Self-narrative reconstruction in emotion-focused therapy: A preliminary task analysis.

PubMed

Cunha, Carla; Mendes, Inês; Ribeiro, António P; Angus, Lynne; Greenberg, Leslie S; Gonçalves, Miguel M

2017-11-01

This research explored the consolidation phase of emotion-focused therapy (EFT) for depression and studies-through a task-analysis method-how client-therapist dyads evolved from the exploration of the problem to self-narrative reconstruction. Innovative moments (IMs) were used to situate the process of self-narrative reconstruction within sessions, particularly through reconceptualization and performing change IMs. We contrasted the observation of these occurrences with a rational model of self-narrative reconstruction, previously built. This study presents the rational model and the revised rational-empirical model of the self-narrative reconstruction task in three EFT dyads, suggesting nine steps necessary for task resolution: (1) Explicit recognition of differences in the present and steps in the path of change; (2) Development of a meta-perspective contrast between present self and past self; (3) Amplification of contrast in the self; (4) A positive appreciation of changes is conveyed; (5) Occurrence of feelings of empowerment, competence, and mastery; (6) Reference to difficulties still present; (7) Emphasis on the loss of centrality of the problem; (8) Perception of change as a gradual, developing process; and (9) Reference to projects, experiences of change, or elaboration of new plans. Central aspects of therapist activity in facilitating the client's progression along these nine steps are also elaborated.

Girls Discuss Choice of an All-Girl Middle School: Narrative Analysis of an Early Adolescent Identity Project

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Baron, Emilia; Bell, Nancy J.; Corson, Kimberly; Kostina-Ritchey, Erin; Frederick, Helyne

2012-01-01

The narrative creation of identity by young adolescents has so far been addressed mainly from an identity-in-interaction perspective, focusing attention on the multiplicity and variability of identity negotiation as adolescents interact with others, typically with peers. In contrast, a sociocultural/dialogical perspective draws attention to the…

Where's the Other "C"? Year 9 Examine Continuity in the Treatment of Mental Health through Time

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Murray, Helen; Burney, Rachel; Stacey-Chapman, Andrew

2013-01-01

Helen Murray, Rachel Burney and Andrew Stacey-Chapman show how they strengthened three goals of their practice--secure knowledge, narrative shapes and conceptual analysis--by securing strong connection between them. The curricular focus that drew all this together was "historical continuity", a property crucial to narrative, but often…

Narratives of Success: A Retrospective Trajectory Analysis of Men of Color Who Successfully Transferred from the Community College

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Urias, Marissa Vasquez; Falcon, Vannessa; Harris, Frank, III; Wood, J. Luke

2016-01-01

With the use of a narrative approach to inquiry, this chapter seeks to reframe deficit-oriented research on men of color, which often focuses on patterns of failure and underachievement, by exploring the pathways of community college men of color who successfully transferred to 4-year institutions.

Recollections of Girlhood, Reconstructions of Self.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Franklin, Betty Smith; Warner, Chris

This paper examines the historical silence of women and how that is replicated in the schools. The work focuses on the narratives of 31 college-aged women as they reflect on the experiences of their middle school years. This qualitative analysis of recollected narratives of girlhood is based on listening to the powerful voices of young women in…

Sounding Narrative Medicine: Studying Students’ Professional Identity Development at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons

PubMed Central

Miller, Eliza; Balmer, Dorene; Hermann, Nellie; Graham, Gillian; Charon, Rita

2014-01-01

Purpose To learn what medical students derive from training in humanities, social sciences, and the arts in a narrative medicine curriculum and to explore narrative medicine’s framework as it relates to students’ professional development. Method On completion of required intensive, half-semester narrative medicine seminars in 2010, 130 second-year medical students at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons participated in focus group discussions of their experiences. Focus group transcriptions were submitted to close iterative reading by a team who performed a grounded-theory-guided content analysis, generating a list of codes into which statements were sorted to develop overarching themes. Provisional interpretations emerged from the close and repeated readings, suggesting a fresh conceptual understanding of how and through what avenues such education achieves its goals in clinical training. Results Students’ comments articulated the known features of narrative medicine—attention, representation, and affiliation—and endorsed all three as being valuable to professional identity development. They spoke of the salience of their work in narrative medicine to medicine and medical education and its dividends of critical thinking, reflection, and pleasure. Critiques constituted a small percentage of the statements in each category. Conclusions Students report that narrative medicine seminars support complex interior, interpersonal, perceptual, and expressive capacities. Students’ lived experiences confirm some expectations of narrative medicine curricular planners while exposing fresh effects of such work to view. PMID:24362390

"A morning since eight of just pure grill": a multischool qualitative study of student abuse.

