Citation:

Addison, Joanne. “Narrative as Method and Methodology in Socially Progressive Research.” Practicing Research in Writing Studies, ed. by Katrina M. Powell and Pamela Takayoshi, Hampton Press, 2012, pp. 372-383.

Summary:

In her study of narrative within the realm of research, Joanne Addison introduces the reader to a methodology that often draws criticism from the academic community: narrative inquiry. The definition of this form of data collection, and how we are to go about implementing it, is simple-narrative inquiry is the unification of composition to the understanding of human experience. It asks the researcher to treat “…the context in which any given phenomenon occurs as equal to the phenomenon itself at the point of evaluation” (378). In other words, personal knowledge and experience is valuable, and thus narrative becomes a powerful methodology through which we can share that knowledge.

Not only is narrative inquiry valuable simply because it insists upon the recognition of the person within data collection, but because it introduces a “socially progressive” way to collect knowledge and data. Within research, and within narrative, there are stories and voices that are deemed “unreliable,” or often go unheard because of the systems of inequity that act within the structures of academia. Within her own narrative, Addison quotes William Labov, a prominent sociolinguist, who stated that “the very concept of narrative demands that we recognize as an essential first step the decision to report an event, and the entailment that it is judged to be reportable” (375). While many within the field of academia have since come around to considering the value of the narrative within research, they have yet to inquire after the narrative itself, or investigate into what Labov means when he states “entailment.” Who is being permitted to speak, whose stories are being selected to be considered “academic” or of value?

Along with treating narrative inquiry as a case-by-case subject, and interpreting it through additional data sources, direct observation, interviews, etc., the researcher should also consider their own relationship to the narrative they are studying; “why are certain phenomena selected for research and not others, what aspects of the phenomena remain inaccessible via this method [of research].” Ultimately, Addison hopes that the use of responsible narrative inquiry will permit us to understand the frictions that exist between our stories, the conclusions we come to through our research, and allow us to learn from our narratives and the narratives of others.

Quotations:

“This links composition to the more fundamental task being pursued across the disciplines, namely, to evaluate and balance interpretive (natural or contextualized) approaches with critical and objectivist understandings of human life and experience.” (378)

“Scholarly personal narrative writing is the unabased, up-front admission that your ‘own life signifies.’” (379)

“I myself have always felt that theory can only be justified if it fits the facts, and that some facts—the ones that affect people’s life chances—are more important than others.” (376)

“In the end, the goal of narrative inquiry is to create friction. Friction is little more than the movement of one body in relation to another. We are all always in a state of friction as the worlds we project slide, scrape and bump alone each other. Perhaps what is socially progressive about narrative inquiry is not only that it results in friction but that it calls for us to stop and determine the degree and source of the friction. Importantly the goal is not to eliminate friction, but rather to find ways to harness the strength of friction to move us all forward.” (382)

Reflection:

I believe that narrative inquiry, a term I’ve never really heard before, is something that we’re (sort of) teaching within our English 101 courses. I see this especially within the process of my students’ research projects. One group has been studying the negative rhetorical impacts that Western is promulgating in regards to the usage of medicinal marijuana to treat chronic pain. They’ve received two very personal narratives of students who have prescriptions to simply be able to function in class, to study, and one very negative narrative condemning the usage of any sort of drug. At the moment, they’re still struggling to understand how these narratives relate to the narrative they’ve been following through their research-which is the point of this type of study. Why might certain people think differently, what voices are minimized when we only listen to one narrative over another, how do these narratives relate to quantitative research on this subject?

Throughout English 101, my students and I have been working to understand the value of narrative and literacy within the “academic” classroom. I think it has been the most valuable element of this course, from the literacy narrative, the author statement, to the Research Design Poster—we have asked our students to draw upon the issues, ideas, and experiences that make them who they are. And furthermore, we have asked students to engage with their own narratives and with the stories of others, showing them how they, as “self,” are significant.

Not only this, but I think that the critical analysis of narrative has permitted students to restructure and move forward past negative personal experiences that they may have had with academia and feel confident towards their looming years here at Western. I have just one student in my class who was previously in AP courses in high school, all others came into the course extremely apprehensive based upon their past experiences with “English classes.” Just as Addison mentions towards the conclusion of her article, how she believes narrative inquiry to be the bridge between lacking data and socially progressive research, I think my students were able to examine the “friction” that they feel with school and move, not past it, but hopefully through it. The curriculum that we have taught dwells within critical retrospection, thoughtful analysis, and most importantly, the individual and its abilities. To be able to acknowledge the personal within the academic and focus a course within that is a start to “harnessing the strength of friction to move us all forward,” to successful relationships between learning and self.