What is Narrative Research?

Section 1: The nature of narratives. Chapter 1 What is a narrative?. Chapter 2 The appropriateness of narratives for nursing and health care. Chapter 3 Social construction, postmodernism and narrative identity. Chapter 4 Rigour in narrative research. Section 2: Strategies and procedures in narrative research. Chapter 5 The art of sampling. Chapter 6 Data collection in narrative research. Chapter 7 Narrative analysis: Contextualising narratives. Chapter 8 Presenting the findings. Section 3: Quality and authenticity in narrative research. Chapter 9 Narrative and ethics. Chapter 10 Critical review and problems. Chapter 11 The evaluation of narrative research reports and articles. Chapter 12 Publication and dissemination. Section 4: The practicalities of narrative research. Chapter 13 The skills of the narrative researcher. Chapter 14 Transcribing narrative data. Chapter 15 Writing a proposal for narrative research nursing

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

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

Researchers’ reflections on narrative inquiry is a growing area of interest for the qualitative researchers’ community (Beuthin 2014; Bruce et al 2016; O’Grady, Clandinin and O’Toole 2018). Furthermore, the relationship between the insider and outsider, researcher and participant, in narrative research conducted in social sciences, including nursing, health sciences, and education, has been extensively explored (Berger 2015; Darwin Holmes 2020). This paper reports on a project in which life story interviews with former prisoners were conducted in Ireland and Greece. The aim is to contribute to our understanding and knowledge of narrative inquiry by providing insights into the methodology employed, along with the challenges faced and steps taken to address those challenges during the project. The paper begins with a reflective account of the author’s experience as a researcher engaging in narrative inquiry, focusing on the rationale behind choosing this method and issues of design, positionality, ethics and access. Then the focus shifts to how the fieldwork in two European countries allowed the author to explore the cross-cultural boundaries of narrative inquiry. Finally, the paper concludes with a persuasive argument on the value of narrative inquiry, drawing upon the insights and findings from the research project.

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.

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.

This paper explores the tensions that surfaced as a teacher of physical education (PE) shifted his ‘stories to live by’ [Clandinin, D. J., & Connelly, F. M. (1999). Storying and restorying ourselves: Narrative and reflection. In A. Y. Chen & J. Van Maanen (Eds.), The reflective spin: Case studies of teachers in higher education transforming action (pp. 15–23). Singapore: World Scientific] around PE. The tensions became explicit when his shifting ‘stories to live by’ bumped against dominant narratives of PE that shaped his professional knowledge landscape. Our inquiry is framed by Dewey's pragmatic ontology [(1938). Experience and education. New York, NY: Collier Books] and Clandinin and Connelly's [(1995). Teachers’ professional knowledge landscapes. New York, NY: Teachers College Press] narrative conception of experience as the living and telling, re-telling and re-living, of stories of experience. We also draw on Connelly and Clandinin's [(1999). Storied identities: Storied landscapes. New York, NY: Teachers College Press] narrative conception of identity as ‘stories to live by’ which is an embodied, fluid and context-dependent view of identity as situated at the interface between personal practical knowledge and professional knowledge landscapes. We begin with situating this work within the broader spectrum of narrative research. We then describe the relational processes of re-telling the stories through narrative inquiry and finally explore the re-living of these stories in order to show the tensions that surfaced as Ashley's ‘stories to live by’ shifted. We engage in the narrative inquiry process of re-telling using the three-dimensional narrative inquiry space (with dimensions of place, sociality, temporality), to show tensions and shifting identities. We conceptualize these tensions as moments of autobiographical revisions [Carr, D. (1986). Time narrative and history. Bloomington: Indiana University Press]. These revisions are seen as a part of a person's struggle for narrative coherence; a struggle to compose a life in the professional knowledge landscape that is meaningful to each individual. In these moments of autobiographical revision we show the reflexive relationship between living, telling, re-telling and re-living of stories. We end by considering what we have learned about our own stories to live by through this process and theoretically and practically suggest ways other teacher educators and physical educators might benefit from engaging in narrative inquiry work.

