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Maxwell, C, Ramsayer, B, Hanlon, C, McKendrick, J and Fleming, V (2020) Examining Researchers’ Pre-Understandings as a Part of the Reflexive Journey in Hermeneutic Research. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 19. ISSN 1609-4069
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Abstract
This article considers one of the philosophical sources of reflexivity, the concept of “pre-understandings” as envisaged by the German philosopher, Hans Georg Gadamer. There are a number of empirical research studies employing a Gadamerian approach, and while some authors may describe methods of examining pre-understandings and applying findings reflexively to hermeneutic enquiry, there remains a general lack of sufficient detail given over to the “how” in relation to this process. Furthermore, Gadamer describes how the “provoking” of one’s pre-understandings is required in order to make them realizable and this is rarely evident within authors’ work. As part of a hermeneutic research project exploring health professionals’ views of conscientious objection to abortion, we as a research team undertook a process of “provoking” our pre-understandings surrounding conscientious objection to abortion. This was undertaken by a preliminary discussion to examine our preunderstandings. A second discussion followed to examine if and how our pre-understandings had altered, and was conducted after the research team had read five transcribed interviews from a study on health care professionals’ perspectives of conscientious objection to abortion. By reviewing our pre-understandings, we were able to begin to make conscious what was unconscious, widening some of our initial views, being more definitive in others and in some cases endorsing our original pre-understandings. Using a reflexive process, we assimilated these findings with our research project and used it to inform our data collection, analysis and interpretation, demonstrating the application of rigor to our hermeneutic study.
| Item Type: | Article |
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| Uncontrolled Keywords: | 1110 Nursing, 1607 Social Work |
| Subjects: | B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > B Philosophy (General) B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BJ Ethics L Education > LC Special aspects of education > LC5201 Education extension. Adult education. Continuing education Q Science > Q Science (General) |
| Divisions: | Nursing & Allied Health |
| Publisher: | SAGE Publications |
| Date Deposited: | 06 Jan 2021 13:55 |
| Last Modified: | 04 Sep 2021 06:11 |
| DOI or ID number: | 10.1177/1609406920985718 |
| URI: | https://researchonline.ljmu.ac.uk/id/eprint/14224 |
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