U3D1-68 - Pick a Methodology from the instructions below which you would use to design a qualitative study. Write and Demonstrate your understanding of methodology.

heuristic-research-design-methodology-and-applications-Chapter4.pdf

Home >Business & Finance homework help >Operations Management homework help >U3D1-68 - Pick a Methodology from the instructions below which you would use to design a qualitative study. Write and Demonstrate your understanding of methodology.

Examples of Heuristic Research

In: Heuristic research : design, methodology, and applications

By: Clark Moustakas

Pub. Date: 2011

Access Date: April 20, 2018

Publishing Company: SAGE Publications, Inc.

City: Thousand Oaks

Print ISBN: 9780803938823

Online ISBN: 9781412995641

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.4135/9781412995641

Print pages: 59-90

This PDF has been generated from SAGE Research Methods. Please note that the

pagination of the online version will vary from the pagination of the print book.

http://dx.doi.org/10.4135/9781412995641

Examples of Heuristic Research

Verbatim material from an initial interview and examples of individual depictions of experience,

composite depictions, portraits, and creative syntheses are provided in this chapter. The

primary purpose is to convey how heuristic research data is organized and presented; the

nature, meaning, and essence of an experience from the vantage point of the person and

group offering first-person accounts of their experience with the phenomenon.

EXCERPT FROM AN INITIAL INTERVIEW

Really Feeling Connected with Nature

In her study on connectedness to nature, Joan Snyder (1989) includes a verbatim account of

the initial interview with a co-researcher. The opening excerpt from the complete text follows:

JOAN What I am interested in is what your experience is in really feeling connected

with nature. That may just be an outpouring of what things have happened in your life

where you felt that connection. Or there may be some one particular experience that

stands out over all of the rest of them. …

JOY Yeah, I have a number of times when I have felt really connected to nature. The

first one that I think of happened in 1979. I went out West alone to Estes Park and

hiked the trails. I want to say more about the mountains later, but I wanted to focus on

a particular morning that I hiked a trail into Quinland Lake. The path was steep up for

a while and then gradually wound down again to a forest that you had to walk through

on you way to the lake. I was walking along the trail, just moseying along the trail, and

all of a sudden I came to a tree that had been newly damaged. Either the wind had

taken out the top of it, or maybe it had been struck by lightning, I don't know what

happened to it. But the tree stood … it exposed its core and its core was so beautiful

in the sunlight. It was a tawny golden light. The light seemed to come right out of it.

The sun was on it. There was a specialness … (hand to heart) … like a cathedral. I

walked up to it. I had to touch it and I cried … I had the sense that things were going

to be okay. I just stood there for quite a while. … When I touched the tree I felt a

warmth in my solar plexus. The tree was saying “I know you”. It was like a reunion. …

It was a Gestalt, a completion. … In my family system the way we dealt with spirituality

was to brush it aside and say, “feeling a little hokey today.” But I couldn't, I didn't want

to brush it aside. The feeling I got from that tree and the connection I got was to

nature. … It was something more than me … a promise. A nurturance, a being there, a

centeredness, a fulfillment. And it was in my heart, right to my heart. I just had a

Heuristic research : design, methodology, and applicationsPage 2 of 30

feeling of peacefulness and calmness throughout … God, the beauty of it, you know,

like a beautiful piece of wood that you can't, you just cannot keep your hands off. I

have to touch it, I have to feel it. I'm a tree hugger. I like to put my face right up to the

bark and put my arms around it. (pp 172-176)

INDIVIDUAL DEPICTIONS

The Experience of Touch in Blindness

This example of an individual depiction is from among many that appeared in Lusseyran's And

There Was Light (1987). Lusseyran's account of his experience of blindness was first and

foremost a search to find meaning in blindness, to understand the phenomenon, and to learn

from it. In the excerpt, Lusseyran focuses on touch, the nature and meaning of touch as

affected by blindness (his own, and perhaps that of all persons visually impaired).

Lusseyran (1987), who was blinded at an early age, depicts the experience of touch with

particular emphasis on the relationship of touch to movement and pressure, as dominant

themes:

When I had eyes, my fingers used to be stiff, half dead at the ends of my hands, good

only for picking up things. But now each one of them started out on its own. They

explored things separately, changed levels, and, independently of each other, made

themselves heavy or light.

Movement of fingers was terribly important, and had to be uninterrupted because

objects do not stand at a given point, fixed there, confined to one form. They are alive,

even the stones. What is more they vibrate and tremble. My fingers felt the pulsation

distinctly, and if they failed to answer with a pulsation of their own, the fingers

immediately became helpless and lost their sense of touch. But when they went

toward things, in sympathetic vibration with them, they recognized them right away.

Yet there was something still more important than movement, and that was pressure.

If I put my hand on the table without pressing it, I knew the table was there, but knew

nothing about it. To find out, my fingers had to bear down, and the amazing thing is

that the pressure was answered by the table at once. Being blind I thought I should

have to go out to meet things, but I found that they came to me instead. I have never

had to go more than halfway, and the universe became the accomplice of all my

wishes.

If my fingers pressed the roundness of an apple, each one with a different weight,

Heuristic research : design, methodology, and applicationsPage 3 of 30

very soon I could not tell whether it was the apple or my fingers which were heavy. I

didn't even know whether I was touching it or it was touching me. As I became part of

the apple, the apple became part of me. And that was how I came to understand the

existence of things. (pp. 26–27)

From the transcribed interview of each co-researcher, combined with other available data, such

as journals, diaries, and personal documents, an individual depiction of the participant's

experience is constructed. Excerpts from individual depictions follow.

Transforming Self-Doubt into Self-Confidence

Prefontaine's individual depiction offers a picture of the descriptive meanings that are

characteristic of the transformation that occurs in identity in moving from self-doubt to self-

confidence. The depiction presents the constituents of the experience, as well as the

ambiguities and conflicting qualities that distinguish it from other human experiences. Verbatim

excerpts from Prefontaine's investigations are presented to portray the qualities of self-doubt

and self-confidence, as well as a sense of the shift that is taking place.

The Depiction of Self-Doubt

I am experiencing a general malaise which seems to suggest that something is wrong with me

and with my life. I am in considerable physical discomfort, with a great deal of tension and

some pain. At times, I feel locked up inside myself.

I tend to be suspicious of others and I get skeptical when they suggest that I can change, or

that my future can be different. People don't really know me or understand me. I get cynical if

others present convincing evidence to support their claims which I cannot discount or dismiss.

To my disbelief and amazement, others have told me that I am arrogant and hard.

I avoid people and new situations. I am afraid of the unknown. In most situations, most of the

time, I feel out of place. I am never sure of myself and never certain of what I really want. To

decide anything is always difficult. At times, it is positively painful. I tend to postpone and to

avoid making decisions as long as I can. I usually wait for the normal course of events to decide

the outcome of my life situation.

I am torn by ambivalent feelings—wanting and then not wanting. Those feelings are strong and

fluctuate very quickly. I belittle myself by thinking that others are better than I am and can do

things better than I can. In conflict situations, I usually blame myself and presume that I was

wrong. …

Heuristic research : design, methodology, and applicationsPage 4 of 30

I resolve to change a lot of things in my life. I think of those changes in global terms such as

wanting to slow down or wanting to lose weight. I see them happening in some distant future

when everything will be just right. Most days I know what I want to do but can't seem to do it.

