Feminist Collective Interpretation: Interpretation as Analysis

Abstract

Interpretation is a key aspect to any qualitative research process. Inherent in analysis, researchers must ask what informs interpretations and whose interpretations are accepted as reality. These questions call attention to power and its connection with interpretational practices, while some might argue that it would be impossible to render any interpretations that are data. In this article, we describe our own feminist, collective analytic interpretation as being guided by a set of commitments rather than a set of procedures or a guiding theoretical framework. We highlight how our approach to collective interpretation through a set of feminist commitments is achieved. Then, we outline those commitments, leaving readers with an idea of how to build a feminist collectivist interpretation process into their own work specifically or contemplate the collaborative nature of interpretation in analysis of qualitative data more broadly.