Biographical Research Methods

Biographical data provide unique insights into social life, but they also pose some significant challenges for social science researchers. This book offers a systematic, flexible guide to using biographical narrative methods in your research project.

Drawing upon the authors' own research, as well as case studies from a range of international contexts and disciplines, the book illustrates how biographical approaches can be tailored to different research questions and environments.

This book will help you to:
· Navigate any complexities or missteps when undertaking real-world research
· Apply your analytical and research tools to your research question
· Choose the right research design for your project, whether single or mixed methods
· Ground your understanding within diverse real-world research examples.

Clear, adaptable, and applied, this is your definitive guide to working with biographical methods.

Auteur

Marta J. Eichsteller is Assistant Professor of Sociology at University College Dublin. Her research and writing projects focus on the qualitative and cross-generational aspects of social inequalities from local, national and global perspectives. She has worked on projects on local civil society participation in Poland and the UK, European identifications, and sustained escapes from poverty in the context of international development across Africa and South East Asia. She is particularly interested in biographical aspects of social change and their implications for social inquiry.

Contenu

Chapter 1 Discovering biographical narrative research
Chapter 2 Theoretical approaches to biographical narratives
Chapter 3 Interview process and ethics
Chapter 4 Autobiographical Narrative Interview Method
Chapter 5 Narrative ethnography
Chapter 6 - Logical systems, qualitative comparative analysis, and quantitative coding
Chapter 7 Designing a project using biographical methods
Chapter 8 Mixed qualitative methods
Chapter 9 Mixed quantitative and qualitative methods
Chapter 10 Challenges ahead for biographical research