When I attempt some things, it's as if my body doesn't obey or cooperate. There is a big gap

between what I want to do and what I actually achieve. …

I question my attitude and my approach to life. At times I think I'm too serious, at other times

not enough. I don't seem to know when to be serious and when not to be serious. I feel very

limited. I am convinced that I have to grow a lot before I can possibly help anyone. I have a long

history of negative attitudes and these attitudes influence what I do today. In that way, I am

handicapped. …

Movement to Self-Confidence

I try a new behavior. I hesitate and am afraid. But I decide to speak out in front of others. I am a

bit surprised that it was not as as painful as I thought it would be. After that I feel a bit relieved.

I have more of a feeling of belonging. I feel some new energy in my body. I did better than I had

imagined. Others said I did OK.

I discover that even when I fail, I can recover. This time, I didn't worry as much about how I'll

make out. I can relax a bit more and enjoy myself more. I don't put myself down as often as I

used to. I'm beginning to believe in my own strength.

I now realize that others are struggling with many of the same things as I am. I risk showing

more of my faults and good points. When I tell others how I feel I don't have to pretend as

much or even to tell white lies about how I feel. I am feeling things that I hardly remember ever

feeling. Some feelings are brand new for me. When I tell others how I feel, I notice that they

pay attention to me. That leaves me feeling more powerful. …

When I think of how far I have to go, I get discouraged. I want to quit because I can't have it all,

all at once. Sometimes I despair that I'll ever make it. It all seems so impossible. I have so little

to offer and no way of communicating it. I hope I make it.

I am discovering new things about myself. I react in unexpected ways. Hard things sometimes

come easily and easy things give me trouble. Much of the time I don't understand myself. I am

feeling differently about myself. I notice that I feel confident in a way I have never felt before.

My depression leaves me when I get involved with others. …

I am doing a number of things that I did not do before. I play more with my children. I am able

to hear my spouse. We share more of our thoughts together. A number of people have become

Heuristic research : design, methodology, and applicationsPage 5 of 30

rather special to me. We have become special to each other. Others listen to me, they offer

support and I feel more confident. I can rely on myself because I always do my best. I can trust

myself. I have been given enough strength to succeed.

I have noticed small changes within me. I am more relaxed. I can share more feelings and

honest emotion without embarrassment or fear of reprisals. When I do that, I trust myself more,

respect myself more and believe in myself more.

I feel that I am back in the swing of things. I have laid new foundations for my future. … How

can I begin to describe it? I feel like a flower in a garden—blooming, (pp. 113–118)

The Mother-Daughter Relationship

The individual depictions of two co-researchers examining the mother-daughter relationship are

presented in poetic form.

Mother (Benjei, 1988)

She wasn't the mother I wanted to have.

She didn't hold me

and hug me and only rarely kissed my hurts away.

Instead of whispered lullabies she practiced scales

and sung the notes of well-known musicals

scolding my childish songs innocently out of tune

unskillfully accompanied upon the little celeste.

But she did get me a puppy dog.

She wasn't the mother I wanted to have.

Instead of peanut butter and jelly

deliciously on Wonder bread

she gave me cream cheese on raisin nut loaf

and our meals were always balanced

even if it meant eating okra.

She wouldn't play “London Bridge Is Falling Down”

but longed for another part Off Broadway.

She took us five days a week for ballet lessons

and I learned to dance.

She wasn't the mother I wanted to have.

She practiced scripts and was always reading weighty books

Heuristic research : design, methodology, and applicationsPage 6 of 30

instead of bedtime stories.

No one could beat her at Scrabble

and she constantly reminded me to pronounce my final “t's”

but she always knew how to spell the word I needed

and finally I became a Doctor of Philosophy.

She wasn't the mother I wanted to have.

She didn't like to sew or cook except for super salads

though she did tolerate my furtive attempts

at culinary accomplishment

little cakes of flour and water mixed

with more mysterious ingredients

and banked on top of the oil burner.

Sometimes I hid the confections under my bed.

She wasn't the mother I wanted to have.

She always insisted we be on time for breakfast and dinner.

And she spanked me when she caught me trying on her clothes

tilting in her flowered dress and shoes

before her boudoir mirror.

She was very fond of red

but later on I discovered a different style.

She wasn't the mother I wanted to have.

She embarrassed me because she laughed too loud

and told off-color jokes

and converted all other conversation into puns.

And she couldn't read my poetry the way that it was meant.

Now I know it was because

she couldn't touch the tears behind her smile.

I hardly ever saw her cry.

She wasn't the mother I wanted to have.

I went to school two thousand miles away

to be without her scathing scolding frequent anger.

So she mailed me a subscription to Time magazine

because she suspected I didn't read the news

and sent me care packages of fruit and cookies

Heuristic research : design, methodology, and applicationsPage 7 of 30

and even a birthday cake, right on time.

She wasn't the mother I wanted to have.

And now as I sit in the house that she designed

a no longer new contemporary, once ahead of its time

even if it was painted turquoise and flamingo

I remember all the gatherings here.

I remember all the people

that have passed through this door

some, as her, that are no more

many that were strange, all that were welcome.

And thinking on my own ministry, and knowing how in part

that came to be

I am thankful that I did not have the opportunity

to choose a different

Mother.

An Ode to My Mom (Spivack, 1985)

I sit here basking in your sun.

Enveloped by its warmth, your warmth, feeling the warm energy

permeating every fiber of my soul.

And yet allowing a cool breeze to enter my being and rustle on my cheek

and through my hair.

And I, in return, can feel my warmth and energy meet yours.

And then a change occurs, a boat comes by, a bee buzzes in my hair.

The spell of the encompassing warmth is disturbed but I know that it is

there in part, and that's enough.

A cloud comes by, and it grows dark.

I can no longer see the sun or feel the heat, but it is there.

Not only behind the cloud waiting patiently for me to appear again.

But deep inside of me

You are part of me.

I am a part of you.

You will always nurture and love me and I, you.

We will never leave each other.

Our warmth will last forever.

Heuristic research : design, methodology, and applicationsPage 8 of 30

Our sun will always shine.

A love so deep and wondrous cannot die.

And so it did not die.

I look into my daughter's eyes.

I feel her warmth and know that she feels mine. And so

Our love, dear mother, yours and mine

Lives on and on.

And so some day

Our Susan will look into her daughter's eyes and see our love, and see

her love with me and bring that love to her unborn child

Her love returned in full by eyes so trusting and so filled with joy.

And so my love, dear Mom, you are my child, my sun, my guiding light,

my source of love, my cloak of warmth

Our love so deep and wondrous will never die.

The Experience of Mystery in Everyday Life

The final individual depiction is derived from Varani's investigation of mystery. In this study,

Varani (1985) explored the mystery of death, relationships, growth, and healing. The excerpts

selected focus on the mystery that permeates interpersonal relationships. Varani recognizes

that ordinarily mystery is not associated with friendships; on the contrary, he points out that

usually people are consciously aware of the nature of their relationships. In his meditations and

self-dialogues on mystery, however, Varani discovered that strong elements of the unknown

entered into his own relationships. He felt in an intense way his vulnerability when he was

challenged or criticized. He felt himself opened up, transparent, his inner world exposed. Ways

in which mystery permeated his relations with others are as follows:

As I was led away from my usual and familiar “self,” I was being led to find my true

self. This other person's frame of reference acts like a parable or a story that enlarges

my own standpoint, and, as a result, I am plunged into areas I have disregarded, have

chosen to ignore, or have failed to perceive existed. …

It is this process which I have identified that enables me to uncover aspects of my life

which I normally would not bother looking into. … In this struggle I have experienced

the pain of my limitations and the sadness in failing to provide time and space. This

pain symbolizes my commitment. Herein lies the mystery of my experience. Because I

do not provide sufficient time to nurture my relationships, I can only rely on my faith in

myself. I can only trust in my word which agrees to each relationship. I experience the

Heuristic research : design, methodology, and applicationsPage 9 of 30

mystery in the mutual freedom and mutual trust that is shared in the relationship by

each individual.

