Meanings as data and human technology

Abstract

Abstract.— The conception of data as a solid rock bottom of a psychological science is questioned. Several ambiguities of the concept of psychological data are pointed out, particularly in the use of “meanings as data”. Hermeneutical and phenomenological approaches to understanding the meaning of behavior are presented, and a temporal and social structure of understanding is outlined. This structure is shown to give an adequate description of some central methods of observing behavior. A meaning basis of psychological data, thus documented, is then argued to be the Achilles' heel of the positivist conception of psychology as a strictly natural science. Finally, by regarding psychological data within the context of technology, the transformation of the meaning of behavior into data is considered the raison d‘être for psychology as a human technology.