PubMed

Rees, Charlotte E; Monrouxe, Lynn V

2011-11-01

Previous medical student abuse research employed quantitative surveys that failed to explore factors thought to contribute to abuse and students' actions in the face of abuse. This study examined medical student abuse narratives to identify types of perceived abuse, factors cited by students as contributing to abuse, and students' actions at the time of abuse. A qualitative design was adopted employing 22 individual and 32 group interviews to elicit narratives of professionalism dilemmas from 200 medical students at two 5-year undergraduate programs and one 4-year graduate entry program (England, Wales, and Australia) between 2007 and 2009. Thematic analysis of abuse narratives was conducted. Of 833 professionalism dilemma narratives, 86 (10%) involved perceived medical student abuse. Within these narratives, students reported mostly covert, status-related abuse, direct verbal abuse, and sexual harassment and discrimination. Some narrators described multiple factors contributing to abuse (individual, work, and/or organization); most cited factors focusing on individuals. Despite the abuse typically recounted with negative emotion, few participants reported resisting at the time of abuse by challenging or reporting the perpetrator. Participants gave a variety of reasons for this inaction (e.g., anxiety about receiving bad marks from the perpetrator) and for resisting (e.g., the abuse was affecting their education negatively). Although narratives focused predominantly on individual factors contributing to abuse and responses to abuse, educators should focus on the dynamic interplay between individual and organizational factors to combat abuse. Several opportunities to mitigate this continuing blight on the conscience of the profession are described.

Well-being dialogue: Elderly women's subjective sense of well-being from their course of life perspective

PubMed Central

Svensson, Ann-Marie; Mårtensson, Lena B.

2012-01-01

In this article, we are concerned with narratives of elderly women's well-being from their perspectives of the latter parts of their life, living at special housing accommodation (SHA) in the context of Swedish elderly care. In focusing on narratives about well-being, we have a two-fold focus: (1) how the elderly women create their own identity and meaning-making based on lifetime experience; and (2) how narratives of well-being are reflected through the filter of life in situ at the SHA. Based on empirical data consisting of well-being narratives, a dialogical performance analysis was undertaken. The results show how relationships with important persons during various stages of life, and being together and enjoying fellowship with other people as well as enjoying freedom and self-determination, are central aspects of well-being. The conclusions drawn are that the characteristic phenomena of well-being (the what) in the narratives are continuity, identity, and sociality for the elderly person, and this is manifested (the how) as a question of contrasting the state of self-management and self-decline. PMID:23237627

Medical student professionalism narratives: a thematic analysis and interdisciplinary comparative investigation.

PubMed

Bernard, Aaron W; Malone, Matthew; Kman, Nicholas E; Caterino, Jeffrey M; Khandelwal, Sorabh

2011-08-12

Professionalism development is influenced by the informal and hidden curriculum. The primary objective of this study was to better understand this experiential learning in the setting of the Emergency Department (ED). Secondarily, the study aimed to explore differences in the informal curriculum between Emergency Medicine (EM) and Internal Medicine (IM) clerkships. A thematic analysis was conducted on 377 professionalism narratives from medical students completing a required EM clerkship from July 2008 through May 2010. The narratives were analyzed using established thematic categories from prior research as well as basic descriptive characteristics. Chi-square analysis was used to compare the frequency of thematic categories to prior research in IM. Finally, emerging themes not fully appreciated in the established thematic categories were created using grounded theory. Observations involving interactions between attending physician and patient were most abundant. The narratives were coded as positive 198 times, negative 128 times, and hybrid 37 times. The two most abundant narrative themes involved manifesting respect (36.9%) and spending time (23.7%). Both of these themes were statistically more likely to be noted by students on EM clerkships compared to IM clerkships. Finally, one new theme regarding cynicism emerged during analysis. This analysis describes an informal curriculum that is diverse in themes. Student narratives suggest their clinical experiences to be influential on professionalism development. Medical students focus on different aspects of professionalism depending on clerkship specialty.

