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Virtual text and the growth of meaning in qualitative analysis
Author(s) -
Ayres Lioness,
Poirier Suzanne
Publication year - 1996
Publication title -
research in nursing and health
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.836
H-Index - 85
eISSN - 1098-240X
pISSN - 0160-6891
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1098-240x(199604)19:2<163::aid-nur8>3.0.co;2-k
Subject(s) - narrative , interpretation (philosophy) , meaning (existential) , epistemology , qualitative research , psychology , mechanism (biology) , social psychology , sociology , linguistics , social science , philosophy
Qualitative researchers frequently analyze data in the form of narrative, such as responses to open‐ended interview questions. Researchers acknowledge the validity of more than one interpretation of the same narratives but, to date, have offered little justification for multiple valid interpretations. A concept from literary theory, “the virtual text,” is presented to help explain the mechanism of multiple interpretations and provide a justification for their validity. An example from the first author's research is provided. © 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.