Narrative Research Simply put, narrative research con

Simply put, narrative research consists of studies in which the primary data source is some type of subject provided narrative; for example, as in a discourse between one or more people on a particular subject, or a conversational storytelling (Mishler, 1995). According to Mishler (1995), narrative studies are essentially of three types:

(1) those in which the research focus is upon the time between when the event occurred and the narrative in which it is discussed;

(2) those in which the focus is upon strategies used to tell the story and/or the textual and structural elements of the narrative; and

(3) those in which the function of the narrative is considered along with its contextual, cultural and political elements.

Regarding these three types, Mishler (1995) has suggested that more inclusive research strategies should combine these research types thereby furthering and strengthening developments in the field of narrative study.

However, another approach to more fully understanding the strengths and the weaknesses of narrative research might be to analyze diverse types of research using this methodology; and, in particular, to analyze narrative research done by those who are best known in the field for their work with respect to this methodology. The purpose of this paper is to present such an analysis.

Narrative Research: An Analysis of Methods and Findings

Booth and Booth (1996) have conducted many studies using narrative research;

nd the increasing youthfulness of the world population have produced major impacts on adolescent sexuality and have added to traditional problems of early marriage, newer problems of early pregnancy, childbirth, and induced abortion outside of marriage, sexually transmitted diseases, and human immunodeficiency virus infection. Research methods developed by the World Health Organization hold some promise in meeting the challenge of changing patterns of adolescent sexual behavior. A variety of such methods including the narrative research approach, the grid approach, the gatekeeper design, and the user/system interaction are discussed. Developent in a Norh Africn Tribe Towar a Psychology of Peripheral Social Orders Gregg, Gary S. Psychology Dept Sarah Lawrence Coll, Bronxville NY 10708 The Journal of Social Issues 1990, 46, 3, fall, 7191. CODEN: JSISAF PUB. YEAR: 1990 COUNTRY OF PUBLICATION: United States LANGUAGE: English DOCUMENT TYPE: Abstract of Journal Article (aja) SUBFILE: SOPODA The "psychology of modernization" is reconceptualized with respect to Third World societies, drawing on postcolonial research in North Africa and ethnographic and life-narrative research in the Moroccan pre-Sahara

Category: Psychology - N