--- abstract: "This article describes the new qualitative methodology developed for use in CIRAS (Confidential Incident Reporting and Analysis System), 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, conventional (positivist) methods of checking their accuracy are not applicable; therefore a new methodology was developed - the Applied Hermeneutic Methodology (AHM). Based on Paul Ricoeur's `hermeneutic arc', 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, given that the classifiers of the textual elements can be represented in numeric form, AHM crosses the `qualitative-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.\n" altloc: - http://saturn.bids.ac.uk/cgi-bin/ds_deliver/1/strathclyde:shr/strathclyde/ISIS/6286250.1/sage/hum/2003/00000056/00000005/art00004/F82043DE2BC1C67D1059493460FB0182927E67A523.pdf?link=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ingenta.com%2Fisis%2Ftracking%2FDeliveryError%2Fingenta% chapter: ~ commentary: ~ commref: ~ confdates: ~ conference: ~ confloc: ~ contact_email: ~ creators_id: [] creators_name: - family: Wallace given: Brendan honourific: Dr lineage: '' - family: Ross given: Alastair honourific: Dr lineage: '' - family: Davies given: John honourific: Professor lineage: '' date: 2003-05 date_type: published datestamp: 2003-08-03 department: ~ dir: disk0/00/00/30/92 edit_lock_since: ~ edit_lock_until: ~ edit_lock_user: ~ editors_id: [] editors_name: - family: Jeffers given: Tamar honourific: '' lineage: '' eprint_status: archive eprintid: 3092 fileinfo: /style/images/fileicons/application_pdf.png;/3092/1/hermeneutics.pdf full_text_status: public importid: ~ institution: ~ isbn: ~ ispublished: pub issn: ~ item_issues_comment: [] item_issues_count: 0 item_issues_description: [] item_issues_id: [] item_issues_reported_by: [] item_issues_resolved_by: [] item_issues_status: [] item_issues_timestamp: [] item_issues_type: [] keywords: accidents; hermeneutics; interpretation; qualitative; quantitative; safety lastmod: 2011-03-11 08:55:19 latitude: ~ longitude: ~ metadata_visibility: show note: ~ number: 5 pagerange: 587-607 pubdom: TRUE publication: Human Relations publisher: Taylor and Francis refereed: TRUE referencetext: |- Bernstein, R. 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Norwood, NJ: Ablex, 1986. relation_type: [] relation_uri: [] reportno: ~ rev_number: 12 series: ~ source: ~ status_changed: 2007-09-12 16:48:23 subjects: - soc-psy succeeds: ~ suggestions: ~ sword_depositor: ~ sword_slug: ~ thesistype: ~ title: 'The Application of the Hermeneutic Process to Qualitative Safety Data: A Case Study using Data from the CIRAS project' type: journalp userid: 4216 volume: 56