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Bracketing in Research: A Typology
Abstract
The term bracketing has increasingly been employed in qualitative research. Although this term proliferates in scientific studies and professional journals, its application and operationalization remains vague and, often, superficial. The growing disconnection of the practice of bracketing in research from its origins in phenomenology has resulted in its frequent reduction to a formless technique, value stance, or black-box term. Mapping the subtle theoretical and philosophical underpinnings of bracketing will facilitate identification and delineation of core elements that compose bracketing, and distinguish howdifferent research approaches prioritize different bracketing elements. The author outlines a typology of six distinct forms of bracketing that encompasses the methodological rigor and evolution of bracketing within the richness of qualitative research.
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“Researcher bias was reduced by a process of ‘bracketing’ [30], whereby personal assumptions were recorded and excluded as far as possible, with all members of the PUDDLES Global Collaboration iteratively checking the findings and results, whilst highlighting any sources or examples of potential bias for removal.”
From Preliminary findings on the experiences of care for parents who suffered perinatal bereavement during the COVID-19 pandemic (2021) · cites this paper as [30]
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“This neutralizing work is, for example, approached in transcendental phenomenology via “bracketing” (Gearing 2004; Neubauer et al. 2019).”
BackgroundBracketing in Qualitative Research
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Metadata
- Authors
- Gearing, R. E.
- Affiliations
- University of Toronto (CA)
- Corresponding author
- Gearing, Robin Edward
- Venue
- Qualitative Health Research
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 2004-12
- Volume
- 14
- Issue
- 10
- Pages
- 1429-1452
- ISSN
- 1049-7323 (ISSN-L)
- 1552-7557
- OpenAlex
- W2105302560
- Cited by
- 546
- References
- 91
- Citations by year
- 2026: 16 · 2025: 34 · 2024: 25 · 2023: 33 · 2022: 33 · 2021: 46 · 2020: 31 · 2019: 24 · 2018: 27 · 2017: 35 · 2016: 37 · 2015: 39 · 2014: 31 · 2013: 30 · 2012: 34
- FWCI
- 13.88
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Qualitative Health Research (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Qualitative Research Methods and Ethics
- Social Sciences › Education › Qualitative Research Methods and Applications
- Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Philosophy › Phenomenology and Existential Philosophy
- Keywords
- bracketing, phenomenology, qualitative research methodology, researcher positionality, methodological quality, philosophical foundations of research
- MeSH terms
- Existentialism, Humans, Philosophy, Research Design, Social Sciences, Reproducibility of Results, Qualitative Research
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