The (Expanded)Social ScientistOs Bestiary addresses a number of important theoretical and philosophical issues in the social sciences from the perspective of contemporary philosophy of science. The book discusses and critiques the various arguments that purport to establish that it is a mistake to believe that a naturalistic social science- i.e. social science that in some way resembles the natural sciences- can be produced. It is intended to guide social scientists-researchers, teachers, and students-so that they will not fall victim to the beasts they will encounter in the course of their inquiries. Such beasts include holism, post-positivistic work in the philosophy of science, Kuhnian relativism, the denial of objectivity and value neutrality, hermeneutics and several others, both good and bad. This expanded and revised edition contains four new chapters tackling such contemporary beasts as Popperian rules, narrative research, and various forms of constructivism. The chapters presented in this volume are, as far as possible, self-contained so that each chapter can be consulted without the necessity of having read the others, thus making this volume an invaluable guide for faculty members and graduate students in the whole of the social sciences and related applied fields.

Editors’ Note James M. DuBois and Ana S. Ilitis This issue of Narrative Inquiry in Bioethics engages a series of compelling questions through a narrative symposium, a case study, and two qualitative research articles. How does one’s own experience of illness affect the way one thinks about bedside ethics or the way one performs ethics consultations? The narrative symposium edited by Tod Chambers, “Taking Bioethics Personally,” presents a collection of stories by bioethicists about their personal experiences of illness and how these experiences affected how they practice bioethics. This symposium asks clinical bioethicists, who are accustomed to facilitating ethical discussions at the bedside of strangers, to examine how their own experience of illness and of the healthcare system changed the way they think about healthcare and healthcare ethics. In his commentary article, Bradley Lewis observes how the stories quickly broke down “the binary of personal and professional” and led him reflect on how he will deal with his own impairments and eventual demise. Again, we see the power of narrative approaches in bioethics to foster deep reflection and even wisdom as abstract questions in bioethics are transformed into existential questions. Should a healthcare provider honor parental requests to refrain from telling an intelligent adolescent her diagnosis and terminal prognosis? Erica Salter engages this question as she relates her experiences as a clinical ethicist serving a family in a situation that is so difficult that one feels empathy for everyone involved. The case raises a series of difficult legal and ethical questions about the rights of terminally ill minors and of the parents who care for them, as well as the responsibilities of pediatric healthcare workers who may have very strong convictions that conflict with those of parents. What can research regulators learn from qualitative studies on how institutional review board members and research participants make decisions regarding the risks and benefits of participating in a study? The article by Ann Freeman Cook, Helena Hoas, and Jane Clare Joyner shares data from two studies recently completed by their team and draws conclusions that may inform current debates about possible revisions to federal research regulations. Do patients reliably know why their physicians admitted them to the hospital? Zackary Berger, Anne Dembitzer, and Mary Catherine Beach interviewed patients and compared their understanding of why they were admitted to information found in their medical charts. Nearly half of all patients interviewed did not express a proper understanding of the reasons for their admission, which raises a whole series of new questions about effective communication and the quality of informed consent for a treatment option that is frequently expensive and burdensome. News about Narrative Inquiry in Bioethics We recently received news that Narrative Inquiry in Bioethics received Honorable Mention in the 2012 PROSE Award’s category of Best New Journal in Science, Technology, and Medicine. We thank the Johns Hopkins University Press, our Editorial Board, our sponsors, our peer reviewers, and all of our authors for making this possible. [End Page v] We are also pleased to announce that we received a gift from the BF Charitable Foundation to support operations and promote subscriptions. We thank the Foundation for its generous support. As a first step in our promotional campaign, we are working with the Johns Hopkins University Press to develop a new website for Narrative Inquiry in Bioethics. This new website will provide an attractive and user-friendly platform for those who wish to access the journal online, learn about current calls for stories, identify creative uses for our published materials (in the classroom, in research, and in policy work), or find our guidelines for authors. The promotion campaign is inspired by the conviction that—even as libraries tighten their budgets and focus on electronic journal packages—it is possible to build a loyal readership, a group of individual subscribers who await the next issue. Watch for an exciting pricing experiment by the Johns Hopkins University Press targeting individual readers! [End Page vi] Copyright © 2013 The Johns Hopkins University Press

