HERMENEUTIC STUDIES: CHALLENGES AND STRATEGIES IN TRUSTWORTHINESS

The application of qualitative methods is developing in different fields including the health science. One of the challenges for hermeneutic researchers is the issue of trustworthiness. Given that these studies do not target external reality in their process, traditional criteria to show the correspondence to reality have been reported as controversial. The current study aims to review the challenges of these criteria and introduce exclusive strategies corresponding to hermeneutic studies.

Using the related keywords, English papers were searched in “Google Scholar, PubMed, and Web of Science” in June 2020 and the sources were extracted. Having reviewed the abstracts and the full texts, 13 articles directly related to the subject under study were selected. Moreover, another set of 12 pieces of related literature were added by referring to other sources such as the related citations. The collected data were analyzed using a critical review approach.

Data analysis demonstrated differences in the suggested methods for trustworthiness in hermeneutic studies. Although some references indicate that application of “credibility, dependability, transferability and confirmability” is possible in hermeneutics, the difference in theoretical and methodological frameworks have resulted in the introduction of new expressions such as “balanced integration, openness, concreteness, resonance, and actualization” for trustworthiness in hermeneutics studies.

No single criteria can be applied to assess trustworthiness in all qualitative methods. The application of general criteria for judging trustworthiness in hermeneutic studies has been reported as problematic. The present study results can assist researchers of qualitative inquiries particularly those engaged in hermeneutic researches to select appropriate criteria based on the research method. Although further scrutiny is needed, the criteria specifically compatible with hermeneutic studies such as those expressed by De Witt and Ploeg seem more appropriate than the traditional ones.