Understanding narrative inquiry through life story interviews with former prisoners

1. Locating Narrative Inquiry in the Interdisciplinary Context Scientific Research and Qualitative Research in Tandem Narrative Inquiry Narrative Inquiry in Different Disciplines Some Cautionary Tales About Narrative Inquiry Narrative Inquiry as the Synergy of Interdisciplinarity Learning to be a Storyteller in the Interdisciplinary Context Conclusion: A Falling Apple 2. Philosophical/Theoretical Underpinnings of Narrative Inquiry The Role of Theory Philosophical/Theoretical/Interpretive Paradigm Theory and Narrative Inquiry Critical Theory Critical Race Theory Feminist Theory Phenomenology Poststructuralism/Postmodernism/Deconstruction Dewey's Theory of Experience Bakhtin's Theory of Novelness Conclusion: No Theory Used as a Procrustean Bed 3. Narrative Research Design: Engaging in Aesthetic Play Engaging in Aesthetic Play Standards for Humanities-Oriented Research Learning to Think Narratively Plowing Before Sowing: On Reviewing the Literature Developing Good Research Questions Imagining the Researcher-Participant Relationship: From Spy to Friend Ethical Issues in Narrative Inquiry Qualitative Writing vs. Scientific Writing Imagining Narrative Writing as Aesthetic Play Conclusion: Where Your Heart Belongs 4. Narrative Research Genres: Meditating Stories Into Being Narrative Inquirer as a Midwife Narrative Research Genres Autobiographical Narrative Inquiry Biographical Narrative Inquiry Arts-Based Narrative Inquiry Literary-Based Narrative Inquiry Visual-Based Narrative Inquiry Conclusion: Blurring Genres 5. Narrative Data Collection Methods: Excavating Stories Narrative Thinking Interview Logistics Types of Qualitative Interview Narrative Interviewing Fieldwork Artifacts: Cabinets of Curiosities or Cabinets of Wonder Visual Data Digital Archival Data Conclusion: Excavating Stories as Data 6. Narrative Data Analysis and Interpretation: Flirting With Data On Flirtation Qualitative Data Analysis Theorizing Narrative Data Analysis and Interpretation Methods of Narrative Data Analysis Narrative Analysis in Narrative Genres Conclusion: Variegations of Narrative Analysis and Interpretation 7. Narrative Coda: Theorizing Narrative Meaning On Coda Researching Signature Answering the Question So What? Desiring and Audience Avoiding an Epic Closure Theorizing Findings Planting the Seed for Social Justice Becoming a Scheherazade Conclusion: Ongoing Stories 8. Critical Issues in Narrative Inquiry: Looking Into a Kaleidoscope Looking into a Kaleidoscope Contradicting Stories: The Rashomon Effect Temptation of Backyard Research On Reflexivity On Bricolage and Bricoleur On Small Stories Storytelling as Performance Conclusion: Pushing the Boundary of Narrative Inquiry 9. Examples of Narrative Inquiry: Theory Into Practice Narrative Inquiry as Phenomenon and Method Narrative Inquiry as Oral History Narrative Inquiry as Life Story Narrative Inquiry as Autoethnography Narrative Inquiry as Creative Fiction Narrative Inquiry as Fiction Conclusion: Learning to be a Storyteller 10. Epilogue

Narrative research has contributed to understandings of athletic identity as an evolving story of the self that is creatively put together by the agentic individual but necessarily dependent on broader narratives within which we all live our lives. However, most studies in sport have focused on retrospective ‘big stories’ of athletes’ lives, rather than on-going, future-oriented identity construction through storytelling. In this study, we explored Finnish pre-elite athletes’ emerging stories of the self to understand the processes associated with the narrative selection and the resources they tap into in making sport meaningful to them. Nine women and eight men aged 17–18 were invited to create a visual representation of themselves as athletes and discuss them in conversational interviews. In the narrative analysis, we identified three storylines, ‘the high-performance athlete’, ‘the performance, relational and fun athlete’ and ‘the lifestyle athlete’ and explored how stories were selected to construct a positive athletic identity and sustain motivation. We argue that the end point of the identity narratives was to establish a positive future perspective and hope in the face of adversities. The future-oriented narrative content signals a need for more diverse narrative methodologies in sport beyond retrospective approaches such as the life story interview, especially with younger participants.

