Abstract
In this paper, a phenomenological hermeneutical method for interpreting narrative texts is proposed. Interviewees are asked to tell from their lived experience of participating in life world phenomena. The interview texts are written down and analysed, inspired by the theory of interpretation of Paul Ricoeur, in three steps: a first, naïve reading, structural analysis and comprehensive understanding. The method was presented the first time in 2004. In this paper, the theory behind it is elaborated. Basic concepts like phenomenon, meaning, life world, lived experience and concrete reflection are clarified, and the historical background of the method and its ontology, epistemology and methodology are explained.
Highlights
We propose a method for elucidating the meaning of life world phenomena, and we describe the theory behind it
The phenomenological hermeneutical method we present in this paper is influenced by the phenomenology of Husserl and the hermeneutics of Ricoeur
In the references 1 to 7, the reader can find examples of how the method may be applied. Interviewees tell about their experiences of participating in life world phenomena in concrete situations, like the experiences of suicidal psychiatric in-patients being cared for by mental health nurses, the experiences of very old people being consoled, and so on, and the meaning of the experiences is investigated by means of the three steps of the method: a first interpretation, a structural analysis and a comprehensive understanding
Summary
We propose a method for elucidating the meaning of life world phenomena, and we describe the theory behind it. The phenomenological-hermeneutical method is a way of elucidating the meaning of life world phenomena developing in time, – in everyday life, in work, in cooperation with others, in research. Whether phenomenological-hermeneutical research results are valid depends on whether a meaning of narrated lived experience has been found which can throw light on a situation we wish to understand. If we researched the ethical thinking among personnel at a certain hospital and find typical differences and shared ideas, the result is interesting if it is recognisable for personnel at other hospitals, who think: “This is perhaps not exactly the case with us, but I can understand better the conditions here with us” Such recognition is not based on generality, but on universality, i.e. intersubjectively understandable meaning of lived experience. If that is not the case, qualitative research results are uninteresting
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