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 pres ... More

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.