TPC-Journal-V4-Issue1

62 The Professional Counselor \Volume 4, Issue 1 Data Analysis A phenomenological model outlined by Wertz (2005) that synthesizes Giorgi’s (1985) description-reduction- interpretation model was used for the data analysis of this study. From this well-established philosophy for ana- lyzing phenomenological data, three essential steps became capstones for the data analysis of this study. Those steps were as follows: (a) providing an exhaustive description of the phenomenon, (b) reducing and categorizing the data, and (c) interpretation. Step 1 was important in that a clear understanding of the phenomenon was presented from the participants’ perspective. For example, participants were asked if they had ever felt invisible. This question became the cata- lyst of the analysis and shaped the foundation of the exploration of the phenomenon. The exhaustive description provides readers an understanding of the essence of the lived experiences and represents a unifying structure of the phenomenon (Wang, 2008). In step 2, information was categorized and coded, themes were developed and defined, and rich descriptions of the themes based on information gathered from parts of the interviews were constructed. Themes were devel- oped and defined by transcribing the audiotapes, and then participating in rote review and reading of the mate- rial. This process led to the delineation of significant information within the interviews, the cross-verification of information gathered among interviews, and the charting of information. From this process, information was reviewed as parts of a whole in order to develop main themes. For example, during the transcription and review of the data, it became evident that participants relied on self-affirmation to maintain or improve racial identity development. Participants continuously spoke about affirming who they are or having to strongly defend or uphold who they are in public. It was evident that this af- firmation was essential to the participants. During cross-verification, it became clear that all participants utilized self-affirmation and believed it to be essential to racial identity development. As a result, self-affirmation be- came an essential theme when coping with invisibility experiences. In step 3, data was interpreted in the context of invisibility and racial identity development. During this pro- cess themes were consistently revisited with the goal of determining how they related to invisibility and racial identity development. Participants were able to review the codes and themes for clarity after data was analyzed. The interpretation of data provided probable meanings and was utilized in the development of the implications section. Reflexive journaling was an especially important aspect of step 3 as it assisted in the maintenance of trustworthiness. Results The data analysis resulted in an exhaustive description of the phenomenon and the emergence of four inter- connected themes: self-affirmations, self-awareness, coping with invisibility, and providing effective counseling to African-American males. A personal account of invisibility is provided through the lens of each participant. This is followed by coded descriptions of each thematic code, major and subtheme. The thematic codes, majors and subthemes have been coded and identified below and summarized in Table 1. The findings highlight this thematic information. Invisibility Experiences Participant #1. I’ve felt invisible in the sense that if you don’t engage yourself in their [White people’s] beliefs, have things in common or join the social crowd you are treated invisible. For me my cultural differences have caused me to be treated invisible. For example, I’ve been in situations where I felt like White people did