In reflecting upon the future of my relationships, I am also aware of mystery being

present. My record of past relationships includes superficial ones, exploitive ones, and

those which were terminated abruptly or which were still-born. I am aware of pain and

hurt from these memories. There is a fear associated with the future of my

relationships. I fear the unknown development or evolution of them; I fear whether I

will be able to meet each one's demands. I sense here uncertainty. On the other hand,

I also sense a confidence in myself that relationships will flourish, deepen, evolve,

expand. I envision expressions of meaning will come as various levels of mystery are

journeyed. In my journal I noted,

It (the future of the relationship) will be like the flowing of rivers at a deep source. …

The relationship will emit rays of meaning as well as deeper mysteries. The life of the

relationship will be sustained by the deeper meanings. … Meaning and mystery will

accompany one another, it seems to me.

A final reflection on my experience of mystery in relationships is that the mystery

deepens. As I enter into one mystery, I find myself plunging more deeply into other

mysteries. It is my belief that as I enter into the mystery of another person in a

relationship, “(I am) opened to the sense of ultimacy, that is, an experience of God. It

seems to me that Life Itself is revealed to me”. My experience of relationships in this

deep sense has provided me a solid ground upon which the relationships stand.

“Asense of being touched deeply in my being comes over me. Being so touched

suggests … a deep movement at a level not focal to my awareness.” (pp. 133–135)

COMPOSITE DEPICTIONS

The composite depiction of an experience is developed through a process of immersion into,

study of, and concentration on the experience of the phenomenon as presented by each co-

researcher. At some point in this process the qualities, core themes, and essences that

permeate the experience of the entire group of co-researchers are understood and a universal

depiction is constructed. The following examples illustrate the nature and character of the

composite depiction.

The Experience of Being Sensitive

McNally's (1982) heuristic study ultimately focused on polar dimensions of sensitivity. In this

Heuristic research : design, methodology, and applicationsPage 10 of 30

excerpt from her research, she presents a composite depiction that includes contrasting

themes of the experience of being sensitive. The two themes—the pain and anguish in

sensitivity, and the awakening of wonder, awe, and feelings of love—depict a process that

McNally believes is characteristic of sensitive people.

The experience of sensitivity involves feelings of being hurt and in pain. Although this

seems to be the negative side of being sensitive … I see it as simply one side of the

experience. It is an unpleasant, disturbing and difficult experience. It involves the core

of the individual's self and is precipitated by being made fun of, by stresses in life, by

separation from loved ones, by arguments with others we care about, by being

criticized and rejected. The sensitive person feels attacked and is puzzled, uncertain

and questioning. The body absorbs the pain, hurt, fear, anxiety, sadness, rage and

anger. It is characterized by tightness, tenseness and a slumping, downward state.

The person has taken in the assault and often becomes speechless and withdrawn.

Weeping often accompanies the downward state of mind. The experience remains

with the person and he/she feels crushed and devastated, “like being hit by a ton of

bricks.” There is a tendency to move away from the self. In addition, the images and

feelings linger and stay with the person, (pp. 161–162)

Later in her composite depiction, McNally presents the positive qualities of being a sensitive

person:

The person is touched inwardly, and there is a flow of life. The body is full and alive,

glowing and at ease. Love, awe and wonder are the major feelings. There is an at-

oneness, a peace and a light, upward energy. In a state of heightened awareness, the

senses are sharpened and the person feels accepting, confident, strong, and

important. It is a moment of inner awakening and of being alive. From this deepening

and unfolding of the inner self, the person is moved toward a fundamental sense of

communion with others, (p. 180)

Being Inspired

Rourke (1984) conducted an investigation of the nature and meaning of inspiration. In this

excerpt she depicts the universal nature of the experience:

The experience of being inspired is an intrapersonal experience that is born out of a

person's reflective encounter with self and one's life situation. It emerges from the

individual's active sense of what is occurring in a life situation, a self engagement

during a period of questioning, searching, struggling, or during a period of

Heuristic research : design, methodology, and applicationsPage 11 of 30

dispiritedness, grief, and pain.

Although the individual may undergo a long labor awaiting the arrival of the inspiration,

ordinarily that actual moment of being inspired emerges suddenly It usually takes the inspiree

by surprise, creeping up like a “thief in the night.” …

The experience of being inspired enters one's awareness with the recognition of a vital

force or power. … One feels at home, where one has been out of control, able to act,

a sense of being empowered. …

The power is impelling. It moves or drives the inspired person toward a certain goal. It

presses for action. It incites new ideas. It urges one to embrace its cause. The power

is also compelling. It demands the total attention of the inspired person. It commands

absorption in the moment of its emergence. It leaves the inspired person with a

“must,” a “have to,” a “pressure.”

The felt-illumination integrates in such a manner that one feels directed. The sense is

that of seeing what one must do, knowing how to do it, and having the will to carry it

through. One feels like a runner on a definite course who has no doubt that the race

will be finished because one is running on a mysterious or spiritual inner strength.

As this integration occurs, one begins to have the felt-sense of being transformed. … As the

impulse of an inspiration arises in consciousness, one is empowered to move from wish to want

to will to action without experiencing any blocks in the process. One experiences the dramatic

inner movement of: “I see, I can, I will” that completely conquers the dispiritedness. …

For this moment of being inspired, brief or lasting, one feels uplifted as if one is seeing

life from a mountain peak and the vision that one sees is powerful enough to sustain

one's determination to finish the journey of the inspired action. It is as if for one brief

moment one is able to rise above the mundane and the limitations of life and see its

meaning in an extraordinary way. There is a magical mystical, ecstatic quality in this

experience. (pp. 166–168)

The Experience of Self-Reclamation

Schultz (1983) interviewed twenty former Catholic religious women who had lived in religious

communities over a period of six to fourteen years. She herself had been a nun. Utilizing

heuristic processes and methodology and including herself as a research participant, Schultz

studied the experience of reclaiming one's self in life outside the religious institution. Schultz

offers a composite depiction based on the totality of individual depictions derived from her 21

Heuristic research : design, methodology, and applicationsPage 12 of 30

co-researchers:

The experience of self-reclamation as described by former Catholic religious women

involved the following basic components: the experience of disillusionment and felt

frustration of basic needs; the decision to fulfill basic needs by leaving the situation in

which these needs were frustrated; the implementation of strategies in the

development of personal capacities which were surrendered, disowned, or denied;

and the incorporation of aspects of self into one's personal identity. …

The experience of disillusionment involved a process of initial doubting of one's ideals,

a search for the confirmation of one's ideals, and a letting go of one's ideals. During

this process participants experienced a felt frustration of their basic needs for love and

affection, and independence. An integral part of the process of disillusionment was

the examination of one's ideals, one's actual experience of self and community, and

the recognition that one's basic needs could not be fulfilled by remaining in the

community.

The decision to fulfill one's basic needs was expressed in the act of leaving the

situation in which one was disillusioned and one's basic needs were frustrated.

