Crafting Theory to Satisfy the Requirements of Interpretation

Just as Lee, Briggs, and Dennis [8] showed that positivism\´s conception of "explanation" leads to requirements for positivist theory to satisfy, we show that a hermeneutical conception of "interpretation" leads to requirements for interpretive theory to satisfy. We refer to the hermeneutical philosopher Ricoeur\´s model of the text, by which "the methodology of text-interpretation [serves] as a paradigm for interpretation in general" [12, p. 91]. Much as the meaning of a text is interpreted, the meaning of a person\´s action is interpreted, where in both cases, the object of interpretation is an existing understanding. It exists in the form of not only the understanding originating with the author of a text or the person engaging in an action, but also the understanding that the observing interpretive researcher comes to hold -- the interpretation. Explicit recognition of understanding in such forms leads to requirements that can strengthen interpretive theorizing.