Narrative Inquiry

by Kathleen Wells

Overview

Narrative inquiry allows for a detailed examination of the structure and content of a story and its significance in relation to psychological, sociological, or historical frames of reference. Narrative methods are ideal for the study of intra- and inter-personal process. They are traditionally used to understand first-person accounts obtained in interviews, but unlike other forms of analysis, the storied nature of data is retained, allowing for qualitative analysis of personal experience in relation to time, social condition, and place.

This pocket guide presents a reader-friendly introduction to narrative inquiry. It focuses on one particular research design, the case study design, providing a broad framework in which narrative and other relevant data may be collected and the specific ways in which audio recordings of interviews may be transcribed. With dozens of transcript examples taken from research conducted around the English-speaking world, this guide reviews prevailing analytic frameworks for the analysis of transcribed interviews, which include analyses of narrative content, structure, and context. Two cutting-edge approaches, critical narrative analysis and contextual discursive analysis, are also examined for applicability in teasing out how interviewees come to give the narratives that they do-the psychological processes and representational forms that people draw on in telling the stories of their lives. Issues pertaining to validity, reflexivity, and ethics in relation to narrative inquiry are also delineated. Appendices contain a summary of narrative analytic methods and a detailed guide for developing a narrative research proposal. The over 250 references include core references in narrative inquiry that span a range of disciplines and offer a platform for further study of this unique and vital method.

Ideal for researchers and graduate students new to narrative study, this is a valuable guide to developing research projects that depend on narrative methods.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780195385793
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	01/07/2011
Series:	Pocket Guide to Social Work Research Methods
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	176
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.10(h) x 0.50(d)

About the Author

Kathleen Wells, Ph.D., is Emerita Professor at the Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences, Case Western Reserve University.

Table of Contents

1. An Introduction to Narrative Inquiry
2. One Design for Narrative Study
3. Framework for Collection of Narrative Data
4. Analysis of Narrative Content
5. Analysis of Narrative Structure
6. Application of Discursive Concepts to Analysis of Narratives
7. Analysis of Narrative in Context
8. Validation of Narrative Research
Appendix 1. Overview of Narrative Analytic Methods
Appendix 2. Guidelines for Narrative Research Proposals
Notes
References
Index

Editorial Reviews

Reviewer: Michael S. Goldsby, PhD, CCRP (Family Psychiatry of The Woodlands)
Description: The author does an extraordinary job in this book presenting the current understanding as well as a historic overview of the way in which the narrative process has found its way to the forefront of discussion, research, and practice for social work professionals. Narrative can be defined as a story of events, placed in sequential order, which conveys meaning to a particular audience. The author's premise is that language, or narrative, is central to the practice of social work. This book illuminates and examines the art of narrative inquiry in the context of improving the social worker's ability to enhance an individual's ability to function socially and psychologically.
Purpose: This is intended as an introduction to narrative study, as well as an orientation to its scope, themes, and analytic strategies. The book is designed to promote professional examination, inquiry, and study of language, and, in particular, the study of narratives in the context of information-gathering and relationship-building for the social work profession.
Audience: The audience is doctoral students and researchers within and outside schools of social work for whom narrative inquiry is new. Others, such as educators and practitioners who might be interested in the multidisciplinary enterprise of narrative inquiry as it applies to the social work profession would also be a target audience.
Features: Drawing on theoretical and methodological papers written over the past 30 years in the social sciences and the humanities — that is, the human sciences — this book provides an introduction to methods used to analyze narrative data. Eight chapters cover topics such as an analysis of narrative content; an overview of narrative analytic methods; a framework for collection of narrative data; and validation of narrative research. The author focuses on the case-study research design in order to illustrate how narrative and other relevant data may be collected.
Assessment: With its scholarly style, the book would be appropriate for graduate students and educators to use for reference purposes in the classroom and in research. Narrative inquiry has a lengthy history of interest, scholarly review, and practical implementation for social work settings as a way in which to gather data. The author provides students, scholars, and practitioners with a wealth of information on narrative inquiry which they can use for clinical practice, research, or scholarly review. I highly recommend this book as the go-to reference for anyone interested in this fascinating method of information-gathering.

Doody's Review Service

"The author provides students, scholars, and practitioners with a wealth of information on narrative inquiry which they can use for clinical practice, research, or scholarly review. I highly recommend this book as the go-to reference for anyone interested in this fascinating method of information-gathering." —Doody's

"Wells' task in Narrative Inquiry is quite simple: to suggest that narrative analysis is an important research method that is particularly appropriate for social workresearchers. Wells' talent here is that she makes a strong case for the rigor of narrative methods, not by entering larger epistemological debates, but by clearly elucidating distinct types of narrative analysis and how one might perform them. In this way, Wells shows us, rather than tells us, why narrative analysis should be a more prominent method utilized in the field...Wells' succinct overview of narrative methods explicitly considers what kind of research and questions might benefit from this approach." — Emily Adlin Bosk, University of Michigan, Qualitative Social Work

From the Publisher