Medical Student Professionalism Narratives: A Thematic Analysis and Interdisciplinary Comparative Investigation

PubMed Central

2011-01-01

Background Professionalism development is influenced by the informal and hidden curriculum. The primary objective of this study was to better understand this experiential learning in the setting of the Emergency Department (ED). Secondarily, the study aimed to explore differences in the informal curriculum between Emergency Medicine (EM) and Internal Medicine (IM) clerkships. Methods A thematic analysis was conducted on 377 professionalism narratives from medical students completing a required EM clerkship from July 2008 through May 2010. The narratives were analyzed using established thematic categories from prior research as well as basic descriptive characteristics. Chi-square analysis was used to compare the frequency of thematic categories to prior research in IM. Finally, emerging themes not fully appreciated in the established thematic categories were created using grounded theory. Results Observations involving interactions between attending physician and patient were most abundant. The narratives were coded as positive 198 times, negative 128 times, and hybrid 37 times. The two most abundant narrative themes involved manifesting respect (36.9%) and spending time (23.7%). Both of these themes were statistically more likely to be noted by students on EM clerkships compared to IM clerkships. Finally, one new theme regarding cynicism emerged during analysis. Conclusions This analysis describes an informal curriculum that is diverse in themes. Student narratives suggest their clinical experiences to be influential on professionalism development. Medical students focus on different aspects of professionalism depending on clerkship specialty. PMID:21838887

Fictional Narratives about Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder: Focus Group Analysis and Insight

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cardon, Teresa; Kelley, Jane E.

2016-01-01

Given the CDC's report of a 30% increase in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) diagnoses over the past two years, it is important to increase awareness and educate teachers and students in both general and special education classrooms. One way to bridge the gap between students with and without ASD is to use authentic narrative fiction as a teaching…

Identifying Structural Changes from Within: Emancipatory Narratives Exploring Community Constraints to Women's Education and Empowerment in Rural India

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Baily, Supriya

2015-01-01

Using a critical theory framework, the article explores emancipatory narratives obtained through a case study of women in rural India. In-depth interviews, focus group conversations, observations, and document analysis highlight the complexity of the subsequent set of challenges facing women as it relates to both the education and empowerment for…

Shifting the Focus: Children's Image-Making Practices and Their Implications for Analysis

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lomax, Helen Jayne

2012-01-01

This paper provides analytic focus on the productive and editorial contexts of children and young people's image-making, making visible its implications for the analysis of photographs. Drawing on participatory research in which children and young people worked alongside researchers to create a visual narrative of their lived experiences of…

“Bad boys don't cry”: a thematic analysis of interpersonal dynamics in interview narratives of young offenders with psychopathic traits

PubMed Central

De Ganck, Julie; Vanheule, Stijn

2015-01-01

Most discussions of the social and interpersonal styles in individuals with strong psychopathic traits focus on their dangerousness or their affective and interpersonal deficiencies. This study has a different focus, and starts from the idea that such focus on the threat emanating from individuals with a psychopathic style might blind us from the logic inherent to their way of relating with the world. By means of a qualitative analysis (thematic analysis) of narratives from a Lacanian talking therapy, this study examines how 15 youngsters with strong psychopathic traits make sense of interpersonal events and relations. The main recurring theme across these narratives was that others in general are fundamentally distrustful antagonists that they have to protect themselves from. Especially the father figure, with whom identification seems to take place, is seen as a violent actor. Consequently, these youngsters develop multiple strategies of dealing with the threat they experience in relation to (significant) others. These relationship patterns also emerged within the therapeutic relationship, resulting in frequent testing of the therapist's trustworthiness. The results of this study, discussed in terms of Lacanian theory, might help therapists to develop treatment approaches that better fit with the interpersonal orientation of individuals with strong psychopathic traits. PMID:26217279

Narrative and emotion process in psychotherapy: an empirical test of the Narrative-Emotion Process Coding System (NEPCS).