Who Owns a Dissertation, and Why Does It Matter?

Background/Context Within the context of four locally funded research projects, the researcher was asked to disseminate the findings of her narrative inquiries not to the research community, which had previously been the case, but to the practice and philanthropic communities. This, in turn, created a representational crisis because practitioners and philanthropists typically do not read research reports. Purposes/Objectives/Research Question/Focus of Study In this paper, two sources previously cut off from one another—the narrative inquiry research method and the digital storytelling approach—were brought together to inform how the live research projects became represented. Setting The four research endeavors, all involving arts-based instruction and all funded by the same reform movement, were undertaken in four different school sites serving primarily underserved minority youth in the fourth largest city in the U.S. Population/Participants/Subjects The participants were mainly teachers, although some principals, students, and grandparents contributed to certain digital representations. Research assistants were also highly involved. Conclusion This meta-level “inquiry into inquiry” traversed all four narrative inquiries and the digital exemplars produced for each to show how digital narrative inquiries (narrative inquiries represented through digital story) attend to eight considerations: relationship, perspective, authorial voice, cultural/contextual considerations, relevance, negotiation, audience and technology were learned. While this “inquiry into inquiry” addresses definitional and others queries at the intersection where narrative inquiry and digital stor y meet, other questions remain to be addressed that will necessitate future research.

Globalization and increasing international mobility intensify the importance of intercultural competencies in public trust professions. Previous research indicates that cultural intelligence and multicultural personality are crucial in intercultural interactions. The aim of this study was to assess the level of cultural intelligence, multicultural personality traits, and perceptions of cultural differences among students of social sciences, medical sciences, and health sciences. In Poland, the scale of cross-border contacts continues to grow, creating an educational challenge in preparing future professionals for work in multicultural environments. The study employed a proprietary questionnaire along with the Cultural Intelligence Scale (CQS) and the short version of the Multicultural Personality Questionnaire (MPQ SF-40). A total of 102 students from a large university in southern Poland participated in the study. The findings revealed that social science students demonstrated significantly higher levels of cultural intelligence compared to students of medical and health sciences. Cultural intelligence was positively correlated with cultural empathy, open-mindedness, social initiative, and emotional stability. To date, no studies in Poland have addressed this issue. The results highlight the need to design educational programs that foster intercultural competencies while considering the specific professional roles and differences in student preparation.

Narrative research has become a catchword in the social sciences today, promising new fields of inquiry and creative solutions to persistent problems. This book brings together ideas about narrative from a variety of contexts across the social sciences and synthesizes understandings of the field. Rather than focusing on theory, it examines how narrative research is conducted and applied. It operates as a practical introductory guide, basic enough for first-time researchers, but also as a window onto the more complex questions and difficulties that all researchers in this area face. The authors guide readers through current debates about how to obtain and analyse narrative data, about the nature of narrative, the place of the researcher, the limits of researcher interpretations, and the significance of narrative work in applied and in broader political contexts.

