The study this datasets is part of focusses on intercultural Biblical hermeneutics and was necessary to gain insights into how the participants understood concepts and processes of forgiveness when reading Matthew 18.15-35. Moreover, since social identity complexity theory plays an important role in intercultural hermeneutics, it was necessary to gather the data in a social, or group reading context. Each of the two participating groups were largely homogenous in terms of race and culture. Demographic information was an important component in ascertaining to what extent social identity categories (such as race and culture) influence the hermeneutic perspectives of the participants. The participants self-reported their race, age and gender in an individual information session that took place before the first group meeting.
In order to gain data from the participants related to their intercultural Biblical hermeneutic views of forgiveness, the researcher designed a series of group readings of the Biblical text in which the participants had the opportunity to read the text and then share their understandings of forgiveness with the researcher and the rest of the group. These group readings where structured in the form of focus group encounters in which the conversations were recorded by means of an audio recording device and then transcribed for later analysis.
This dataset contains the raw data (transcripts) that was gathered in a series of 6 focus group meetings (datasets D1 - D6). The datasets each are numbered according to the Atlas.ti convention. The data is recorded in Rich Text File (RTF) format. In the heading of each data file the date and location of the recording of the data is noted (e.g., Church Street Methodist Church, 21/06/2015).
The data has been anonymised in order to protect the privacy of the participants, except for the original Atlas.ti file (which is only available on request). Each participant has been allocated a code represent their inputs (P1-P12). The P* remains the same for that participant in all of the datasets. The interviewer has been allocated the symbol 'I' or [I].
A methodology text and read me text are part of the dataset and explain the context of the dataset. In these documents, references are made to parts of the corresponding publication (PhD dissertation):
Forster, DA. 2017. 'The (im)possibility of forgiveness? An empirical intercultural Bible reading of Matthew 18.15-35'. PHD thesis. Radboud University.
