Narration in social research

Abstract

Narratives are the oldest sources of empirical social research: early political science relied on traveller's impressions; the big social and political enquêtes of the 19th century were based on oral testimonies of the concerned. They were the bases of the great socio-psychological studies of the Thirties, like ‘Middletown’ or the monumental report ‘The Polish Peasant in Europe and America’. The 1970's brought a new upsurge in qualitative interviews, which was not only methodologically motivated but had also political objectives: those concerned should be allowed to speak for themselves. Adding to the attention to this interest in narratives was the increasing importance of ‘oral history’: the interest in everyday life. Besides, the autobiographical narrative brings ‘surprise information’ (Lazarsfeld (1975)) for the research; it reveals not only states but also processes, developments, connexions and ‘breaks’ as well as the reaction (interpretation) of the narrator. His/her emphasis accentuates the (autobiographical) narrative: success story or failure. The cited narratives are from research projects of the authors.