Method Meets Art by Patricia Leavy, Chapter 2

Chapter Two of Leavy's book deals with narrative ways of learning, knowing and doing research. Narrative can be fiction, nonfiction, auto-biography (known in research circles as auto-ethnography), creative nonfiction, storytelling, oral (spoken) history and/or any combination of these forms. Chapter Two provides summaries of each, and a short example of the author's own experimental writing.

As Leavy points out at the start of the chapter, narrative ways of questioning and investigating the world have expanded the qualitative research paradigm in several ways. She groups these into four main themes: 1) the relationship between the researcher and the researched (generally, the space between "us" and "them" has almost disappeared), 2) the movement from numbers to words and data (data can mean images, sounds, recordings, performances, etc.) 3) the shift from the general to the particular (from the all-knowing "man of science" to the limited perspective of the qualitative researcher, who admits that she doesn't know everything and never will), and 4) the emergence of new epistemologies (new ways of knowing).

For this week, I'd like you to read the chapter and select a narrative form that interests you as a way of doing research (or asking questions about your world and developing new understandings). You may have already developed an idea of what you want to do for your thesis or dissertation. Select a narrative approach that fits what you want to do, or what you are already doing in your graduate program. For example, if your interests center on your own art-making process, then perhaps auto-ethnography (using "I" language) would be a productive way of investigating your work. Or, if your research involves making art with a group of people, you might want to develop ways of letting other people tell their stories through recorded oral histories, storytelling or interviews. If your research will be more historical and/or theoretical, you might try some creative (non)fiction (like Leavy's example on pp. 45-6) or something else entirely. It's up to you.

This week's topic will allow you to: 1) introduce the class to your personal research interests, 2) relate a form of narrative inquiry to your interests, and 3) explain how and why they go together. You may choose to make the third part of your response an example of narrative inquiry applied to your research topic. But that's only if you feel ready to jump right in. In a way, you will already be doing narrative inquiry by responding to this blog topic. You really can't go wrong.

A note on reading: if you don't know the meaning of a word or sentence, don't let it fry your brain. Let the meaning come to you through the process of reading, reflecting and writing. The most important ideas in the text will keep cycling back in different ways, and you will have many chances to "get it" in a way that makes sense to you.

Next week we'll start reading The Quilters: Women & Domestic Art. We'll jump to that book because it is a great example of narrative inquiry, especially oral history and auto-ethnography in research. You might find it helpful to look at it while you read Chapter 2 in Leavy's book.

Take care, good luck & contact me if you have questions!
carolyn