I understand one may use categories for the organization of the data but I was hoping there are more methods for the collection and organization of the data.

One approach you might consider is Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis. There is a useful discussion of this going on now at:

https://www.researchgate.net/post/Is_Interpretative_Phenomenological_Analysis_suitable_to_use_as_an_analysis_with_a_existential_phenomenological_approach

Hi Brian,

      I recently went through this process myself and so understand how confusing it can all be.  For first of all, I want to clarify a general understanding.  A "phenomenological research study tries to answer the question 'What is it like to experience such and such?'. By looking at multiple perspectives of the same situation, a researcher can start to make some generalisations of what something is like as an experience from the 'insider's' perspective". (Retrieved from :http://www.researchproposalsforhealthprofessionals.com/phenomenology.htm)

       If you are using a framework, it should tell you what has been discovered before in such situations and your study will compare your results with that of the previous studies to see if new theory emerges.  The only way to get these comparisons is to look for categories, similarities, discrepancies, and code all of this stuff.  If you are developing a framework from the data, you still have to code.  There is a book that saved me called The Coding Manual for Qualitative Researchers by Johnny Saldana Sage press. 

You can also do content analysis. See:  http://www.qualitative-research.net/index.php/fqs/article/view/1886/3528    but you still end up with something like categories.  

Here is another source which might help:  http://www.qualitative-research.net/index.php/fqs/article/view/1886/3528

Good luck.

Thank you David and Dayna. I was released to begin my Chapter 1 of my dissertation this afternoon after I posted the question so the feedback is greatly appreciated. I started to review the topic in my copy of Qualitative research: A guide to design and implementation by Sharan B. Merriam. Incredible book I am finding reading it much slower then what I did in my previous classes.