Systematic Metaphor Analysis as a Method of Qualitative Research

2015/01/20 by Rudolph Schmitt · 1 citation
Arts and Humanities · Psychology · #Categorization, perception, and language #Language, Discourse, Communication Strategies #Language, Metaphor, and Cognition

paper · pdf · doi:10.46743/2160-3715/2005.1854

openalex publication_date 2015/01/20 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/29

Abstract

George Lakoff and Mark Johnsons theory of metaphor (1980, 1999) provides a basis for describing everyday cognitive structures using linguistic models and thus, making it possible to uncover both individual and collective patterns of thought and action. Lakoff and Johnson have not, however, developed a workable system for carrying out qualitative research. This paper outlines the fundamentals of this approach and proposes a procedure for the reconstruction of metaphorical concepts. As is normally the case in qualitative research, such guidelines can only ever represent the interplay between the ability of the researcher to understand the sense of things and the rules of the methodology. An overview of the typical interpretations that a metaphor analysis allows is also given.

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