PubMed

Boritz, Tali Z; Bryntwick, Emily; Angus, Lynne; Greenberg, Leslie S; Constantino, Michael J

2014-01-01

While the individual contributions of narrative and emotion processes to psychotherapy outcome have been the focus of recent interest in psychotherapy research literature, the empirical analysis of narrative and emotion integration has rarely been addressed. The Narrative-Emotion Processes Coding System (NEPCS) was developed to provide researchers with a systematic method for identifying specific narrative and emotion process markers, for application to therapy session videos. The present study examined the relationship between NEPCS-derived problem markers (same old storytelling, empty storytelling, unstoried emotion, abstract storytelling) and change markers (competing plotlines storytelling, inchoate storytelling, unexpected outcome storytelling, and discovery storytelling), and treatment outcome (recovered versus unchanged at therapy termination) and stage of therapy (early, middle, late) in brief emotion-focused (EFT), client-centred (CCT), and cognitive (CT) therapies for depression. Hierarchical linear modelling analyses demonstrated a significant Outcome effect for inchoate storytelling (p = .037) and discovery storytelling (p = .002), a Stage × Outcome effect for abstract storytelling (p = .05), and a Stage × Outcome × Treatment effect for competing plotlines storytelling (p = .001). There was also a significant Stage × Outcome effect for NEPCS problem markers (p = .007) and change markers (p = .03). The results provide preliminary support for the importance of assessing the contribution of narrative-emotion processes to efficacious treatment outcomes in EFT, CCT, and CT treatments of depression.

Narrative, emotion and action: analysing 'most memorable' professionalism dilemmas.

PubMed

Rees, Charlotte E; Monrouxe, Lynn V; McDonald, Laura A

2013-01-01

Although previous studies have explored medical learners''most memorable' experiences, these have typically focused on patient deaths or mistakes. Drawing on multiple theoretical perspectives to understand the interplay between narrative, emotion and action, this paper aims to explore the whats and hows of written narratives of most memorable professionalism dilemmas: what types of dilemma are most memorable? When and where do they take place? How do students act? What characteristics relate to these dilemmas? How are dilemmas narrated? A total of 680 students from 29 of 32 UK medical schools provided a written narrative of their most memorable dilemma as part of their responses to an online questionnaire exploring the impact of professionalism dilemmas on moral distress. We employed quantitative thematic and discourse analysis of all narratives using Linguistic Inquiry Word Count software (LIWC) and conducted a narrative analysis of one exemplar. The most common themes across all narratives concerned dilemmas that related to issues of patient care with reference to the actions of health care professionals or students, student abuse, and consent and intimate examination. A total of 41.1% of experiences had occurred over 6 months previously and 80.1% had taken place in hospital settings. Overall, 54.9% of narrators reported having done something in the face of their dilemma, although only 13.2% described taking obvious or direct action. Numerous characteristics were related to most memorable dilemmas (e.g. narratives citing intimate examinations were more likely to take place in surgical settings). A total of 92.6% of narratives included negative emotion talk and numerous significant relationships emerged between types of emotion talk and most memorable dilemmas (e.g. more anger talk in abuse narratives). Our narrative analysis of one exemplar illustrates the richness of emotion talk and more subtle devices to establish emotional tone. Findings extend previous research into issues related to professionalism by exploring relationships between narrative, emotion and action in the context of written narratives of most memorable dilemmas. We encourage medical educators to help students construct coherent and emotionally integrated narratives to make sense of negative professionalism dilemmas. © Blackwell Publishing Ltd 2013.

Narratives from within: An Arendtian Approach to Life Histories and the Writing of History

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tamboukou, Maria

2010-01-01

In this paper I draw on my current research of writing a genealogy of women artists, focusing in particular on the life history of the American working-class artist, May Stevens (1924-). I am particularly interested in how an analysis of the textual and visual narratives in her work, seen in the context of her life history, can intervene in the…

Narrative research methods in palliative care contexts: two case studies.

