?url_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Adc&rft.title=The+Application+of+the+Hermeneutic+Process+to+Qualitative+Safety+Data%3A+A+Case+Study+using+Data+from+the+CIRAS+project&rft.creator=Wallace%2C+Dr+Brendan&rft.creator=Ross%2C+Dr+Alastair&rft.creator=Davies%2C+Professor+John&rft.subject=Social+Psychology&rft.description=This+article+describes+the+new+qualitative+methodology+developed+for+use+in+CIRAS+(Confidential+Incident+Reporting+and+Analysis+System)%2C+the+confidential+database+set+up+for+the+UK+railways+by+the+University+of+Strathclyde.+CIRAS+is+a+project+in+which+qualitative+safety+data+are+disidentified+and+then+stored+and+analysed+in+a+central+database.+Due+to+the+confidential+nature+of+the+data+provided%2C+conventional+(positivist)+methods+of+checking+their+accuracy+are+not+applicable%3B+therefore+a+new+methodology+was+developed+-+the+Applied+Hermeneutic+Methodology+(AHM).+Based+on+Paul+Ricoeur's+%60hermeneutic+arc'%2C+this+methodology+uses+appropriate+computer+software+to+provide+a+method+of+analysis+that+can+be+shown+to+be+reliable+(in+the+sense+that+consensus+in+interpretations+between+different+interpreters+can+be+demonstrated).+Moreover%2C+given+that+the+classifiers+of+the+textual+elements+can+be+represented+in+numeric+form%2C+AHM+crosses+the+%60qualitative-quantitative+divide'.+It+is+suggested+that+this+methodology+is+more+rigorous+and+philosophically+coherent+than+existing+methodologies+and+that+it+has+implications+for+all+areas+of+the+social+sciences+where+qualitative+texts+are+analysed.%0A&rft.publisher=Taylor+and+Francis&rft.contributor=Jeffers%2C+Tamar&rft.date=2003-05&rft.type=Journal+(Paginated)&rft.type=PeerReviewed&rft.format=application%2Fpdf&rft.identifier=http%3A%2F%2Fcogprints.org%2F3092%2F1%2Fhermeneutics.pdf&rft.identifier=++Wallace%2C+Dr+Brendan+and+Ross%2C+Dr+Alastair+and+Davies%2C+Professor+John++(2003)+The+Application+of+the+Hermeneutic+Process+to+Qualitative+Safety+Data%3A+A+Case+Study+using+Data+from+the+CIRAS+project.++%5BJournal+(Paginated)%5D+++++&rft.relation=http%3A%2F%2Fcogprints.org%2F3092%2F