Interpreting hidden meaning in qualitative research interview data: opportunities and challenges

IF 4.6 3区心理学 Q1 PSYCHOLOGY, MULTIDISCIPLINARY

Qualitative Research in Psychology Pub Date : 2022-04-24 DOI:10.1080/14780887.2022.2067509

G. Ivey

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引用次数: 2

Abstract

ABSTRACT Hidden meaning, understood as relationally constituted unformulated or defended experience, presents both opportunities and challenges not adequately theorised and explored in the qualitative research literature. This paper outlines weaker and stronger forms of hiddenness and discusses the epistemological and methodological difficulties that hidden meaning presents. Many qualitative approaches claiming to accommodate hidden meaning are significantly flawed because of their attenuated conceptions of intersubjectivity and consequent reliance on interview transcripts, rather than the rich intersubjective data co-created in the interview process. If the researcher’s subjectivity is the primary research instrument, we need to work with both verbal content and affect-laden embodied experience, reflexively observing its manifestations and intersubjective impacts. The disciplined use of reflexive subjectivity involves paying close attention to our affective resonances, reveries, and/or researcher countertransference, which signal implicit research manifestations of the relational unconscious. I propose an interpretive process model, underpinned by a critical realist ontology and epistemology, and illustrate this with reference to some interview material. I conclude with an overview of the ethical challenges of interpreting hidden meaning and the crucial role that rigorous and holistically conceived reflexivity plays as an interpretive and ethical resource.

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定性研究访谈数据的隐含意义解读:机遇与挑战

摘要隐藏的意义，被理解为关系构成的非模拟或辩护的经验，既带来了机遇，也带来了挑战，这些机遇和挑战在定性研究文献中没有得到充分的理论化和探索。本文概述了隐藏性的较弱和较强形式，并讨论了隐藏意义所带来的认识论和方法论上的困难。许多声称容纳隐藏意义的定性方法都存在重大缺陷，因为它们削弱了主体间性的概念，并因此依赖于访谈记录，而不是在访谈过程中共同创造的丰富的主体间性数据。如果研究者的主体性是主要的研究工具，我们需要同时处理言语内容和情感负载的具体体验，反射性地观察其表现形式和主体间影响。反射性主体性的严格使用涉及密切关注我们的情感共鸣、遐想和/或研究者的反移情，这标志着关系无意识的隐含研究表现。我提出了一个以批判现实主义本体论和认识论为基础的解释过程模型，并通过一些访谈材料对此进行了说明。最后，我概述了解释隐藏意义的伦理挑战，以及严格和全面构想的反射性作为解释和伦理资源所发挥的关键作用。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Qualitative Research in Psychology PSYCHOLOGY, MULTIDISCIPLINARY-

CiteScore

20.00

自引率

0.50%

发文量

期刊介绍： Qualitative Research in Psychology is an international, peer-reviewed journal that publishes high-quality, original research. It aims to become the primary forum for qualitative researchers in all areas of psychology, including cognitive, social, developmental, educational, clinical, health, and forensic psychology. The journal also welcomes psychologically relevant qualitative research from other disciplines. It seeks innovative and pioneering work that advances the field of qualitative research in psychology. The journal has published state-of-the-art debates on various research approaches, methods, and analytic techniques, such as discourse analysis, interpretative phenomenological analysis, visual analyses, and online research. It has also explored the role of qualitative research in fields like psychosocial studies and feminist psychology. Additionally, the journal has provided informative articles on ethics, transcription, interviewee recruitment, and has introduced innovative research techniques like photovoice, autoethnography, template analysis, and psychogeography. While the predominant audience consists of psychology professionals using qualitative research methods in academic, clinical, or occupational settings, the journal has an interdisciplinary focus. It aims to raise awareness of psychology as a social science that encompasses various qualitative approaches. In summary, Qualitative Research in Psychology is a leading forum for qualitative researchers in psychology. It publishes cutting-edge research, explores different research approaches and techniques, and encourages interdisciplinary collaboration.