Narrative Methods for the Human Sciences

Book excerpt: The research literature on narrative has grown exponentially over the last 20 years. No longer the province only of literary study, the "narrative turn" has penetrated almost every human science: anthropology, sociology, psychology, history, and others. However, although insights about individual lives may be compelling, it does not mean that the "story" can "speak for itself" and still be a useful procedure. Is there a way that researchers can explain their analytic procedures or representational choices when they present a narrative study? Narrative Methods for the Human Sciences attempts to provide guidance on this situation. Aimed at providing the rigor needed to advance applied narrative analysis, Catherine Riessman provides an explanation and guideline to readers on: * Presentation of and reliance on detailed transcripts of interview excerpts * Methods for analyzing the structural features of discourse * Analysis of the co-production of narratives through the dialogic exchange between interviewer and participant. After completing this book, readers will be able to perform a narrative study that can be defended as a systematic form of inquiry and provide a criteria for validation of their narrative study.