Thanks for this Maha. – I wonder if we were thinking of the same paper:) When I read your post, I thought about the hermeneutic circle that I read about in Lucas Intronas work eg https://www.academia.edu/1362311/Information_A_hermeneutic_perspective 20 years ago. When we listen or read we all appropriate what is written or said into our own context – as he says all communication is ‘failed’. As you know, I have been working on research that included a survey with 4 open-ended questions and offered people the option of being anonymous. As I recall, only 2 respondents opted for being identified in quotes. I have had your experience of being unable to recall what I said in a survey and have wondered if survey software should make it easy for respondents to keep their own copy. I like mixed methods research that can give different perspectives.
I was co-author on a paper published last month that attracted attention in the last few days after someone shared it on the latest Rhizo FB group and tagged me in the post. So I noticed the comments there and that it was also being commented in hypothes.is and then Simon Ensor wrote blog post commenting on the paper and its authors and I have seen his posted linked in other posts. So for some, what our paper said will be based on what Simon said rather than a reading of the paper and that’s the hermeneutic circle in action. I still value anonymous responses though – they can allow voices to survive loud circles of interpretation.