Hermeneutics

Hermeneutics stresses the understanding and interpretation of meaningful processes and phenomena.

• Human action is seen as intentional, and thus, the action and its results are seen as including various meanings.
• Knowledge is formed through perceiving relationships between phenomena and their contexts, and by exploring phenomena in relation to other similar kinds of phenomena and their development.
• Knowledge is understood as a continuous process in which interpretations and knowledge are renewed.
• The process of the formation of knowledge is known as the hermeneutic circle.
• Interpretation of details has an effect on the interpretation of the whole, and re-interpretations of previous interpretations of the researched phenomenon produce an ever deepening understanding of the phenomenon.

Hermeneutics is a key interpretivist orientation.

Links to more information:

Hermeneutics. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia.

F.P.A. Demeterio III, 2010. Introduction to Hermeneutics. F.P.A. Demeterio's Philosophy and Cultural Theory Page.

Ramberg, Bjørn and Kristin Gjesdal, 2009. Hermeneutics. Zalta, Edward N. (ed.). The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Summer 2009 Edition).

Read what is written in Strategies on hermeneutic research.

Read what is written in Data Analysis on hermeneutic analysis.