Examining Project History Narratives: An Analytic Approach

Abstract

Scientific interest in human beings’ ability and propensity to construe reality through narrative constructions has increased since the 1970s. Although narrative processes have been addressed in the organizational literature, little research attention has yet been given to the role and function of narratives in organizational efforts to develop, implement, and apply information technology. An analytic approach drawn from Mishler (1986b) for the analysis of project history narratives found in research interviews is described. Three project history narratives collected during a field study of systems development are analyzed using this approach. Differences in sensemaking and interpretation revealed in the analysis of each informant’s story and comparison of the analysis of multiple stories are discussed. Insights that narrative analysis may provide into the social cognitive worlds of participants in IS development and its applications in IS research are then considered.KeywordsProject ManagerInformation SystemInteraction ContextResearch InterviewNarrative AnalysisThese keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.