Subjectivity and Objectivity in Qualitative Methodology

Abstract

This article argues that subjective processes, social relations, and artifacts (including research instruments and methods) enable researchers to objectively comprehend psychological phenomena. This position opposes the postmodernist contention that subjective processes, social relations, and artifacts interfere with objectivity. The article outlines a hermeneutic procedure for interpreting narratives in a way that comprehends the real psychological meanings that are expressed. This procedure is contrasted with an impressionistic summary of a narrative which imposes the researcher's theoretical perspective on the protocol instead of elucidating the subject's meanings. URN: urn:nbn:de:0114-fqs0203160

Keywords

• subjectivity
• objectivity
• postmodernism
• hermeneutics
• subject-object