An Epistemic Framework for Integrating Configurative Systematic Reviews, Gadamerian Hermeneutics, and Reflexive Thematic Analysis

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DOI:

https://doi.org/10.17169/fqs-26.3.4351

Keywords:

systematic reviews, configurative reviews, hermeneutics, reflexive thematic analysis

Abstract

Systematic reviews follow a rigorous protocol for identifying, selecting, evaluating, and synthesizing literature. Yet, scholars frequently overlooked the need for epistemological justification when combining diverse research approaches, resulting in ambiguity around their effective integration. In this paper, we address this issue by demonstrating the shared epistemological foundations of configurative reviews, Hans-Georg GADAMER's hermeneutics, and reflexive thematic analysis—namely, a non-foundationalist stance, ontological idealism, inductive reasoning, iterative processes, and a qualitative-interpretative orientation. Building on these commonalities, we propose an epistemic framework to support the coherent integration of these methods' procedures, principles, and rationales, thereby providing a structured basis for advancing qualitative research.

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Author Biographies

Francisco Fonseca, Federal University of Pernambuco

Francisco FONSÊCA is an associate professor at the Business School of the Federal University of Pernambuco (UFPE), where he has served as deputy coordinator of the Organizational Reality Observatory (ORO) research group since 2022. His research interests encompass decent work, precarious work, and social justice, with a particular emphasis on the nuanced representations of labor precarity and social injustice in the Agreste Region of Pernambuco, as well as within the virtual environments of video games. He is committed to advancing both theoretical understanding and practical application in these fields, seeking to have a constructive impact on organizational dynamics and local societal contexts. In his recent scholarship, he primarily employs qualitative methodologies, most notably hermeneutic approaches, and configurative systematic reviews. These methodological frameworks combine analytical rigor with interpretive depth in the study of contemporary labor phenomena.

Débora Dourado, Federal University of Pernambuco

Débora DOURADO is a full professor at the Business Science Department of the Federal University of Pernambuco (UFPE). From 2003 onwards, she has been a faculty researcher at the Organizational Reality Observatory (ORO) in Pernambuco, assuming the role of coordinator of this research group in 2009. In 2011, she served as a track chair in the Organizational Studies division of ANPAD. She regularly acts as a peer reviewer for several leading Brazilian academic journals, including Cadernos EBAPE, Organizações & Sociedade, and Gestão.Org. In 2015, she completed a postdoctoral fellowship at NHTV Breda University of Applied Sciences in the Netherlands, where she researched public policies related to urban mobility. She has been a faculty member in the Department of Administrative Sciences at UFPE since 1996 and currently holds the rank of full professor. In her research agenda, she focuses on the individual within organizations, power and control relations, decent work versus precarious labor, and the dynamics of platform cooperativism in contrast to platform capitalism. All of these research interests are grounded in a perspective that values the inseparability of teaching, research, and community engagement.

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Published

2025-09-28

How to Cite

Fonseca, F., & Dourado, D. (2025). An Epistemic Framework for Integrating Configurative Systematic Reviews, Gadamerian Hermeneutics, and Reflexive Thematic Analysis. Forum Qualitative Sozialforschung Forum: Qualitative Social Research, 26(3). https://doi.org/10.17169/fqs-26.3.4351

Issue

Vol. 26 No. 3 (2025)

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Single Contributions

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Copyright (c) 2025 Francisco Fonseca, Débora Coutinho PASCHOAL DOURADO

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