Narrative inquiry refers to a subset of qualitative research design in which stories are used to describe human action. This book contains current ideas in this emerging field of research. Chapters include a qualitative analysis of narrative data; criteria for evaluating narrative inquiry, linking emotion and reason through narrative voice, audience and the politics of narrative; trust in educational storytelling; narrative strategies for case reports; life history narratives and women's gender identity; and issues in life history and narrative inquiry. This text is intended to be of interest to all qualitative researchers and education researchers studying forms of narrative.

Table of Contents

Narrative configuration in qualitative analysis, Donald E. Polkinghorne; Fidelity as a Criterion for practising and evaluating narrative inquiry, Donald Blumenfeld-Jones; Distancing passion: narratives in social science, Catherine Emihovich; Audience and the politics of narrative, Jan Nespor and Liz Barber; Persuasive writings, vigilant readings, and reconstructed characters: the paradox of trust in educational storysharing, Thomas Barone; Narrative strategies for case reports, Nancy Zeller; The story so far: personal knowledge and the political, Ivor F. Goodson.