Leaving was experienced as an ending event in which participants gave up a familiar

social identification, a pattern of life, and a social network. They were launched out

into the unknown. Leaving was also an act of choosing to fulfill one's actual self rather

than idealized images of self.

Participants implemented strategies to develop personal capacities which had been

surrendered, denied, or disowned. They developed their capacities of assertiveness,

responsibility, freedom, and acceptance of self and others, through employing

strategies which included looking for and securing employment, financial self-support,

establishing a social network, and critically examining religious attitudes and practices.

Development of one's personal capacities evolved through an increased awareness of

one's needs, and engaging in activities which would enable one to fulfill these needs,

(pp. 109–111)

The Meaning of the Precognitive Dream Experience

In a heuristically guided study of the meaning of the precognitive dream experience, Potts

(1988) recorded and studied her own precognitive dreams as well as that of other dreamers.

Her analysis included an examination of the impact of precognitive dreams on the personal,

Heuristic research : design, methodology, and applicationsPage 13 of 30

interpersonal, and social lives of the dreamer. The following excerpt reflects her compositive

depiction of the meanings inherent in precognitive dreams.

Within the transpersonal perspective, my co-researchers and I have experienced the

restructuring of emotional attitudes toward ourselves and others through our

precognitive dream experiences. Our precognitive dream metaphors have been

imbued with the healing property naturally available to us to facilitate our emotional

healing and movement toward wholeness … [and] meaningful feeling-connections

with others have enabled us to transcend self. Expanded awareness through our

precognitive dreams has led my co-researchers and me to personal and social

transformation. Our precognitive dream experiences have ignited and released a

multiplicity of felt feelings, potentiating expanded awareness and new possibilities for

being. …

The manner in which the dreamer constructively utilizes a precognitive experience

depends upon the dreamer's attunement and appreciation of the dream and the

meaning the experience has had for the dreamer. Effective utilization of precognitive

dream experiences is related to the dreamer's sensitivity to and interest in dreams. By

making individuals aware of their connections and disconnections to others,

precognitive dreams contribute to a common human need for social vigilance. By

sensitizing and elevating the dreamer's state of social alertness and self awareness,

precognitive dreams facilitate the dreamer's positive restructuring of interpersonal and

social relationships. This can lead to an increased capacity for love, understanding

and compassion.

Precognitive dream consciousness is a resource which calls to us. Our response to

the call depends on several factors. Personal and social values are among the more

important factors. The value an individual places upon dream consciousness can be a

crucial determining factor. Societal values, which are reflected by social acceptance or

rejection of precognitive dream experiences, are also determining factors. (pp. 249–

252)

Growing Up in a Fatherless Home

Cheyne (1989), whose father was killed during World War II, studied her own experience of

growing up in a fatherless home and that of other women who were raised without fathers.

From her data, she developed a composite depiction of what it means to be without a father

throughout one's childhood and adult life.

Heuristic research : design, methodology, and applicationsPage 14 of 30

The female raised in a home devoid of a father's presence reflected a symphonic

arrangement of themes which wove in and out of her life. Growing up in a fatherless

home, she felt different from her peers who were raised in intact families. She envied

and was in awe of these children because of the “wholeness” of their intact nuclear

family structures. When she was invited to their homes, she often felt like a token

child. It was like they were doing her a favor.

Throughout her formative years and into the present was the depressing feeling that

there was something missing in her life. There was a sense of incompleteness, like a

circle with a piece missing. This gap, this void, this need unfulfilled, penetrated the

essence of her being and was omnipresent. …

Special days without her father's presence were particularly traumatic; not having her

father there to walk her down the aisle on her wedding day, graduation, holidays,

Father's Day, school functions and a host of other activities involving fathers and

daughters were intensely painful reminders of her fatherless existence. A longing

sadness permeated the core of her being; there were too many times that she missed

her father—to hold her, to hug her, to protect her, to tell her she was pretty, that he

loved her and that everything was, and would continue to be, OK. …

Father absence influenced and affected her relationships with males. She was often

shy and uncomfortable with men, never knowing what to expect or instinctively how to

act. Lack of positive reinforcement about her feminity compounded her difficulties

relating to males with appropriate ease and confidence. She sought strength in males,

finding herself attracted to those who presented a charismatic, “take charge” attitude;

however, she was often disappointed as her heroes crumbled with their “feet of clay.”

The fatherless female grew up with a lack of trust in males. She was hesitant about

male/female relationships; afraid that she would be abandoned again. She sought

nurturance from the male but approach-avoidance was the pattern, as she struggled

with ambivalent and paradoxical feelings. This produced a situation that made

establishing intimate relationships difficult. Making an emotional commitment to a male

was fraught with danger. She was fearful of intimate undertakings because she had a

need to remain in control.

In relating to men she found herself seeking the perfect male—one who had all the

qualities she had unrealistically hoped for in her father. She was inevitably

disappointed when men did not live up to her expectations and illustrious images. …

Heuristic research : design, methodology, and applicationsPage 15 of 30

And, in the end, after all was said and done, the fatherless female with all her

emotional pain, with all her feelings of alienation and insecurity, with all her

resentment relating to her abandonment, was still ready to forgive her father—“the

man who got away.” (pp. 126–130)

The Experience of Shyness

From her heuristic investigations of shyness MacIntyre (1983) offers a composite depiction in

the first person based on individual depictions of the entire group of her twenty co-researchers.

Key elements of shyness include self-doubt, feelings of inferiority, bodily restraint and

withdrawal, flushed face, accelerated heartbeat, heightened temperature, perspiration, anxious

thoughts, internal critical absorption, embarrassment and non-assertiveness:

You want me to describe what happens. I feel that my whole bearing changes. As a

matter of fact I am convinced that it does. I feel that I am getting flush in the face and

my stomach is tied in a knot. Things just seem to be speeding; it is an adrenalin

feeling. I think that everything is just rushing and pumping all through my system. I

can almost hear my heart beat back and forth. I am not relaxed. I think that my voice

quivers a bit; I know that it is barely audible. My eyes—I avert them. I find it hard to

look someone in the eye. All the anxiety levels, the breathlessness—I try to take a

deep breath. I really perspire. It as though someone suddenly turned on a lot of lights,

like on a stage.

My mind is racing. One thought follows another in steady succession. I am constantly

thinking about what to do. I am constantly talking to myself. I wonder whether I am

doing things right and whether I will please people. Am I saying what these people

want me to say? Am I performing as I should? Will I be successful? Often I will be

quite negative with myself; I will put myself down. In my mind I will say: “I can't do this.

I'm stupid. They're smarter than I am.”

I feel afraid when I am shy. I almost hate to use the word, “afraid.” Recently I had to

speak before a group. I can remember feeling really afraid to do that and then getting

up and doing it and feeling really relieved afterwards. Shyness is a feeling of anxiety

too when I am not totally in charge of myself or of the situation. And I feel quite

nervous—just worked up and nervous. My hands are soaking wet practically, I am so

nervous. Sometimes I feel very angry and frustrated for I have been dealing with this

for such a long time.

