Narrative Research Method

[Page 1123]Narrative research is a particular form of qualitative research that has become increasingly popular since the 1980s. The field is wide-ranging and perhaps more properly described as an approach rather than a prescribed set of methods, but all narrative research is characterised by an interest in the stories that people tell about their life experiences. The strength of the method is that it utilises the ubiquitous everyday practice of storytelling. All people tell stories; children start telling stories about their experiences almost as soon as they begin to talk, and people continue to narrate their lives through adulthood and into old age. Narrative research is therefore a highly appropriate method for investigating childhood both through the stories of children and families in contemporary life ...