Reinterpreting the Member Checking Validation Strategy in Qualitative Research Through the Hermeneutics Lens

Qualitative Inquiry in Education: Theory & Practice, cilt.2, sa.1, ss.42-63, 2024 (Hakemli Dergi)

This review proposes that exploring hermeneutics could reveal significant potential for reassessing the

essence and structure of qualitative research, particularly in refining validation methods like memberchecking.

This inquiry suggests that embracing a hermeneutic perspective might provide fresh insights into

how we understand and validate qualitative data, potentially enhancing our comprehension and improving

the robustness of research practices in this field. The review is divided into multiple sections and subsections

to build the argument that the hermeneutic viewpoint offers greater explanatory and exploratory potential

for guiding specific validation strategies, such as member-checking, in qualitative research. This review’s

main argument begins with an overview detailing which aspects and how-aspects of qualitative research

and its validation strategies. Subsequently, this review delves into the member-checking strategy as a central

validation approach in high-quality qualitative research. The review then introduces hermeneutics within

the qualitative research paradigm. Moreover, the present review explores how hermeneutics can serve

as a tool for thinking in research endeavors. Finally, the current review integrates the focus on memberchecking

with the perspective of hermeneutics to achieve a broader and more holistic understanding.

Concluding remarks and research-based implications are offered for the use of future qualitative researchers.