What is Narrative Research?

'Narrative research' has become a catchword in the social sciences today, promising new fields of inquiry and creative solutions to persistent problems. This book will bring together ideas about narrative from a variety of contexts across the social sciences and synthesize understandings of the field. Rather than focusing on theory, the book will examine how narrative research is conducted and applied. It will operate as an introductory guide, simple enough for the beginner, but also as a window onto the more complex questions and difficulties that all researchers in this area face. It will guide readers through current debates not just about how to obtain and analyse narrative data, but about the nature of narrative, place of the researcher, the limits of researcher interpretations, and the significance of narrative work in applied and in broader political contexts.

Molly Andrews, Mark Davis, Cigdem Esin, Barbara Harrison, Lars-Christer Hyden, Margareta Hyden and Corinne Squire are all based at the Centre for Narrative Research, University of East London, UK. The Centre for Narrative Research (CNR) is the leading international centre for narrative work in the social sciences. CNR aims to generate and develop innovative narrative research of all kinds, and to bring narrative researchers from all over the world into productive dialogue.

What is Narrative Research? An Introduction to Some Key Ideas
The Development of Narrative Research
Narrative in Social Science Research
The Uses of Narrative Research
Challenges in Narrative Research
Criticisms of Narrative Research and Responses to Them
Summary
Short Annotated Bibliography of Key References for Further Reading
Links to Powerpoint Slides on NCRM Website and to other Relevant Resources