Micro-phenomenology is a technique for improving first-person reports of experience, typically conducted with a second-person interviewer. A self-inquiry format, using a guiding document without an interviewer, offers time and cost advantages but its reliability for untrained subjects was unknown. This study attempted to replicate a previous experiment that tested whether micro-phenomenology increases report reliability. The replication failed. Possible explanations include a methodological weakness in the original study, ineffectiveness of the self-inquiry format used here, or that micro-phenomenological self-inquiry requires training. The authors conclude that the self-inquiry format is insufficient for conducting micro-phenomenological studies and that training is necessary.
Meditation hindrances—phenomena that counteract meditation—can also become grounds for breakthroughs. In a six-day retreat with five participants, a multilevel phenomenological method (biographical exploration, daily notetaking, and micro-phenomenology) revealed that negative effects, often called challenging or adverse, may dissolve into positive outcomes. The concept of hindrances is developed, showing how difficulties can be part of a process leading to breakthroughs.