Finding meaning in higher education: A social hermeneutics approach to higher education research

Abstract

Higher education is positively imbued with social meaning. Every academic ritual, scientific routine or scholarly practice carries meanings that go far beyond the situational motives of the actors themselves. Social science hermeneutics, one of the best-known institutionalised paradigms in German-speaking qualitative research, offers a sound methodological basis and various methodical variants in order to approach such latent meaning levels. With its focus on reconstructing the underlying logics, values and norm systems of interaction processes and social structures, social science hermeneutics tackles questions that are highly relevant for understanding contemporary developments in higher education strategy and policy. This chapter introduces readers to key concepts in social science hermeneutics and their potential for higher education research. Based on an overview of the main methodological characteristics, the authors then give an in-depth example of an interpretative process by providing a step-by-step reconstruction of different levels of meaning.

Citation

Lueger, M. and Vettori, O. (2014), "Finding meaning in higher education: A social hermeneutics approach to higher education research", Theory and Method in Higher Education Research II (International Perspectives on Higher Education Research, Vol. 10), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 23-42. https://doi.org/10.1108/S1479-3628(2014)0000010007