Apply now! Spring priority deadline is October 1.
Drafted fall 2025
Also called analysis, exegesis, or close reading, this involves interpreting some kind of data in order to explain or illuminate it in terms of its place in culture or human understanding. This data is usually called a “text” or an “object” and may be books, movies, games, social media, archival artifacts, or anything set apart for interpretation. Interpretation involves the application or creation of theoretical frameworks, also called analytical frames. These are concepts or ways of understanding objects that are specific to a field of study and are used to draw conclusions from objects.
In short, interpretive research in the humanities applies an analytical frame to an object of analysis through field-specific research methods.
Some examples of interpretive research methods and the fields that use them:
Many include primary research through methods like:
Research Questions may be about collecting primary research objects or close analysis of secondary sources. In both cases, questions involve applying analytical frames to the objects themselves and/or to the context they exist in to find evidence and draw conclusions.
Whether you are writing your own or responding to assignment prompts, determining if a question is internal, external, or both can be a great way to determine what kind of evidence you need to respond and where you should look for it.
Internal questions only consider the text or the object the of analysis. External questions are about the wider context the object exists in, such as when, where, why or how it was made, how audiences responded to it, or it’s place within a broader genre. Note that some questions might be a bit of both.
Use these to ask about the format or the function of specific elements in your object of analysis. For example: How does the author bell hooks apply rhetoric in Will to Change to establish common ground in her audience?
Use these to ask about the meaning or purpose of your object of analysis. For example: Why does bell hooks employ obvious rhetorical strategies in Will to Change to establish common ground with her audience?
Use these to ask about the relationships between claims and evidence or the reasons a reader should believe and care about those observations. For example: What can be learned from bell hooks use of rhetoric in Will to Change to establish common ground between different communities, and what evidence should I look for to analyze this?