There are various methods to carry out the analysis of qualitative data in education. But we still know little about the process by which researchers make sense of data and build their conclusions. This paper aims to shed light on this process by showing the role played by the background assumptions of the researcher in the process of analyzing qualitative data. To this end it is described, first, how the notion of comprehension has been built in the field of Hermeneutics and, then, its methodological implications for the analysis of qualitative data in education.