How is Narrative Research Collected?

Researches gather qualitative stories through interviews and conversations with an individual.
These stories can also be collected in the form of journals, pictures, autobiographies, and biographies.

Steps to Performing Narrative Research

Identify a phenomenon that addresses an educational problem or concern
Select an individual(s) to be the storyteller (Sampling)
Collect the story from the individual(s)
Retell the story while collaborating with the storyteller
Using qualitative methods separate the data from the story into themes to add depth and insight (data analysis i.e. coding)
Rewrite the story about the experience
Validate the accuracy of the story by corroborating with other evidence and similar research.

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Examples of Narrative Research:

Interviewing a cancer patient who has stopped treatment to better understand how they have come to that decision.
Looking at photographs with a residential school survivor to understand the intergenerational trauma they and their family have experienced.
Interviewing a teacher at the end of a school year to understand what teaching methods they felt worked well for the class and which ones did not.

4. Between 1976 and 1979 John Douglas and Robert Ressler of the FBI used narrative research to interview multiple serial killers to develop a system of organizing and identifying multiple types of offenders. It was also used to gain clarity on what these individuals thought, felt and motivated them to commit their crimes (Winerman, 2004).

This can be seen in action with the Netflix series Mindhunters which is largely based on Ressler and Douglas's research beginnings.

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Links to literature using narrative design:

Ubaque, D. F. (2017). Teacher research: Uncovering professional identities and trajectories of teacher researchers through narrative research- A Columbian case. International Education Studies, 10(3), 35-45. Retrieved from http://www.ccsenet.org/journal/index.php/ies/article/view/62919
Guetterman, C. T. (2015). Descriptions of sampling practices within five approaches to qualitative research in education and the health sciences. Forum: Qualitative Social Research, 16(2). Retrieved from http://www.qualitative-research.net/index.php/fqs/article/view/2290/3825

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