Narrative Inquiry (Journal)

Narrative Inquiry (NI) began publication in 1991 and was originally known as Journal of Narrative and Life History (JNLH). The working definition of narratives is that they usually concern real or pretend memories, often largely in the past tense, though there are narratives given in the future or historical present tense. Narratives often contain a chronological sequence of events, but not always. Narratives are often spoken, but there are musical, pictorial, dramatic, and other performed narratives. At present, some focus on the analysis of narrative; others, on its use. All studies of narrative require interpretation—hermeneutic scholarship, necessitating the use of qualitative methods.

As of mid-2006, NI published 394 contributions, including 247 reports of original research, 120 responses to original research, 22 book reviews, and 5 editorials. Of the reports of original research, 76% used exclusively qualitative methods and 24% used a mixture of qualitative and quantitative methods. No articles were exclusively quantitative. Of the articles that used a mixture of qualitative and quantitative methods, over 80% dealt with developmental psychology and education, especially language acquisition involving children exclusively or children speaking with adults (e.g., parents, teachers, or policemen). Although there is no reason that qualitative methods cannot be used in conjunction with quantitative methods, the nature of narrative inquiry about individuals past adolescence does not seem to lend itself to the grouping variables essential for quantitative analysis.

The qualitative methods used in NI articles come from diverse academic traditions, including psychology, linguistics, education, English, language studies, sociology, anthropology, medicine, nursing, health studies, history, communication studies and disorders, journalism, geriatrics, and political science. The JNLH was conceived of as an interdisciplinary publishing venue. What is astonishing is that after over 15 years practitioners of such diverse disciplines still find common ground in the study of narrative.

Narratives from individuals of many cultures and walks of life are published in NI. Though most are from North Americans and/or from Europeans, South Americans, Asians, Africans, mid-Easterners, and others are also common. All socioeconomic groups are represented, though special attention is given to marginalized individuals—including Holocaust survivors, prostitutes, beggars, illegal immigrants, and mental patients. Qualitative methods are especially adept at facilitating one's understanding of individuals very different from oneself.

From the outset, NI published responses to others' scholarship, and such responses constitute 30% of [Page 545]what is published. In this way, too, the scholarship of NI recruits qualitative methods for close listening and careful reading of others.