RES 4900 - Hermeneutic Psychological Research

In the social sciences it is widely acknowledged that human beings spontaneously express themselves through "stories" that are intimately related to self and collective identity. This course introduces students to a hermeneutic approach to investigating the psychological meanings in the stories through which people articulate important lived-experiences. Students will study the philosophical background of hermeneutics, be introduced to a methodical approach to conducting hermeneutic psychological research, and conduct an interview-based pilot study. The hermeneutic tradition is one of the best-established philosophical foundations for interpretive psychological research. A hermeneutic approach pays careful attention not only to the biographical context of research participants, but also the communal, cultural-linguistic, and historical contexts within which people narrate their lives. Such research is not simply a "re-telling" of peoples' stories. Rather, peoples' narratives are psychologically complex and so must be carefully analyzed in order to yield scholarly knowledge. (Ph.D. program only) Prerequisite(s): Completion of RES 1015. 3 credit(s)

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