PubMed

Thomas, Carol; Reeve, Joanne; Bingley, Amanda; Brown, Janice; Payne, Sheila; Lynch, Tom

2009-05-01

Narrative methods have played a minor role in research with dying patients to date, and deserve to be more widely understood. This article illustrates the utility and value of these methods through the narrative analysis of semi-structured interview data gathered in a series of interviews with two terminally ill cancer patients and their spouses. The methods and findings associated with these two case studies are outlined and discussed. The authors' contention is that an analytical focus on the naturalistic storytelling of patients and informal carers can throw new light on individuals' perceived illness states and symptoms, care-related needs, behaviors, and desires. In addition, the juxtaposition of two cases that share a number of markers of risk and need at the end of life illustrates how the narrative analysis of patients' experiential accounts can assist in uncovering important distinctions between cases that are of relevance to care management.

It Happened to Me: A Qualitative Analysis of Boys' Narratives About Child Sexual Abuse.

PubMed

Foster, Jennifer M

2017-10-01

Previous research on children's narratives about sexual abuse written predominately by girls uncovered several themes, including: (a) memories of the abuse, (b) the disclosure and subsequent events, and (c) the healing journey and a meta-theme titled "fear and safety." This follow-up study explored how boys describe their life prior to, during, and after sexual abuse in the form of trauma narratives and if there are distinctive features of boys' experiences that differ from those of girls. Analysis of narratives written by males ages 3 to 17 (N = 19) found that boys ascribe to the same themes as the initial research but also have experiences and perspectives that are unique to being male survivors. This article focuses on the first two themes: memories of the abuse and the disclosure and subsequent events. Gender differences are discussed along with recommendations for prevention of male sexual abuse.

Multivalent Narratives: Extending the Narrative Paradigm with Insights from Ancient Indian Rhetoric.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stroud, Scott R.

Research that has focused on ancient Indian rhetoric, a sub-category of Eastern rhetoric, has largely eschewed focus on the narrative paradigm as a theoretical guide. These narratives often enshrine didactic elements, contradictions, and mythic traits that often confound and inspire Western audiences. These archaic religious/philosophical texts…

Action starring narratives and events: Structure and inference in visual narrative comprehension

PubMed Central

Cohn, Neil; Wittenberg, Eva

2015-01-01

Studies of discourse have long placed focus on the inference generated by information that is not overtly expressed, and theories of visual narrative comprehension similarly focused on the inference generated between juxtaposed panels. Within the visual language of comics, star-shaped “flashes” commonly signify impacts, but can be enlarged to the size of a whole panel that can omit all other representational information. These “action star” panels depict a narrative culmination (a “Peak”), but have content which readers must infer, thereby posing a challenge to theories of inference generation in visual narratives that focus only on the semantic changes between juxtaposed images. This paper shows that action stars demand more inference than depicted events, and that they are more coherent in narrative sequences than scrambled sequences (Experiment 1). In addition, action stars play a felicitous narrative role in the sequence (Experiment 2). Together, these results suggest that visual narratives use conventionalized depictions that demand the generation of inferences while retaining narrative coherence of a visual sequence. PMID:26709362

Action starring narratives and events: Structure and inference in visual narrative comprehension.

PubMed

Cohn, Neil; Wittenberg, Eva

Studies of discourse have long placed focus on the inference generated by information that is not overtly expressed, and theories of visual narrative comprehension similarly focused on the inference generated between juxtaposed panels. Within the visual language of comics, star-shaped "flashes" commonly signify impacts, but can be enlarged to the size of a whole panel that can omit all other representational information. These "action star" panels depict a narrative culmination (a "Peak"), but have content which readers must infer, thereby posing a challenge to theories of inference generation in visual narratives that focus only on the semantic changes between juxtaposed images. This paper shows that action stars demand more inference than depicted events, and that they are more coherent in narrative sequences than scrambled sequences (Experiment 1). In addition, action stars play a felicitous narrative role in the sequence (Experiment 2). Together, these results suggest that visual narratives use conventionalized depictions that demand the generation of inferences while retaining narrative coherence of a visual sequence.

Analyzing reflective narratives to assess the ethical reasoning of pediatric residents.

