From the personal subjective life-story emerges meaning—an expression of self understanding; which is a reach source of data for the qualitative researcher, whose goal is to make meaning from the narrative. Robert Atkinson's The Life Story Interview addresses:
- Introductory remarks about all humans having stories; the importance of suspending all judgement as researcher; and the unique standards of validity and reliability— internal consistency, corroboration and persuasion.
- Important pre-interview preparation issues, such as deciding who to interview; approaching the story-teller; making an appointment/s—depending the breath of the life-story; functioning audio-recording equipment; and an appropriate space within to interview.
- About the life-story interview itself: start by recapping the purpose and obtaining informed consent; let the interviewee start where s/he prefers, listen attentively and ask open ended questions for clarification; the interviewer merely guides the reflective-journey; anticipate emotions; respect boundaries; show gratitude for sharing; explain what will follow after the interview; and mark the recording clearly.
- Transcribing is about transforming the recorded telling into a readable narrative; re-listen and do a quality self-check, where after the storyteller must edit the text.
- The interpretation is about making/finding meaning, however, suspend any theoretical assumptions.
- In conclusion and for publication purposes the researcher reverse the process: undertake a literature review and syntheses; substantiate the research design; present the results—the meaning derived from the story/ies; explain the findings; draw conclusions and make recommendations about further research; and add the references.
A four-dimensional narrative analysis model, consisting of holistic versus categorical approaches and content versus from, intersect to form a matrix of four cells, rendering four modes of interpretation.
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