What Is Narrative Research?
A literary form of qualitative research, narrative research is all about collecting and telling a story or stories (in detail). Researchers write narratives about experiences of individuals, describe a life experience, and discuss the meaning of the experience with the individual. Usually, a narrative research design is focused on studying an individual person. The researcher becomes the interpreter of the individual's stories, as opposed to a community.
When Does A Researcher Use Narrative Design?
When someone is willing to tell their story, it follows a chronology, and the researcher wants to write it. The writer can write in a persuasive, literary form while presenting a qualitative approach. The researcher seeks out information through interviews, family stories, journals, field notes, letters, autobiography, conversations, photos and other artifacts.
How Did Narrative Design Develop?
It is still developing. Writers from numerous fields of social science studies claim it, including education. Several trends have influenced its development within the field of education. In 1990, educators D. Jean Clandini and Michael Connelly provided the first overview for the field of education. Three factors that influenced development were suggested by Cortazzi (1993): 1) an increased emphasis on teacher reflection; 2) more emphasis placed on teachers’ knowledge; and 3) educators seeking to bring teachers’ voices to the forefront by empowering teachers to talk about their experiences (Creswell, 2012, p. 503).
Why Use Narrative Research?Storyteller and entrepreneur Michael Margolis shares what it means to think in narrative. He notes recent brain research that has identified a gene unique to humans that allows us to tell stories from person to person and generation to generation. Arts, business, and education are all rooted in storytelling. Margolis notes anthropology research that over 70% of what we learn is via story. Narrative thinking provides the storytelling vocabulary which allows us to make sense and meaning of the world around us.
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