1. Michelle Butina, PhD, MLS(ASCP)CM[⇑][1] 1. University of Kentucky, College of Health Sciences, Lexington, KY 1. Address for Correspondence: Michelle Butina, PhD, MLS(ASCP)CM, Assistant Professor and Program Director, Medical Laboratory Science, University of Kentucky, College of Health Sciences, 900 South Limestone Street, CTW Bldg. Rm. 126E, Lexington, KY 40536-0200, (859) 218-0852, Michelle.Butina{at}uky.edu 1. Provide an example of when narrative inquiry would be the most appropriate qualitative research approach. 2. Identify the activities involved in data collection. 3. Define and describe narrative thematic data analysis. 4. Discuss data verification and validation strategies used in qualitative research approaches. INTRODUCTION When selecting a research design, such as quantitative, qualitative, or mixed methods, Patton (2002) suggested reflecting on the purpose of the inquiry and the types of answers you seek.1 Qualitative methods allow the researcher to study issues in depth with data collection often occurring through open-ended questions permitting “one to understand and capture the points of view of other people without predetermining those points of view through prior selection of questionnaire categories”.1 Results include a wealth of detailed information about a small number of people; therefore, leading to an increase in the depth of understanding of these select individuals. As Creswell (2013) stated, “Those undertaking qualitative studies have a baffling number of choices of approaches”.2 Qualitative approaches of inquiry are diverse and can be numerous depending upon how they are classified as some classification schemes include 20 plus approaches.2 Regardless of how they are classified, the traditional 5 approaches are represented, in some fashion, in all classification schemes. These include case studies, ethnography, grounded theory, narrative, and phenomenology. This article will provide the reader with a better understanding of narrative approach or narrative inquiry. Narrative inquiry is the approach of which I have the most knowledge and the most experience with as it was the approach I selected for my doctoral research study. Narrative inquiry is a form of qualitative research in which the stories themselves become the raw data.3 This approach has been used in many disciplines to learn more about the culture, historical experiences, identity, and lifestyle… 1. Provide an example of when narrative inquiry would be the most appropriate qualitative research approach. 2. Identify the activities involved in data collection. 3. Define and describe narrative thematic data analysis. 4. Discuss data verification and validation strategies used in qualitative research approaches. [1]: #corresp-1

A basic premise in narrative therapy and inquiry is that life story telling is a mechanism by which experiences are rendered meaningful within some form of structure. However, narrative inquiry has to take cognisance of difficulties ensuing from discursive practices for different populations when eliciting their life stories. In this article I explicate a unique method, the Collage Life story Elicitation Technique (CLET), geared towards scaffolding life story remembering. Based on the theoretical underpinnings of social constructionism (Gergen, 2000), symbolic interactionism (Berg, 2009) and performative strategies in social science research the CLET provides a mode of expression and narrative performance for positioning the dialogical self. As the individual engages in collage-making and narrating, cognitive, motivational and affective aspects of autobiographical memories emerge while telling her or his life story. Different forms of positioning in the dialogical self and significant attachments to people, objects and life events co-exist in the verbal and non-verbal communications elicited with this technique. As suggested by the pilot study, the CLET provides a structure within which non-English speaking participants could explore multiple forms of positioning in the dialogical self without the restrictions of a verbal interview conversation.

The phenomenon of the ‘illness narrative’ is well-documented, in the last 25 years, of increasing interest to researchers in health and social sciences. Personal stories about the experience of facing the end of life also have an established history of particular relevance for palliative care clinicians. In this article, we review and describe a range of narrative analysis approaches that may be of use in palliative care. In particular, we distinguish between qualitative analysis applied to narratives and narrative analysis as a method. We discuss the potential benefits and challenges in the use of narrative research methods as a means to deepen our understanding of patient, carer and health professionals’ experience, and to support improvements in end of life care policy and practice.

Academic procrastination in university students of social and health sciences was compared according to socio-academic variables, such as: age, gender, occupation, area and year of study. The research was descriptive-comparative, quantitative, non-experimental; 1000 university social and health sciences students intentionally selected according to quotas participated. The information was collected with a duly validated instrument about academic procrastination. It was observed that: the majority of students perceive high academic procrastination (62%), low academic self-regulation (41%) and high procrastination of activities (74%). Concluding that the trend of academic procrastination is mostly present in students of social sciences, in male students, in the first years or academic cycles and in those who are studying while working. Therefore, most students who procrastinate avoid prioritizing the development of academic activities for others that are of particular interest such as: excessive use of technology, social networks, dependence on cell phones and work.

Drawing on theoretical and methodological papers written over the past thirty years, this volume provides an introduction to narrative inquiry. It provides an overview of the development of narrative inquiry within the social sciences and the humanities, and establishes its relevance for social work and related professions. It presents one research design, the case study design, in which narrative inquiry may be placed. It provides a broad framework in which narrative and other relevant data may be collected and specifies ways in which audio-recordings of interviews may be transcribed. It presents major approaches to the analysis of transcribed interviews. These approaches include ones that focus on the analysis of narrative content, narrative structure, and narrative in context. The volume also examines two emerging approaches to narrative analysis, critical narrative analysis and contextual discursive analysis. Each narrative analytic approach covered is considered in relation to the same set of dimensions including definition of narrative, theoretical orientation, central question, and method. Exemplary investigations that rely on each approach are included. Issues pertaining to reflexivity, ethics, and validity of narrative inquiry are explored. The appendices contain an outline for a narrative research proposal.