I prefer to be inconspicuous. When I join a new group I just sort of try to get in as

Heuristic research : design, methodology, and applicationsPage 16 of 30

unnoticed as possible. When others draw attention to me I am thinking desperately:

“Oh God, stop. Why are you doing this to me? Just leave me out of this.” When I feel

shy I draw back from others. …

Deep down I know that I doubt myself. I have always had doubts about myself. If I am

at home in my own surroundings, no problem, I feel very confident there. But feelings

of self-doubt and instability recur. I have difficulty revealing myself to others and I

believe there's a lack of self-esteem, a lack of self-confidence that goes along with

that. Of course I would never feel like a total authority on anything. … I tend,

therefore, to look upon others as superior to me. It's God on top, the neighbor next

and me on the bottom. …

Shyness inhibits me. It is an experience that I try to cover up. I think of ways that I can

hide it so nobody will notice and I am not enjoying this particular bit of excitement.

Shyness is a feeling of holding back that affects my ability to concentrate, to focus

and to think clearly. It also shrouds my personality. I think it is better than it used to be

because I have gotten a little bit better appreciation for myself. Still I am always

amazed that right out of the blue I can become so shy. It is so sudden. I would like to

overcome shyness but I seriously doubt that I will completely overcome it. Perhaps I

will have to learn to accept it; perhaps it is part of me. (pp. 153–157)

EXEMPLARY PORTRAITS

Based on the individual depiction but supplemented by demographic and autobiographic

material collected during the preparation and collection of data, the primary investigator

develops individual portraits of each co-researcher's experience. In the following section,

exemplary portraits are presented to illustrate the retaining of the person's experience in the

process of conducting and completing heuristic research.

Alicia—Return to Culture

Rodriguez (1985) investigated the nature, meanings, and qualities of ethnic identification of 15

Mexican Americans residing in San Diego County, one of whom was himself. The interviews

focused on the co-researchers’ perceptions, thoughts, feelings, beliefs and values that they

considered as essential elements of the experience of cultural return. As part of his analysis,

Rodriguez constructed portraits of each research participant's experience of the phenomenon,

thus not losing the individual persons in the presentation of data. One of these portraits is

selected here as exemplary of what cultural return is and means.

Heuristic research : design, methodology, and applicationsPage 17 of 30

Alicia grew up in a Mexican American bordertown in the South. She left the community

to attend the state university, and she later taught high school on the East Coast of

the United States. Alicia returned to the borderland areas of the South and the

Southwest. Her return to the borderland areas is described in the following summary

of her interview.

Culture for me is something that I live with on a day to day basis. Our Mexican

American culture is something that perhaps all of us are constantly searching for. We

are not necessarily away from it, but always trying to get a better grasp of it. There are

experiences that I have had which provided the contrast for me to better define myself,

my perceptions, and values which come from a Mexican American cultural base.

These experiences in the long run have strengthened my understanding o f m y

cultural background. I don't feel that I've ever experienced a real rupture with my

culture. Growing up in a dominant Mexican American community with a strong family

influence cemented Mexican American culture as an important part of my life. At times

I have entered into life experiences where striking differences with Anglo society were

present or my contact with Mexican American people was limited. When I reentered

the mainstream of Mexican American life, I was struck with the strong presence of my

unique cultural background.

In situations where I was working or living within the dominant Anglo society,

fortunately I could rely on Mexican American social networks which gave me a sense

of closeness with Mexican American people, and identity in doing things. Having

interaction through Spanish was an important link. For me, it's impossible to separate

language from culture. I have also become more prone to do code switching. This

involves the use of Spanish and English words together to transmit ideas to other

bilingual people. I consider code switching one unique feature of contemporary

Mexican American life.

I made conscious choices which have brought me into a firm grip with my self-identity

as a Mexican American. All my choices seem to have brought me closer to working

with Mexican American people. My college studies in Mexico and Spain broaden my

sense of pride in my Mexican and Spanish heritage. I experienced a natural affinity for

Mexican people, enjoyed interacting with them. While in Mexico I also developed an

appreciation and pride in Indian culture. While I was on the East Coast and

geographically removed from Mexican Americans, I made conscious efforts to seek out

contact with other Hispanics. I later decided to teach in border cities such as Laredo

and San Diego. As a teacher in the rural Mexican American community, I experienced

Heuristic research : design, methodology, and applicationsPage 18 of 30

the children as quiet and friendly, warm and respectful in a familiar way. Being a

teacher was a special privilege, and I was accepted almost as a family member.

I decided to pursue a masters program involving Chicano studies. I later taught

Chicano studies to high school youth. I was excited about working with youth who

were aspiring to study their heritage and obtain greater awareness about themselves.

As I reflect on my learnings of Mexican American life, two areas stand out. One

important area involved the inclusion of mysticism and spirituality. The other area was

the importance of the family. I feel the Mexican American family values closeness and

intimacy.

The sum of my life choices and decisions have brought me into the profession of

bilingual education. I find that the profession itself is a support system for full

integration of Mexican American ways in daily work and living.

Alicia's experience crystalized perceptions of her unique cultural presence. Her return

inspired greater recognition of the importance of cultural connections in her life as well

as the lives of other Mexican Americans. Alicia's experience of return centered her in a

particular professional field which sustained cultural frameworks. (pp. 186–188)

Edward—Psychologically Androgynous Male

Clark (1988) conducted extensive interviews with 11 male research participants who identified

themselves as androgynous, one of whom was himself. His research was guided by four

heuristic phases: immersion in the topic, including review and assessment of the published

literature; explication of the philosophical, scientific, and psychological bases of heuristic

inquiry; collection and analysis of data from which depictions and portraits were constructed;

and synthesis of the essences of the experience of the psychologically androgynous male.

From his extensive analysis, his portrait of Edward is chosen here to present the person within

the experience.

Edward is a 35-year-old counseling agency administrator. He is soon to enter his

second marriage and has no children. He described at length his process of growing

s e l f - a w a r e n e s s , d u r i n g w h i c h h e g r e w b e y o n d t h e e m o t i o n a l s t r u c t u r e s h e

incorporated from his family-of-origin and developed a balance of his male and female

attributes. He characterizes his journey toward self-awareness and self-directedness

as a long and intense struggle, which has been helped immensely by his involvement

in psychotherapy. Only during the past few years has he begun to experience the

rewards of the struggle: feeling the freedom to experience and express his feelings,

Heuristic research : design, methodology, and applicationsPage 19 of 30

being capable of an emotionally intimate relationship with a woman, feeling personally

powerful, feeling autonomous yet deeply involved in relationships, feeling the courage

to open himself to change and growth.

Early in his adolescence he became aware of his androgyny, though he did not have a

name for it. He felt different than most of his male peers, more sensitive, more

empathic, placing high values on feminine traits. He was never comfortable in all-male

groups, especially when they displayed aggressive or misogynistic behavior. He found

it easier to talk with females than males.

At many times during his life he has felt envy toward more traditionally-oriented males

for their “pat” lives—their adherence to the structure of the male sex role and their

apparently stable and painless lives as a result of doing what was expected of them

by themselves and others. Though he thought, as he progressed on his growth

process, that he was living a fuller, richer, and more interesting life than many of those

men, he often wished his life contained less struggle and pain, and that he had

models and societal guidelines so he did not have to create his way of being

seemingly from scratch.

As he has become increasingly self-aware—that is, conscious of his feelings,

thoughts, and behavior on an on-going basis—he has felt increasingly free to become

the person he wants to be, rather than fulfilling expectations of his family-of-origin,

peers, or the culture in general. He has also felt increasingly free to think or feel

anything he wants without guilt or self-deprecation, free to feel fully responsible for his

own life and not responsible for the feelings of others, free to fully utilize his thoughts

and feelings to make decisions and choices, and free to balance his attachment to

others and separation from others.

