Narrative inquiry in psychology: exploring the tensions within

By Brett W. Smith, A. Sparkes. 2006

236 citations recorded by the source corpus.

In recent years, qualitative researchers in psychology have become increasingly interested in narrative inquiry. With a view to stimulating dialogue, in this article, we seek to make better sense of this field by exploring a range of theoretical tensions and differences embedded within it. Organized around three overall themes, eight contrasting perspectives are presented for discussion. Theme one, termed ‘narrative and the self’, is comprised of tensions surrounding: the relation between narrative and self; the unity of self; and the coherence of self. Theme two, ‘ontology or nature of narrative’, covers: (neo)realism/relativism; interiority or externality; and constructionism. The final theme, labelled ‘approaches to narrative research’, consists of tensions entailing: the whats and/or the hows, and an analysis of narrative and storytelling. We close by suggesting that each contrasting perspective is worthy of consideration in its own right and that co-existence is possible despite some differences.

Subfields: Clinical Psychology, Language and Linguistics, Sociology and Political Science

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/8e834524f62672774a1439ab32184fe9eec85eda

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Citations in the corpus

Narrative and its potential contribution to disability studies (2008, background): “It might, therefore, best be considered an umbrella term for a mosaic of research efforts, with varied principles, philosophical assumptions, theoretical musings, methods and/or empirical groundings all revolving around an interest in narrative as a distinctive form of discourse (Smith and Sparkes ”
Abandoning The Performance Narrative: Two Women's Stories of Transition from Professional Sport (2009, unknown): “Through this approach we explored themes that held across stories or delineated types of stories and, in Smith and Sparkes’ (2006) terms, assumed the role of story analyst to link the participants’ stories with relevant theoretical constructs.”
Autoethnography as a Method for Reflexive Research and Practice in Vocational Psychology (2008, methodology): “There are variations in narrative approaches to research in psychology (e.g., Hoshmand, 2005; Kirk man, 2002; Murray, 2003; Smith & Sparkes, 2006).”
Narrative inquiry: ongoing conversations and questions for sport and exercise psychology research (2010, background): “Not only is the field of narrative inquiry too complex in terms of the tensions that layer its landscape (see Smith & Sparkes, 2006, 2008a), but there are important historical differences, motivations, and principles that make it overly simplistic and erroneous to claim they are the one and the…”
‘We haven’t got a seat on the bus for you’ or ‘all the seats are mine’: narratives and career transition in professional golf (2009, background): “In Smith and Sparkes’ ( 2006 ) terms, we assumed the role of story analysts to link the participants’ stories with relevant theoretical constructs.”
The Social Context as a Determinant of Teacher Motivational Strategies in Physical Education (2009, background): “The role of these two colleagues was to act as “critical friends” and provide a theoretical sounding board to encourage reflection upon, and exploration of, alternative explanations and interpretations as they emerged in relation to the data (e.g., see Smith & Sparkes, 2006).”