Bracketing in qualitative research: Conceptual and practical matters

Bracketing is presented as two forms of researcher engagement: with data and with evolving findings. The first form is the well-known identification and temporary setting aside of the researcher’s assumptions. The second engagement is the hermeneutic revisiting of data and of one’s evolving comprehension of it in light of a revised understanding of any aspect of the topic. Both of these processes are ongoing, and they include the careful development of language with which to represent findings. Extensive everyday examples of bracketing and of interviewing are presented. As a form of disclosure in qualitative research, the background from which this article was written is shared. At that point, Husserl’s and Heidegger’s historical introductions of bracketing are presented briefly, followed by a discussion of reflexivity and hermeneutics. The article closes with warnings of how residual positivism can work against qualitative rigor and with a suggested qualitative research study on bracketing.