Heuristic Inquiry: Researching Human Experience Holistically

Since the original publication of Clark Moustakas’s classic book on heuristic research (SAGE, 1990), there has not be another book completely devoted to this method. Focused on exploring human experience from an authentic researcher perspective, this new text presents heuristic inquiry as a unique phenomenological, experiential, and relational approach to qualitative research that is also rigorous and evidence-based. Nevine Sultan describes a distinguishing perspective of this research that treats participants not as subjects of research, but rather as co-researchers and partners in an exploratory process marked by genuineness and intersubjectivity. Through the use of real-life examples illustrating the various processes of heuristic research, the author offers an understanding of heuristic inquiry that is straightforward and informal yet honors its creative, intuitive, and poly-dimensional nature. This is a book that is appropriate for graduate level qualitative research courses across disciplines in the social sciences, education, and health professions, as well as a valuable resource for scholars and practitioners.