Researching experience: narrative as a methodology in social Science research

1. Dr. Simone McCaughren University College Cork 21st June 2011 Researching experience:narrative as a methodology in social Science research

2. Outline of presentation • Background to the research • Research design • Narrative: a conceptual framework • Methodology of narrative • Challenges of method • Conclusion/questions/discussion

3. Background to the research • Researcher’s biography • Practice & academia – straddling two worlds – practitioner or researcher? • Rationale for undertaking the research • Designing the research in light of the above

4. Research design • Narrative methodology • Interviews carried out over a period of 1.5 years • More than 30 adoptive parents – joint interviews • Sampling strategy included criterion & snowball sampling • 7 adoption agencies nationwide

5. What is meant by narrative? “Narratives (stories) in the human sciences should be defined provisionally as discourses with a clear sequential order that connect events in a meaningful way for a definite audience and thus offer insights about the world and/or people’s experiences of it” Hinchman & Hinchman (1997)

6. Narrative: A conceptual framework • Narratives & adoption discourse • Grand narratives – Church & State • Narrative of romanticism • Power of narrative/people telling stories • Contemporary adoption discourse

7. Methodology of narrative – why? • Represents a move away from the more traditional qualitative research methods • Adoption’s history is all about unheard voices • Stories are an integral part of adoption discourse • People tell stories all the time • Stories provide coherence and continuity to one’s experience and have a central role in our communication with others • Personal narratives, are people’s identity • Fit with post-modern paradigm

8. The narrative interview • Different approaches to narrative interviews • The narrative interview (Schutze 1977; Riemann and Schutze, 1987)* - summarised by Flick, 1998 • Biographical Narrative Interpretive Method (BNIM) Chamberlayne et al, 2000; Wengraf 2001

9. The narrative interview contd. • 1. Initiation - GNQ • 2. Main narration • 3. Questioning phase • 4. Concluding talk Table from Bauer & Gaskell (2000) ‘Basic phases of the narrative interview’

10. Challenges • Systematic violation of the role expectations of both participants • Narrative research is usually carried out with small sample size but the quantity of data gathered is large • No two interviews are alike - extremely rich data • Skills & integrity of the researcher

11. Conclusion • A challenging approach that needs to be developed and refined • A new skill • Training for BNIM • Pilot the research method • Very rich material - analysis • Participants offered their insights into the lived experience of O.A. • Would I have approach research in a different way? .....where do I start??!! • Any questions?

12. Thank you! • Email: s.mccaughren@ucc.ie