Hermeneutics and the Social Sciences: An Evaluation of the Function of Hermeneutics in a Consumer Disability Study

Authors

Charles Ringma, University of Queensland
Christopher Brown, University of Queensland

Abstract

This paper explicates the hermeneutic procedure utilized in the development and interpretation of a questionnaire for consumers with a disability regarding their perspectives on the accessibility and quality of human services they are using. It finds that consumers experience difficulty in bringing into language their critique of existing services. The paper argues the value of a hermeneutic methodology in the social sciences and its usefulness in refining qualitative survey methods designed to explicate the perspectives of those experiencing relative powerlessness in using human services. It seeks, moreover, to establish the complementarity of the hermeneutics of suspicion and those of affirmation.

Recommended Citation

Ringma, Charles and Brown, Christopher (1991) "Hermeneutics and the Social Sciences: An Evaluation of the Function of Hermeneutics in a Consumer Disability Study," The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare: Vol. 18: Iss. 3, Article 5.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.15453/0191-5096.1989
Available at: https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/jssw/vol18/iss3/5