Counseling Research by Carl J. Sheperis & J. Scott Young & M. Harry Daniels

Author:Carl J. Sheperis & J. Scott Young & M. Harry Daniels
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Pearson
Published: 2010-06-07T16:00:00+00:00

Telling About Experience

Language is often viewed as “a transparent medium, unambiguously reflecting stable singular meanings” (Riessman, 1993, p. 4). Most narrative researchers believe that language not only describes reality but also creates it, so research participants are often creating their identities as they tell stories about their lives (Riessman). Research participants’ stories (i.e., personal narratives) are “constructed, creatively authored, rhetorical, replete with assumptions, and interpretive” (Riessman, p. 5). Narrative researchers need to explicitly acknowledge their own roles in constructing these stories. The researcher should not only listen to the stories constructed by the respondent but should also actually participate in the conversation.

The relationship between the researcher and the informant will heavily influence how their narrative is jointly constructed during the telling phase. In every research study the informant is participating at the request of the inquirer, and in most cases the researcher is in a position of greater authority than the informant. In such cases, the tension created by unequal power must be mediated. Especially in cases where the researcher and the informant are of different genders or different cultural, economic, or linguistic backgrounds, there may be discrepancies between the words a respondent speaks and the emotion behind those words. In such cases, researchers should explicitly question participants in order to clarify their meanings and the emotions attached to their words—particularly when participants appear to be struggling with their responses. When a storyteller entrusts his or her story to a researcher, the researcher has a responsibility to accurately convey the story and to preserve the dignity of the storyteller.

Narrative research involves close collaboration between researchers and participants. Continual negotiation is usually required throughout a study as the relationship between researcher and informant evolves. As narrative inquirers, you should actively involve participants in every phase of the inquiry process; such involvement by respondents might include helping to shape the questions asked, searching for data to support stories, working with you to analyze information, and interpreting their own narratives (Clandinin & Connelly, 2000).

In other types of qualitative research, the task of interpretation typically falls to the researcher (Chase, 1995). However, meaning-making in narrative inquiry requires a shift in focus. Stories in narrative research are constructed, analyzed, interpreted, and reported. Narrative researchers and participants are often profoundly affected by the experience of participating in a study, and the relationships fostered by narrative research can make both researchers and informants vulnerable. The very personal sharing demanded by narrative inquiry, however, also makes engagement in the research process satisfying for inquirers and participants alike.

CREATING FIELD TEXTS In narrative research, the primary method through which participants communicate their lived experience is oral storytelling. However, narrative researchers may both examine and create a number of types of texts (or data), such as journal entries, field notes, and photographs, during a study. Field texts may take many forms; Clandinin and Connelly (2000) provided a thorough overview of these:

• Oral histories.

• Research interviews.

• Conversations.

• Family stories.

• Annals and chronicles.

• Autobiographical writing.

• Journals.

• Diaries.

• Letters.

• Field notes.

• Photographs.

• Memory boxes.

• Personal and family artifacts.

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