This research draws from my lived experience as a second generation immigrant of Calabrian exiles and explores the commonalities between older Afghan Hazara women and Calabrians. Working with culturally diverse groups the research examines liminality through the narratives of both cultures and investigates whether the experiences of recent female refugee populations in Australia, reflect those of previous immigrant communities. Applying theories of storytelling and liminality, the research asks, Can a multidisciplinary arts approach reflect cultural commonalities through the process of becoming other? The research observes the process older Hazara Afghan women1 embark upon when negotiating change post war and dislocation. My experiences from a family of Calabrian exiles draws from personal histories of my mother and grandmother as they attempted to find a sense of connection in Australia. Little is known about the stories within the liminal space, a pivotal point between one’s past life and potential future. Further, the commonalities between two such diametrically different cultures have yet to be investigated. Becoming other is an empathic strategy and a methodological approach in my creative led research project to explore the overlaps between these two cultures. The Hazara’s narratives capture the women’s perspectives and experiences against current Australian public perceptions and politics and these testimonials are juxtaposed against my family’s journey as exiles. The theoretical discourse adopts storytelling, narrative inquiry, and auto-ethnography located in qualitative traditions. The creative component is a multilayered body of work set against a backdrop of personal and socio-political histories that crosses cultures and generations. The films are documented from live performances developed from a theatre script. The recorded performances have been transferred to video in conjunction with photography and poetry which thread liminality; magic realism; female identity and the immigrant journey to illustrate the impact of war and displacement, while simultaneously demonstrating the agency of the women. 1 These women are Dari speaking, predominantly Shia people of central Afghanistan, and who have been victims of genocide for hundreds of years.

The development of the social and health sciences in Japan

Recently, as the number of Korean learners with various backgrounds and purposes has increased, the number of Korean language learners from European countries is also increasing. However, studies on Korean language learners from European countries mainly focus on curriculum, textbook development, and teaching methods, and there are not many studies that focus on the learner itself to identify the motivation for learning. Therefore, this study attempted to investigate with what motivation European Korean language learners, who wanted to learn Korean in South Korea, had through narrative research. As a result, it was found that learners, who were exposed to several languages due to the regional specificity of Europe, had a strong interest in learning a new language. Also, through various occasions, they became curious about Korean culture, and their interest in the language and their curiosity about culture led them to start learning Korean. In this process, various experiences in life in South Korea were working as another strong motivation for learning Korean. In addition to this, the social context that did not adequately cope with the unstable public security or the pandemic in Europe became one of the factors that encouraged learners to come to South Korea to study Korean. This study is significant in that it studied learners’ learning motives from various linguistic and cultural backgrounds and can be a reference for the composition of educational content for Korean language learners from European countries. (Yonsei University)

This study explores the ways in which widows in Kampala, Uganda are deprived of homeownership upon the death of their husbands. Homeownership through inheritance usually means that widows have the authority to register the home in their names and have the power to use and sell the home upon the death of their husbands. This study, which is based on life story interviews with widows in the middle-income areas of Kampala, found that women are prevented from inheriting the matrimonial home due to customary laws and practices. According to customary law, women may not own property and hence, upon the death of the husband, the ownership of his home is passed on to a male member of his family. In terms of statutory law, the Succession Act dictates that the matrimonial home is inherited by the eldest son of the deceased. Although there have been successful legal challenges which have shown the intestate succession law to be unconstitutional parliament has yet to change this law. The research findings show that widows can only inherit the matrimonial home under the following circumstances. Firstly, if a widow is the joint owner of the home, there are no legal and social obstacles that prevent her from inheriting her husband’s share of the home. Secondly, a widow can inherit the home if her husband stipulates it in his will. However, even if she is the sole beneficiary, unless the husband also appoints the wife as the sole executor of the will, the husband’s family can conspire to prevent her from inheriting the home. Key words: Gender, homeownership, inheritance, widowhood, life story, succession act, customary law, executor