Co-Constructed Narrative

Co-constructed narratives are stories jointly constructed by relational partners about epiphanies in their lives. This approach offers a way for participants to actively construct a version of a relational event that provides insight, understanding, and an in-depth and complex reflection on what occurred. As such, this mode of doing research provides an alternative to traditional interviewing, especially when the topic under consideration is emotionally charged, personal, and sensitive. This entry discusses the goals, concerns, and practices associated with this research approach and the narratives that result.

Co-constructed narratives show dyads engaged in the specific, concrete, and unique details of daily living. They show couples coping and trying to make sense of the untidy ambiguities, ambivalences, and contradictions of relationship life and their local situations. This type of research focuses on the interactional sequences by which interpretations of lived experiences are constructed, coordinated, and solidified into stories. Thus, the local narratives that are jointly produced display couples in the process of “doing” their relationships as they try to turn fragmented, vague, or disjointed events into intelligible coherent accounts.

Co-constructed narratives may be “mediated,” meaning that a researcher may monitor the conversation of two relational partners, or “unmediated,” meaning that a researcher may study his or her own relationship with a partner or two researchers might study their relationship with each other. Mediated co-constructed narrative research is similar to conjoint marital therapy, where couples participate together in therapy after providing their different perspectives on the same events. In mediated co-constructed narratives, a researcher serves as coordinator and moderator as a couple engages in a joint construction of an epiphany in the two members' relationship. The researcher asks them to reflect on the event and to write, talk into a tape recorder, or be interviewed separately about the experiences. Then, in the presence of the investigator, the participants hold a discussion about the event. Sometimes the participants are asked to exchange transcripts or stories written independently and to read each other's constructions before the discussion, although this might not always be feasible. Nevertheless, the goal is to produce or co-construct a version of the event that takes into account each individual's perspective.

The investigator stays in the role of researcher as she or he takes notes on (and/or records) the interaction. The researcher then writes the participants' story from the materials they provide as well as from her or his own observations of and participation in their co-construction. While writing their story, the researcher reflects on how she or he views the participants and analyzes their conversational style and their negotiation of the co-construction of their separate stories. The researcher might describe events leading up to the interview, the physical and emotional environment of the interview, and the researcher's role in the interview (e.g., what she or he asked the participants, how she or he responded to them, and how she or he possibly influenced the conversation). The account of the interview process becomes part of the story told. The researcher also might include her or his views on and experiences with the topic at hand and a discussion of how her or his perceptions and feelings have developed and changed as a result of observation of and interaction with the participants. Including the researcher's experience helps readers to understand more about the researcher's interest in the topic and provides background for how she or he interprets what is happening. Although the researcher becomes a character in the story, her or his identity remains that of researcher. The focus stays on the experience of the other research participants rather than on the interviewer.

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