Narrative (Stories) as Data, Method, and Product of Inquiry
Affiliation
University of South Florida
Department or Program
Department of Communication
Start Date
15-4-2017 10:20 AM
End Date
15-4-2002 10:50 AM
Presentation Keywords/Areas
Researcher as Writer (Auto-Ethnography, Narrative Inquiry, etc).
Additional Presentation Keywords/Areas
Arts-Based Methodologies
Additional Presentation Keywords/Areas
Emerging trends in Qualitative Research
Abstract
For my PhD dissertation project, I facilitate Journaling and Storytelling groups at The Salvation Army’s residential rehabilitation facility for men who are (1) addicted to drugs or alcohol, (2) face homelessness, (3) may have criminal records, and (4) have alienated most of their social support. I created a 12-week curriculum which encourages the participants to share stories about their emotions, experiences, and turning point moments in a supportive, nonjudgmental, safe environment. The goal of my work is to examine the impact of purposeful journaling and storytelling on their current lives and coping skills.
I elicit stories through weekly prompts like regret or hope, by sharing my own stories, and asking them to tell stories out loud in the presence of each other. I am permitted to audio record all sessions which I transcribe in an effort to analyze the ways the men tell stories, change stories when they are presented with new ways of looking at their lives and addiction, and co-create new sober stories together. I will also use narrative to thread my personal stories into and throughout theirs, to show how I am impacted by our time together, and to demonstrate new understandings of identity, relationships, trauma, addiction, and coping. Narrative offers opportunities to learn, understand, and create new ways of knowing. Narrative is not only an object to be analyzed, or a way to analyze, but can also be the product of the analysis (Bochner & Riggs, 2014).
Narrative (Stories) as Data, Method, and Product of Inquiry
For my PhD dissertation project, I facilitate Journaling and Storytelling groups at The Salvation Army’s residential rehabilitation facility for men who are (1) addicted to drugs or alcohol, (2) face homelessness, (3) may have criminal records, and (4) have alienated most of their social support. I created a 12-week curriculum which encourages the participants to share stories about their emotions, experiences, and turning point moments in a supportive, nonjudgmental, safe environment. The goal of my work is to examine the impact of purposeful journaling and storytelling on their current lives and coping skills.
I elicit stories through weekly prompts like regret or hope, by sharing my own stories, and asking them to tell stories out loud in the presence of each other. I am permitted to audio record all sessions which I transcribe in an effort to analyze the ways the men tell stories, change stories when they are presented with new ways of looking at their lives and addiction, and co-create new sober stories together. I will also use narrative to thread my personal stories into and throughout theirs, to show how I am impacted by our time together, and to demonstrate new understandings of identity, relationships, trauma, addiction, and coping. Narrative offers opportunities to learn, understand, and create new ways of knowing. Narrative is not only an object to be analyzed, or a way to analyze, but can also be the product of the analysis (Bochner & Riggs, 2014).
Presentation Type and Comments
a) 20-minute paper presentation