The aim of this paper is to present and discuss three popular narrative research approaches which have been successfully used by the authors in nursing research. Examples of each approach are offered to illustrate potential application in healthcare contexts. The creation, function and interpretation of narratives are of increasing interest to nurse researchers worldwide. Currently a variety of narrative research approaches are used to explore how people make sense of experience. While this diversity adds to the richness and scope of the methodology, practitioners new to narrative research may struggle in determining which approach best suits their research purposes and contexts. This discussion paper presents the philosophical basis, methodology, strengths and challenges of the following three commonly used narrative approaches: Murray's Narrative Framework, the Biographical Narrative Interpretive Method and Arts-Based Narrative Methods. Data sources dating from 1934-2014 were used. These included seminal texts and articles from nursing and social science journals on narrative and narrative research found in the CINAHL, Medline and PsycInfo databases. This discussion offers clarity and guidance to nurse researchers who are considering/ using narrative research methods to enquire into the storied nature of human experience and sense making processes. Employing a specific narrative research approach requires close attention to the 'fit' of the research question/context with the particular method under consideration. While sharing some narrative commonalities, each of these three methods enables the emergence of unique analytic and interpretive perspectives about stories relevant to nursing practice.

Personal narrative is at the heart of how human beings share information, represent identity, and convey ideas. Narrative research is a form of qualitative analysis that assists researchers in gaining insight into the lived experiences of the persons they are studying within their unique life circumstances and contexts. Although many narrative investigations report themes from study data, there is no single, well-defined approach to data analysis in narrative research. In this article, we provide a method for analyzing the data beyond the spoken words by applying Riessman’s thematic, structural, and performance analysis. We describe how applying multiple methods of systematic evaluation to narrative data leads to a deeper and more valid insight into the told stories. The data analysis process outlined in this article contributes to the academic discourse and knowledge supporting the use of multiple methods of systematic evaluation to uncover deeper meaning and thus leading to greater validity of the findings from narrative data.

There is a need to move from a policy curricular perspective to a pragmatic orientation of the curriculum so that issues of teaching and learning may sharpen into focus in relation to learning interactions between teachers and students. An experiential perspective on the curriculum through narrative inquiry would contribute significantly to the existing literature. Further work highlighting students’ and teachers’ lives serves to underscore natural overlaps between cross-cultural and multicultural vantages on research in education. Narrative inquiry work in the areas of multicultural curriculum and cross-cultural curriculum are seminal for supporting a vision emphasizing experience. Data drawn from experiential research that combines multicultural curriculum and cross-cultural curriculum may inform policy and practice from a contextualized vantage. Narrative inquiries that adopt multicultural and cross-cultural lenses represent tremendous potential for extending educator professional development and enhancing understanding of students’ school experiences.

Qualitative Research Methods in Education and Educational Technology was written for students and scholars interested in exploring the many qualitative methods developed over the last 50 years in the social sciences. The book does not stop, however, at the boundaries of the social sciences. Social scientists now consume and use research methods from many fields. The rich resources of research methods and theories from both the humanities and philosophy are also covered in this book. It explains why postpositivist quantitative research should not be "the only game in town" and provides solid theoretical foundations, beginning with the positions of Plato and Aristotle, for broadening our horizons about what warrants our attention. Using Aristotle's concept of phronesis the author shows why methods such as narrative research and storytelling, hermeneutic inquiry, literary theory, philosophical inquiry, and much more have important applications in education and educational technology. On those foundations, the author also builds a framework for doing many types of research ȓ from participatory action research to content analysis, to postmodern case studies, to empowerment research and philosophical inquiry. He accomplishes this through a combination of original text, summaries of exemplary research in education and educational technology, and suggested readings that are annotated and introduced at the end of each chapter. Many of these readings are available online and they extend the discussion of research methods or serve as exemplars of a particular type of educational technology research. There are open ended and conceptual questions for each reading, and developing your own answers to them is one way you can extend your depth of understanding about qualitative research methods in education and educational technology.

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.

Julian Rappaport argues that our role as social scientists is to use our tools to assist others in their efforts to “turn tales of terror to tales of joy.” He suggests that the application of a narrative approach to research is consistent with this goal, because it spans levels of analysis and has the capacity to promote both personal and social change. Narrative research allows us to explore individuals' own stories about their lives and contributes to description and analysis of the settings and cultural narratives that assist individuals in making meaning of their experiences. This chapter draws on work from a long-term collaboration with Schizophrenics Anonymous (SA), a mutual-help organization for individuals experiencing a schizophrenia-related illness, as an example of how a narrative approach can help us to understand and facilitate the experience of recovery from serious mental illness.