Disciplined interpretations. A praxeology of joint data analysis in qualitative research

The joint analysis of data in interpretation groups is well established in qualitative research. Many researchers argue that it allows for securing as well as improving the quality of empirical results. Moreover, interpretation groups are regarded as being useful for introducing young researchers to the practices of data analysis. The article begins with a discussion of current literature on this work arrangement and analyses how interpretation groups jointly work on the quality of interpretations. More specifically, I will focus on negotiating readings as well as methodological questions. Against this background, interpretation groups can be regarded as productive settings which allow opening up data, preparing empirically grounded interpretations and also help to immunise these interpretations against possible criticism