Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary - phenomenology

 noun  (plural -gies)  Etymology: German Phanomenologie, from Phanomenon phenomenon + -logie -logy  Date: circa 1797  1. the study of the development of human consciousness and self-awareness as a preface to or a part of philosophy  2.  a.  (1) a philosophical movement that describes the formal structure of the objects of awareness and of awareness itself in abstraction from any claims concerning existence  (2) the typological classification of a class of phenomena the ~ of religion  b. an analysis produced by phenomenological investigation  • phenomenologist noun