Learning to be interpretive : Hermeneutics and personal texts

Abstract

This paper presents my reflections as a graduate student writing a qualitative dissertation. The lessons learned in the process of hermeneutic interpretive research changed the way I investigate nearly everything. The power of positivism was deeply embedded in my beliefs about what real research looks like, my thinking about why and how research is done, and my language about how research is expressed and communicated to others. Because hermeneutic study seeks to make meaning of words and narrative and to gain understanding, it is a powerful tool to study intact texts. This article poses questions that may be helpful to novice and veteran researchers undertaking interpretive research.