Narrative Research Methods

• Bell, Anne (2003). A Narrative Approach to Research. Canadian Journal of Environmental Education.8(1), 95-110.

  • An interesting article for two reasons: her use of the first person to describe the research process, and her thoughtful definitions of key terms: narrative, storyline, metaphor. The study blended methods, using narrative as a “sensitizing concept.”

• Blumenfeld-Jones Donald. “Fidelity as a Criterion for Practicing and Evaluating Narrative Inquiry.” Life History and Narrative. Eds. J.A. Hatch and R. Wisniewski. London: Falmer, 1995.

• Borins, S. (2011). Governing Fables: Learning from public sector narratives. Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing.

  • A classmate of Larry’s at Harvard, Borins, per the flyleaf, “applies narratological theory to public management and politics.” Interesting approach.

• Braun, V. & Clarke, V. (2006). Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 3, 77-101.

  • A nice clear, step-by-step approach that many of my students have found helpful. They do a nice job distinguishing explicit and latent content.

• Carter, Duncan and Sherrie Gradin. Writing as Reflective Action.

• Clandinin, D.Jean and F. Michael Connelly. (2000). Narrative Inquiry: Experience and Story in Qualitative Research.

• Clandinin, D. Jean (Ed) (2006). Handbook of Narrative Inquiry: Mapping a methodology. Sage Publications.

• Cowling, W.R. (2008). An essay on women, despair, and healing: A personal narrative. Advances in Nursing Science, 31(3), p. 249-58.

• Czarniawska, Barbara (2004). Narratives in Social Science Research. Sage Publications.

  • The first chapter is available for free online. It provides an excellent brief history of narrative analysis and a useful typology of narrative research.

• Fraser, H. (2004). Doing Narrative Research: Analyzing personal stories line by line. Qualitative Social Work, 3, 179-201.

  • This one’s really good!

• Gubrium, J.F. & Holstein, J.A. (1998). Narrative Practice and the Coherence of Personal Stories. The Sociological Quarterly, 39(1), 163-187.

  • An excellent article that aims to provide “an analytic vocabulary for describing the practical production of coherence in personal stories.” It gives clear examples and an in-depth discussion of key concepts such as narrative ownership, footing, reflexivity, slippage, linkages, and coherence. A must-read for anyone beginning a narrative study.

• Herman, D. (Ed.) (2007). The Cambridge Companion to Narrative. New York: Cambridge University Press.

• Hermann, Marie-Luise (2007). Narrative gerontology: Survey of current literature and research. Psychotherapie und Sozialwissenschaft: Zeitschrift fur Qualitative Forschung. 9(1), 7-32.

• Hollway, W. & Jefferson, T. (2000). Doing qualitative research differently: Free association, narrative and the interview method. London: Sage.

  • Written by researchers from the UK, the book offers a distinct approach that takes into account (equally) the narratives of researcher and interviewee. They call for data analysis that doesn’t fragment the text but focuses on the whole, noting links and contradictions and privileging free association over coherence.

• Jones, K. (2008). Narrative Matters: The power of the personal essay in health policy. Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved, 19(3), p. 1011.

• Jones, R., Latham, J. & Betta, M. (2008). Narrative construction of the social entrepreneurial identity. International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behavior & Research, 14(5), p. 330.

• Josselson, R, Leibich, A.& McAdams, A. (2003). Up close and personal: The teaching and learning of narrative research. Available online.

• Josselson, R. & Liebich, A. (1995). Interpreting Experience: The narrative study of lives. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

• Laszlo, J. (2008). The Science of Stories: An introduction to narrative psychology. Longon: Routledge.

• Knudson, R.M., Adame, A.L., Finocan, G.M. (2006). Significant dreams: Repositioning the self narrative. Dreaming, 16(3), 215-222.

• McAdams, D.P., Josselson, R., & Lieblich, A. (eds.)(2006). Identity and Story: Creating self in narrative. APA Books.

  • Part of a series called “The Narrative Study of Lives.”

• Pagnucci, Gian. Living the Narrative Life: Stories as a Tool for Meaning Making.

• Pratt, M.W. Arnold, M.L., & Mackey, K. (2001). Adolescents’ representations of the parent voice in stories of personal turning points. In McAdams, D, Josselson, R., & Lieblich, A. Turns in the Road: Narrative studies of lives in transition. American Psychological Association.

  • Part of a series called “The Narrative Study of Lives.”

• Phoenix, C. & Sparkes, A.C. (2008). Athletic bodies and aging in context: The narrative construction of experienced and anticipated selves in time. Journal of Aging Studies. 22(3), p. 211.

• Randall, W.L. & McKim, E. (2008). Reading our Lives: The poetics of growing old. NY: Oxford University Press.

• Reissman, C. (2008). Narrative methods for the human sciences. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

• Reissman, C. & Quinney, L. (2005). Narrative in Social Work: A critical review. Qualitative Social Work, 4(4), 391-412.

  • This article outlines standards of “good” narrative research: preparation of detailed transcripts and analysis that addresses language, narrative form, and purpose. They offer three exemplars and speculate on why the “narrative turn” has resulted in relatively little social work research in the U.S. compared to the U.K. Very useful piece.

• Runyan, W.M. (1982). Life Histories and Psychobiography: Explorations in Theory and Method. New York: Oxford University Press.

  • A classic by my mentor in the study of individual lives.

• Rutten, K., Mottart, A., & Soetaert, R. (2010). Narrative and Rhetoric in Social Work Education. British Journal of Social Work, 40, 480-495.

  • They used Burke’s theory of dramatism to analyze fictional narratives with SW students. Very interesting!

• Swenson, C.R. (2012). Dare to Say “I”: The personal voice in professional writing. Families in Society, 93(3), 233-239. DOI: 10.1606/1044-3894.4213.

  • A terrific article that argues for letting ourselves be present in our scholarly writing.

• Wells, K. (2011). Narrative Inquiry (Pocket guides to social work research methods). New York: Oxford University Press.

  • An excellent resource for social workers!

• Wengraf, T. (not dated) Guide to The Biographic-Narrative Interpretive Method (BNIM).

  • He’s at London East Research Institute, University of East London, UK.

• Wenner, J.A., Burch, M.M., Lynch, J.S., & Bauer, P.J. (2008). Becoming a teller of tales: Associations between children, fictional narratives, and parent. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 101(1), p. 1.

• Westerhaus, M., Panjabi, R., & Mukherjee, J. (2008). Violence and the role of illness narratives. The Lancet. 372(9640), p. 699.

• Wiessman, C. (2007). Narrative Methods for the Human Sciences. Sage Publications.

  • An inexpensive paperback — chock-full of material. Excellent resource!