Interpretive Metaphor Analysis — Qualitative Metaphor Research

Interpretive metaphor analysis is a qualitative method that systematically identifies and interprets the conceptual metaphors embedded in participants' language to understand how they make meaning of their experiences. Rooted in Lakoff and Johnson's conceptual metaphor theory and adapted for empirical social research by Rudolf Schmitt, it applies a hermeneutic lens to treat metaphors not as stylistic ornaments but as windows into underlying cognitive and cultural frames.