Methods
A qualitative, exploratory, and descriptive research design
was chosen for this study because of the complexity and
uniqueness of human experiences and the importance of
studying such experiences from a holistically subjective perspective.
The theoretical perspectives of interpretivism and
hermeneutics guided the study. Interpretivism evolved with
the purpose of attempting to understand and explain human
and social reality. The basic process of interpretivism involved
contrasting the interpretive approach of understanding needed
in the human and social sciences with the explicative approach
of explanation that is found in the natural sciences (Crotty,
1998). Hermeneutics is derived from the Greek word “hermeneuein,”
meaning to “interpret and understand with the aim of
rendering it familiar, present and intelligible” (Palmer, 1969,
pp. 12–14). The hermeneutic circle is integral to the process of
understanding. This method of interpretation requires relating