In his work on personal growth he has emphasized his relationship with himself,

believing that he can essentially shape his life as he wants it, develop the courage to

experience the full range of human feelings, and consciously decide the extent of his

commitment to nurturing his own androgyny. He has realized that the less he tries to

control people and situations the more control and ease he feels as a person. He has

come to value and encourage his “natural flow”—that is, his intuitive abilities—which

are enhanced by his awareness of his own feelings, moment to moment.

His androgynous experience in relationships with others has included choosing to

associate or become intimate with other androgynous or unconventional people and

Heuristic research : design, methodology, and applicationsPage 20 of 30

being increasingly willing and able to risk emotional intimacy with another person.

He sees his experience as an androgynous male as voluntary immersion in a struggle

to become a complete person. Essential to this immersion is his realization that

change and growth is the natural rhythm of life, and that he can choose to be

receptive to it and welcome it, rather than trying to stop or limit change or hang on to

outmoded and ineffective ways of being. Androgyny, for him, is being committed to

living life fully, including the willingness to fully experience both joy and pain, with a

sense of readiness to change and grow. (pp. 140–142)

Lola—The Experience of Synchronicity

In Marshall's (1987) study, synchronicity was defined as the simultaneous occurrence o f a

psychic state—such as a dream, idea, or premonition—and one or more external events that

are meaningful parallels to the psychic state. His eleven participants described the

synchronous experience as involving great fear or terror. From the wide range of data that were

developed into a composite depiction, portraits of the co-researchers, and a creative synthesis,

an excerpt from Marshall's presentation of Lola is used here to illustrate this method of heuristic

analysis.

Lola's synchronistic experience began with an initial warning that frightened her

intensely. She had dreamt that her brother had been shot down over enemy territory.

When she heard from her father that her brother was missing in action, she was

literally petrified. Despite the lack of specific knowledge and in a state of shock, she

was attuned to a gut reaction that her brother was going to escape serious injury.

Later on Lola discovered that her brother's plane had been shot down on the very

night, on the very hour that she had the dream. She felt an immediate sense of

amazement accompanied by skin-tingling sensations.

This experience lifted into awareness her tacit sense of knowing without concrete

evidence or even awareness of how she knew, beyond any immediate or present

realities. Her sense of being was not limited by her preconceptions. By freely entering

into the synchronistic experience, she launched into a special relationship with her

brother. By fearlessly turning away from her preconceptions, the split between outer

and inner disappeared. She knew that he brother was alive, and that they would

continue to share a life.

Through the years, following this synchronistic event, Lola has … felt connected with

Heuristic research : design, methodology, and applicationsPage 21 of 30

her family, especially her brother, despite the distance of time intervals between visits.

Her synchronistic experience launched her utilization of the tacit sense in expanding

her consciousness of the lived world and her sense of truth regarding events and

relationships. (pp. 80–81)

Peter—Rejecting Love

Robert Snyder (1988) investigated the experience of rejecting love, with himself and nine other

participants as the co-researchers. He gathered his data through tape-recorded interviews and

dialogues utilizing qualitative methodology and the extended or long interview. In the process,

he discovered that none of the co-researchers rejected the simple and pure gift of love, but

rather the love that had expectations or strings attached, the love that was conditional. His

portrait of Peter captures core qualities and themes of the experience of rejecting love.

Peter's portrait of the experience of rejecting love was initiated with his statement,

I don't think I have ever genuinely experienced love with my family, my Mom and Dad.

I experienced their physical caring for me, but love, it was a conditional sort of thing. If

I had done something particularly winsome, they would recognize me, but most of the

time the things I was doing weren't particularly winsome, and I felt the cold shoulder.

When I asked Peter to talk about the conditionality he replied,

This whole thing is steeped in illusion and time. I am an actor in a family that has

some legend to it. Socially it is very prominent and there are sort of expectations

attached to the prominence. We don't do this like they do, we don't do that like

someone else might. When we speak it has to be well received. We can't allow

ourselves this or that because of what they might think. Just a lot of spotlighting. …

The family messages as I interpreted them spelled out, ‘Peter you have a self-worth

and are lovable as long as your performance is excellent.’ I never ever got a sense of

comfort from Mom. I think more than anything else Mom was uncomfortable with my

discomfort and Mom avoided it and denied it. ‘I don't know what to do with your upset

Peter, so don't have it. Let's pretend that it's not there.’

In view of all of such experiences, Peter found communion with nature:

I have always thought it was easier to love a sunset than a person. As a child, we

would spend weekends up north at some cabins on a lake. I welcomed the seclusion

and the solitude. I had all my friends—the pine trees, mocking birds, whip-poor-wills,

beavers, fish, lake, sunsets, hill, stars, all my buddies, in their places, and I could

Heuristic research : design, methodology, and applicationsPage 22 of 30

count on that and it was easy to enter into our rhythm together.

I asked Peter to describe a specific experience of rejecting love. He told this story:

I can remember taking Peg to the local movie theater. I remember sitting next to Peg

and feeling almost radioactive, like there was a real glow in me. It was sort of a

magical moment. I think I just fell in love without committing myself. My body stood out

for me, that was real clear in my mind. I cried in the movie. The crying at first I thought

was just mirth and enjoyment, but then it was like I was recognizing some other

meaning in my tears, and I was sure that some part of me was going to wreck my

enjoyment. After the show, I continued to have this glow and this conflict and this

apprehensive feeling. After the show we walked out of the theater and across the

street to the fountain. …

I felt myself hardening and my lightness was leaving me and a heaviness seemed to

be taking over. Before we got to the fountain, I quite clearly made up my mind that not

only was I not going to ask her to marry me, but I was going to stop seeing her. I was

going to end the relationship altogether. I think that really woke me up to my own

terror of relating, and intimacy. So clearly, the chat I shared with Peg at the fountain

was anti-climactic in the magical moment of things, and I saw a hurt expression sweep

like a bitter frost across the contours of her face. I know she recognized, without my

putting it into words, that I pulled back forever. There I was thinking, God damn it,

here I am again I have hurt this person. You know there is some part of me that is all

screwed up. Love just isn't in the books for me. I really had a sense of failure. Just

abject worthlessness. All of the wonderfulness of the movie theater left me. I was very

much alone at the fountain with Peg.

Since the painful encounter with Peg, Peter learned much about himself. The

following more recent experience of rejecting love describes the shift. Peter shared,

Every now and then when I am feeling close with my wife, I will pull back suddenly

and it will surprise me, and this moodiness will start to come out, and it's almost like a

whip, and I will recognize the issue is mine, nothing my wife has done; it is mywhip, and I will recognize the issue is mine, nothing my wife has done; it is my

scaredness of closeness, and I will handle it with my wife. I am not stopping myself

with these instances anymore. She will present herself in a way I am imagining is

particularly vulnerable, where she is fully trusting, in my receiving her and being with

her. Sometimes her openness scares me. I feel scared by the completeness of her

trust. And then, I back off all of a sudden. It is almost like I had the experience of my

Heuristic research : design, methodology, and applicationsPage 23 of 30

wife being part of me, being inside me, and my boundaries were diffuse, and I wanted

to define them. It was like, I can't be a puddle with another puddle, I will lose

everything. I think that is my pulling back, to strengthen my sense of who I am. It is

not the same as when I pulled back at the fountain. The terror is gone. I am still

uncomfortable on occasion but the terror isn't present anymore. (pp. 90–95)

Bob—Interaction Rhythms

Robert Shaw (1989) has been fascinated with the nature of rhythmic interactions from his

earliest memories. This compelling interest came into passionate focus when he found himself

absorbed with the ease and flow of life between two persons when they were creating a bond

or—its opposite—blockage of interactions when the rhythms were distorted or jarred by

impaired communications. His investigation involved extensive interviewing of eight men and

women and of himself as a way of systematically examining the phenomenon and discerning its

qualities, primary themes, and essences. Excerpts from his own self-inquiry are an illustration

of a portrait growing out of heuristic inquiry into a significant human experience.

