Digital Commons Network^™

Mindfulness And Mothering: Reclaiming Feminine Voice, Lisa L. Mccorquodale

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Little is known about working mothers who practice mindfulness. This dissertation is a phenomenological investigation using body mapping as a way to understand how mindfulness works in the lives of six women who work in health and social care while parenting young children.

This dissertation is comprised of five integrated articles. Chapter 1 and 7 are included as an Introduction and Discussion/Conclusion to the five separate though related manuscript chapters. The main research questions that framed this research include, ‘What is the work of mindfulness in the lives of working professional mothers?’ and ‘In what ways might a mindfulness practice …

In-Between What Once Was And What Is Yet To Come: On The Phenomena Of Bereavement And Grieving, Rachel L B Bath

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

When a significant other dies, our lives can be shattered and our worlds upended. We may find that we no longer know how to make sense of our experiences or how to engage in our practical activities. Nothing can be as it was before because the world as we once knew it has ended, and we are no longer the same persons we once were. Nonetheless this ending opens up something new because the death of the other changes the possibilities of our lived world. A phenomenological analysis of the phenomena of grief and bereavement reveals that while bereavement undermines …

Living Perception In Maurice Merleau-Ponty, Mary Mclevey

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This thesis examines the philosophical underpinnings of the possibility to perceive in different ways, with a particular attention to Merleau-Ponty's account of perception as inseparable from the wider arc of a person's embodied existence. Chapter 1 reflects on the relationship between Merleau-Ponty's description of the co-existence of the senses, and concrete ways that individual perceivers co-exist. Chapter 2 brings Merleau-Ponty's account of perception as a field of lived relationships, into conversation with the contingency of perceptual limits. Chapter 3 examines the significance of Merleau-Ponty's attention to experiences of synaesthesia and proposes concrete ways that a perceiver might move to shift …

The Phenomenology Of Masters Alpine Ski Racers: Experiencing Ski Racing In Old Age, Carly Litchfield

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This thesis is a study of the lived experience of ten older adult alpine ski racers in their continued participation in ski racing. The aim of this study was to gain an understanding of the experiences of these older adults as they continued to compete in ski racing. Masters skiers between the ages of 69 and 82 participated in individual interviews lasting between 30 and 60 minutes. Data analysis was completed using van Manen’s phenomenological methods and the visual technique of mind mapping. The major theme that emerged was the importance of being a ski racer to participants’ identities. The …

The Consequences Of Oromandibular Dystonia On Communicative Participation: A Qualitative Study Of The Insider's Experiences, Lauren Siegel

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The purpose of this study was to explore the consequences of oromandibular dystonia (OMD) on communicative participation from the insider’s perspective. Qualitative research methods were used to obtain a self-reported account of the experience of living with OMD. Eight individuals with OMD and dysarthria participated in face-to-face phenomenological interviews. Interviews were transcribed from audio recordings and coded using coding software. The codes were then grouped into larger thematic categories based on salience. Results showed that communicative participation is affected by multiple physical, social, and emotional factors caused by OMD. Furthermore, OMD can have significant effects on an individual’s job, family, …

Am I A Bully? A Mixed Methods Phenomenological Study Of The Perspectives And Experiences Of Girls Who Are Relationally Aggressive, Laura A. Hogarth

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This explanatory mixed-methods, phenomenological study investigated how relationally aggressive females perceive and experience their social world. The first, quantitative phase of the study included 237 students (85 males, 152 females) in grades 6 to grade 8 from four different schools. All students completed the quantitative measures of the study; a peer nomination scale of relational aggression, the Basic Empathy Scale (Joliffe & Farrington, 2006), and a self-concept measure, the Self-Description Questionnaire Short Form (Marsh et al., 2005). Female students whose mean relational aggression score was greater than 1 SD about the class mean, and received votes from more than 30% …