Elucidating the meaning of life world phenomena : A phenomenological hermeneutical method for researching lived experience

In this paper, a phenomenological hermeneutical method for interpreting narrativetexts is proposed. Interviewees are asked to tell from their lived experience of participatingin life world phenomena. The interview texts are written down and analysed,inspired by the theory of interpretation of Paul Ricoeur, in three steps: a first,naïve reading, structural analysis and comprehensive understanding. The methodwas presented the first time in 2004. In this paper, the theory behind it is elaborated.Basic concepts like phenomenon, meaning, life world, lived experience and concretereflection are clarified, and the historical background of the method and its ontology,epistemology and methodology are explained