In the past several years my interest in the phenomenon of rhythm has expanded to

include a fascination with rhythmic ways in which people come together. …

When I was a youngster, I was taken up with athletics. When I look back and consider

what has been and continues to be enjoyable for me about athletic participation,

certain aspects are notable. I noticed that the sports which I enjoyed most were those

in which I was participating with only one other person. Although I enjoyed winning,

the competitive c o m p o n e n t w a s l e s s i m p o r t a n t o r a t t r a c t i v e t o m e t h a n t h e

establishment of a particular series of interactional rhythms with that other person.

Generally, I found it unpleasant to play tennis with someone who was always trying to

score a point, in any way possible. This is usually someone who varies the pace too

radically for me to fit in. I enjoyed playing with someone who created with me a

rhythmic exchange, who varied the rhythm in ways that I was able to anticipate. A

“winning” experience for me would not be accumulating points against the other

player, as much as creating a symphony of movement or dance.

In looking back, I have discovered that in the most significant periods of my life, I have

had one or more regular partners with whom I have shared a racquet sport. In my

early teens, I spent endless hours at the home of my best friend, playing ping-pong.

Jerry played steadily and deliberately. One point might last for ten minutes. How I

loved anticipating his moves and the rhythmic sounds that came when the ball made

contact on each side of the table; sometimes more slowly and at other times more

Heuristic research : design, methodology, and applicationsPage 24 of 30

rapidly. Our bodies would move from side to side; a dance with a table between us.

Jerry and I could even play in the dark and keep that little white ball going! In my

twenties, I played squash with Dick. We played day after day and it really did not

matter who won. We were together in a little white room encountering each other,

influencing each other, creating a rhythm together. In my thirties, tennis and

racquetball captivated me. I knew with whom I enjoyed playing and with whom I did

not, and why. The essential ingredient is rhythm in relationships, active, communal

sharing. I am reminded of the time when, after several years of jogging by myself, a

neighbor invited me to jog with him. I reluctantly consented to do so. To my surprise, I

enjoyed immensely our synchronized pace and conversation. I was also struck by how

unaware I was of my usual bodily discomfort. That rhythm kept me afloat!

There is another area in which my sharing of rhythms with another person has been a

compelling experience. In the course of raising my two small daughters, I have

discovered deeply satisfying rhythms. When, as infants, they had not yet acquired

language, I found myself relating their expressions of sound and movement to my

own. I find that with adults I am mostly aware of communicating with words, ideas, and

concepts. This moves me into a cognitive mode, away from an awareness of the

attraction of movement. With the children, my eyes are always watching; my body is

moving with them. I am alert to the rocking and swaying that are part of bedtime and

bottle feeding. I look back to my sharing of a drumming session with Rebecka (on her

plastic highchair tray) or crawling in synchrony with Aryn from room to room. They

each have their own tempo; their own distinctive motions. The ways in which I mesh

rhythmically with each of them reflect unique and significant aspects of my

relationship with them. (pp. 3–7)

THE CREATIVE SYNTHESIS

The selected examples of the creative synthesis are from Hawka's unconditional love (1985),

Clark's (1988) androgynous male, Snyder's (1988) rejecting love and Vaughn's (1989) writing

poetry.

The Experience of Feeling Unconditionally Loved

Hawka (1986) investigated the nature, meaning, and essence of feeling unconditionally loved.

From her organization and analysis of data she derived the essential components of the

experience. Acceptance, freedom and openness, and energy and power were the key thematic

elements that embraced her own experience and that of her co-researchers. In the excerpt

which follows, Hawka presents the creative synthesis derived from her composite depiction and

Heuristic research : design, methodology, and applicationsPage 25 of 30

portraits of what it means to feel unconditionally loved.

As I consider the experience, an image of ocean waves cascading one upon another

comes to me. It is as if the inner world of a person swells to peaks as does the ocean

as it rises to a cresting point. Waves of freedom and energy spill over. A flooding with

personal love, acceptable and natural, peaceful and relieving, replenishes the empty,

dry shell of the personality. As life is restored, vital energies are regenerated and

begin to pour out, rising and rushing to reach out to others.

The image of sunlight is also graphically expressive of the feeling of unconditional

love. The radiating sun warms the cold, sterile heart of a fearful person. Like the

flower, hesitantly, slowly, gently, the person responds with an openness to receive the

warmth. The loved person senses the warmth and light suffusing his or her being.

Waves of joy, peace, contentment, distinctiveness and lightness of being are all taken

in. As this happens, there is a mirroring of these same positive feelings towards

others.

Acceptance—The acceptance felt in the experience of unconditional love refers to the

affirmation of one's being. Participants felt recognized, acknowledged, respected,

welcomed without the imposition of conditions, demands, obligations, responsibilities.

In the past, these requirements obscured the f a c t o f o n e ' s o w n b e i n g a s

fundamentally sufficient, adequate, acceptable. In feeling unconditionally loved,

individuals are given permission to experience their very being in itself, as good and of

value, unconnected and apart from anyone or any functional purpose. Hence, a

person receives a clear, undiluted message of love.

Freedom-openness—As soon as the individual experiences the awareness or insight of

self-worth, a sense of freedom and an openness ensues. It is like a striking

breakthrough, the “eureka” experience, a bright light, a peak moment. The release

and relief spread rapidly throughout an individual's being. Old blocks and patterns are

shed. Chains, almost on a physical level, are loosened, unlocked, disposed. A feeling

of lightness envelops the person, suggesting the real possibility of soaring through the

air. New vistas are revealed. Old emotional burdens are surmounted. Captives’

potentials are suddenly released and are free to explore and create dreams of being

and becoming.

Energy and self-power—This last component refers to the effects that unconditional

love had upon its recipients, how it strengthened them in confidence, in trusting

Heuristic research : design, methodology, and applicationsPage 26 of 30

themselves, in gaining courage to be. Energy sources hitherto neglected or unknown

were revealed. Unconditional love not only pointed to new meanings and life goals,

but also disclosed untapped inner resources for pursuing creative pathways.

F i n a l l y , i t i s i m p o r t a n t t o h i g h l i g h t t h e dynamic flowing that connects these

components. Taken as a whole, they represent a passage from a burdened and

restrained existence to an open and unfettered one; from a deadening past to a

vitalizing present and promising future; from a constricted, rigid way of life to a

spontaneous process of movement toward self-actualization; from isolation to healthy

and satisfying relationships; from an externally controlled self to an inner directed and

loving self.

Feeling unconditionally loved is a gift and a challenge. It can be incorporated into

one's own being, offering hope and promise for a new life, a raison d'etre for living, a

challenge for discovering the hidden qualities of creation that will extend and enrich

one's destiny. (pp. 91–93)

Rejecting Love

Snyder's creative synthesis of the essence of rejecting love is as follows:

We cry out silently not asking for the acceptance and unconditional love that we

desperately desire. Or we shout in anger at the offering of conditional love that

disturbs us and that we don't want. We are confused and cautious. …

We may withdraw into a sullen, snarling, protective shell that makes reaching out a

near impossibility. When we do reach out, with each reaching we feel more vulnerable.

