Estudos e Pesquisas em Psicologia
ISSN 1808-4281
MAUX, Ana Andréa Barbosa DUTRA, Elza Maria do Socorro. Thinking of the Hermeneutic Circle as a Way to Psychological Research. Estud. pesqui. psicol. []. 2020, 20, spe, pp.1034-1048. ISSN 1808-4281. https://doi.org/10.12957/epp.2020.56649.
Inspired by the ideas presented by the philosopher Martin Heidegger, specifically in the hermeneutic circle, this work aims to think about a method proposal for qualitative research in Psychology. The method being understood as the path that draws the route taken by the researcher and the research analysis process is going on throughout the research. The Heideggerian hermeneutic circle describes a process that involves circular movement and serves as inspiration for the proposed method of this work. The circularity allows us to think of the research process as being provisional and, at the same time, it indicates a continuous, uninterrupted and inexhaustible understanding and interpretation which are characteristics of human existence. The method proposal is presented in this work in a didactic way from the concepts of prior perception, prior vision and prior conception, which purpose is not to arrive at an explanation or absolute truth, but to unveil meanings, which allows the comprehension of the studied phenomenon. It ends with the intention of offering researchers in the humanities area a possibility to think about a method of scientific rigor and that makes it possible to reveal phenomena related to existence.
: method; qualitative research; hermeneutic circle.