Participation and Ethical Reasoning in Text-Based Research: Crossing the Great Subject-Object Divide from Interpretation to Meaning

Bedwei-Majdoub, Catherine and Bado, Augustine (2025) Participation and Ethical Reasoning in Text-Based Research: Crossing the Great Subject-Object Divide from Interpretation to Meaning. In: Meaning and INterpretation in Research: Nuance, Objectivity, and the Ethics of Reason. IGI Global.

Abstract

This chapter examines the challenges to meaning objectivity faced by text-based researchers and considers how the subject-object divide interferes with the validity and reliability of research claims. With a mixed methods approach, the chapter shows that subjectivity has a significant impact on the meaning and interpretation of text, and that external influences on subjectivity can be, but are not enough, to stabilise meaning. It argues that researchers working with words should, as part of the fundamental research, establish a base line of meaning among their participants. Taking this approach would enhance research axiology. Accordingly, this chapter proposes a signification grammatology, the SOPHIC (Subject-Object Participation in Hermeneutical Interpretation and Conceptualisation) framework, for the instantiation of participation and ethical reasoning in text-based research. This framework aims to provoke and stimulate evaluation and legitimation of text-based research claims. Keywords: Subjectivity, Objectivity, Research Validity, Research Reliability, Axiology, Qualitative Research, Quantitative Research, Signification, Hermeneutics, Deconstruction, Poststructuralism, Reader-Response Criticism

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