The offering is repulsed with increased intensity, sullenness, and anger. At the same

time we continue to want yet we don't want. A quiet peacefulness settles in as the

attempts to reach us subside or stop. Like a cornered or wounded animal we relax our

guard, but we keep a watchful eye on the surroundings. We go within for nurture and

solace. If “they” would only just “be” with us, not “do” anything. This would reveal an

understanding. We allow this kind of being to seep ever so slowly into our vast need.

Long ago we ceased to ask yet deep down there is still the hunger for unconditional

acceptance and love. … The internal desire for connectedness persists in spite of

many painful doubts and many experiences of rejecting love. …

It is though we have been given cold lumpy mashed potatoes and told that it is really

a rich creamy vanilla ice cream. But it always turns out to be what it is, cold, empty,

Heuristic research : design, methodology, and applicationsPage 27 of 30

weak, conditional, lifeless. In especially hungering and needy times, we may believe in

its fullness, in its “no strings attached.” But the doubt returns tenfold and within us

develops a drivenness to find a love that is pure. At some point, we become the

fortunate ones. Each of us, co-researchers and dreamers of the hope of unconditional

love, meets someone who accepts us completely and within us awakens the cleansing

purity of acceptance and love that makes no demands and imposes no expectations.

Then it is not a dream. It is not a fantasy. We experience the full nature, meaning, and

essence of unconditional love. Once we experience love in this way, the conditional

love loses its attractiveness forever, needy or not. Through receiving unconditional

love, we recognize its qualities. We survived in conditional love but we will never

accept it again as a substitute once we know the full and unfettered awakening of

unconditional love. (pp. 138–141)

The Androgynous Male

Returning to Clark's (1988) investigation of the experience of the psychologically androgynous

male, the following presents excerpts from the creative synthesis.

I have sought a synthesis which expresses … holistic harmony and balancing of

polarities, but also fully captures the dynamic growth and change process in which

these men are engaged. … a strong image came to me. It was a divining rod—the

three-pronged, Y-shaped branch of hazelwood which many have claimed can direct

them to underground sources of water. I knew immediately that this was an evocative

symbol of my experience of psychological androgyny, and the experiences of the co-

researchers.

One branch—the male aspect of self—meets the other—the female aspect—and they

join to become one: the guiding or pointing branch, androgyny. Remove any one of

the three branches and the divining rod becomes useless. They are all equally

important. The rod is a tool, a tool used in the process of discovery. The guiding or

pointing part of the rod—the androgynous way of being—is usually depicted as the

longest branch of the rod, the part that goes out ahead, seeking discovery. It needs

both the male and female to do its work, and they need it to attach and balance them.

The male and female are the handles, the grounding or foundation of the rod. The

androgynous branch grows out of them and extends their reach, making them useful,

giving them purpose.

Given animation by a human being, the divining rod moves, in a continuous process of

discovery … its symbolic meaning parallels the androgyny process: the balance and

Heuristic research : design, methodology, and applicationsPage 28 of 30

unification of the male and female into one whole and harmonious entity, capable of

more than each alone, creating more than the sum of its parts. The divining rod is the

discoverer of the essence of life … and symbolizes our ultimate unity with each other

and our world. … The experience of androgyny is this never-ending process. It is

accepting and trusting the wisdom of the eternal male and the eternal female in

balance within one entity, the interplay of achievement and nurture, of doing and

being, of separation and attachment, of will and surrender, of aggressivity and

passivity, of dominance and compliance, of hardness and softness, of competitiveness

and cooperativeness, of logic and emotion, of linear thinking and holistic thinking, of

rationalism and intuition, of self-orientation and family-community-global orientation.

(pp. 150–154)

The Experience of Writing Poetry

Lynn Vaughn's (1989) study of the experience of writing poetry began with a discovery that

some of her own most painful and most joyous experiences were inexpressible in any other

form. She found the lyric poem, the song of the soul, the most immediate resource for creative

self-expression. Following her own immersion and attunement to writing poetry, she obtained

first-person depictions of the experience from 13 volunteer participants. From her data, she

constructed portraits, a compositive depiction, and a creative synthesis of the meanings and

essences of the experience. The creative synthesis follows:

Sometimes light tries to bend around an object, like a tree or the silhouette of a rock

tower, and a sun-star forms at precisely the place where the light comes out of hiding.

Writing poetry is like such “god beams,” and the crepuscular rays that burst out of an

enclosure of clouds when dust particles, or a particular kind of haze, are present.

Being a poet is a vocation, a calling. At any moment a train's whistle, the creaking of

two trees rubbing against each other, the sight of pain on a loved one's face may call

the poet into the mysterious and timeless world of creating a poem. Awe beckons the

poet from important tasks and engrossing conversations, teasing him or her with

flashes of color or connectedness, or dazzling sun-stars.

It is a wondrous activity, this chasing after the amorphous and ethereal shadows of

truth that call to the writer from behind whatever image or object has captivated his or

her attention. The poets who were interviewed for this study used metaphors to

convey some of what cannot be said directly, but must be danced around to gain an

understanding of what it means to write poetry. … The poem is a moment of birth—

waves of letting go, of pushing out, the ecstatic pinnacle of emergence and creation.

Heuristic research : design, methodology, and applicationsPage 29 of 30

We poets dance around the ineffable, holding hands with the intangible. As in the

experience of actually dancing, the poet moves beyond a purely physical sphere and

enters into sounds within, into a communion of passion, rhythm and melody. … The

experience of writing poetry is like being drawn into the vortex of a cloud which opens

funnel-like into the spirit world.

Writing poetry is an encounter with mystery. It is an experience of living in the present

moment, turning over rocks, diving into emptiness, facing insecurities, knowing special

moments of connection with a loved one or with a nightfall cloaked in brilliant blue

earth-shadow and wearing a halo of roses. It is an experience of diaphanous filmy

scarves moving gracefully, beckoning one into the company of gods and goddesses. It

is an awe-filled departure from the everyday in to the sacred, an experience of

embracing polarities, of dissolving edges which meld life, energy, purpose, direction,

and fulfillment into one design.

Writing poetry is a way of looking into darkness and seeing what cannot be seen. It is

a way of listening in the silence, for what cannot be heard, of experiencing both the

emptiness and the fullness of all that cannot be held in one's hands, (pp. 81–83)

CLOSING COMMENTS

The power of heuristics is in its recognition of the significance of self-searching and the value of

personal knowledge as essential requirements for the understanding of common human

experiences. There is no substitute for direct, comprehensive, accurate first-person accounts of

experience, for the importance of self-inquiry and self-dialogue in discovering the nature and

meaning of one's own experience and that of others. As the distinctiveness of experience is

explicated into its unique qualities and themes and depicted through description, example,

literary expression, narrative, and artwork, the researcher has gathered what is required to

construct the universal portrayal or essence. The researcher intuitively and reflectively sees in

all the depictions the qualities or characteristic meanings that make the experience what it is

and not something else—what enables one to know anger as anger, tranquility as tranquility,

fear as fear, and courage as courage. The creative synthesis is the peak moment when the

researcher recognizes the universal nature of what something is and means, and at the same

time grows in self-understanding and as a self.

http://dx.doi.org/10.4135/9781412995641.d38

Heuristic research : design, methodology, and applicationsPage 30 of 30

http://dx.doi.org/10.4135/9781412995641.d38