Sustainability in Higher Education

Abstract

Phenomenography is a research approach that seeks to identify variation in experiences of a particular phenomenon among a sample population. It includes particular procedures for writing research questions, designing data collection tools, and analyzing findings. Sustainability in higher education has attracted considerable interest in recent years, but while many universities have been relatively successful in campus environmental issues, there exist different views about what sustainability means and encompasses and whether the sector should have responsibility for promoting it. While many published studies have examined these debates in the context of individual disciplines, relatively few have considered sociological perspectives—which is surprising in view of the fact that sociology and sustainability share an interest in society and social change. Consequently, the purpose of my project was to use phenomenography as a research approach to examine sociologists’ experiences of and ideas about sustainability in higher education. In this case study, I summarize key aspects of the project, foregrounding the phenomenographic approach that I adopted. After explaining relevant terminology and guiding the reader through the different stages of the project, I offer a set of advisory points for the newer researcher, based on my experience of using this approach.

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