PubMed

Moon, Margaret; Taylor, Holly A; McDonald, Erin L; Hughes, Mark T; Beach, Mary Catherine; Carrese, Joseph A

2013-01-01

A limiting factor in ethics education in medical training has been difficulty in assessing competence in ethics. This study was conducted to test the concept that content analysis of pediatric residents' personal reflections about ethics experiences can identify changes in ethical sensitivity and reasoning over time. Analysis of written narratives focused on two of our ethics curriculum's goals: 1) To raise sensitivity to ethical issues in everyday clinical practice and 2) to enhance critical reflection on personal and professional values as they affect patient care. Content analysis of written reflections was guided by a tool developed to identify and assess the level of ethical reasoning in eight domains determined to be important aspects of ethical competence. Based on the assessment of narratives written at two times (12 to 16 months/apart) during their training, residents showed significant progress in two specific domains: use of professional values, and use of personal values. Residents did not show decline in ethical reasoning in any domain. This study demonstrates that content analysis of personal narratives may provide a useful method for assessment of developing ethical sensitivity and reasoning.

Understanding the social context of fatal road traffic collisions among young people: a qualitative analysis of narrative text in coroners' records.

PubMed

Pilkington, Paul; Bird, Emma; Gray, Selena; Towner, Elizabeth; Weld, Sarah; McKibben, Mary-Ann

2014-01-24

Deaths and injuries on the road remain a major cause of premature death among young people across the world. Routinely collected data usually focuses on the mechanism of road traffic collisions and basic demographic data of those involved. This study aimed to supplement these routine sources with a thematic analysis of narrative text contained in coroners' records, to explore the wider social context in which collisions occur. Thematic analysis of narrative text from Coroners' records, retrieved from thirty-four fatalities among young people (16-24 year olds) occurring as a result of thirty road traffic collisions in a rural county in the south of England over the period 2005-2010. Six key themes emerged: social driving, driving experience, interest in motor vehicles, driving behaviour, perception of driving ability, and emotional distress. Social driving (defined as a group of related behaviours including: driving as a social event in itself (i.e. without a pre-specified destination); driving to or from a social event; driving with accompanying passengers; driving late at night; driving where alcohol or drugs were a feature of the journey) was identified as a common feature across cases. Analysis of the wider social context in which road traffic collisions occur in young people can provide important information for understanding why collisions happen and developing targeted interventions to prevent them. It can complement routinely collected data, which often focuses on events immediately preceding a collision. Qualitative analysis of narrative text in coroner's records may provide a way of providing this type of information. These findings provide additional support for the case for Graduated Driver Licensing programmes to reduce collisions involving young people, and also suggest that road safety interventions need to take a more community development approach, recognising the importance of social context and focusing on social networks of young people.

Understanding the social context of fatal road traffic collisions among young people: a qualitative analysis of narrative text in coroners’ records

PubMed Central

2014-01-01

Background Deaths and injuries on the road remain a major cause of premature death among young people across the world. Routinely collected data usually focuses on the mechanism of road traffic collisions and basic demographic data of those involved. This study aimed to supplement these routine sources with a thematic analysis of narrative text contained in coroners’ records, to explore the wider social context in which collisions occur. Methods Thematic analysis of narrative text from Coroners’ records, retrieved from thirty-four fatalities among young people (16–24 year olds) occurring as a result of thirty road traffic collisions in a rural county in the south of England over the period 2005–2010. Results Six key themes emerged: social driving, driving experience, interest in motor vehicles, driving behaviour, perception of driving ability, and emotional distress. Social driving (defined as a group of related behaviours including: driving as a social event in itself (i.e. without a pre-specified destination); driving to or from a social event; driving with accompanying passengers; driving late at night; driving where alcohol or drugs were a feature of the journey) was identified as a common feature across cases. Conclusions Analysis of the wider social context in which road traffic collisions occur in young people can provide important information for understanding why collisions happen and developing targeted interventions to prevent them. It can complement routinely collected data, which often focuses on events immediately preceding a collision. Qualitative analysis of narrative text in coroner’s records may provide a way of providing this type of information. These findings provide additional support for the case for Graduated Driver Licensing programmes to reduce collisions involving young people, and also suggest that road safety interventions need to take a more community development approach, recognising the importance of social context and focusing on social networks of young people. PMID:24460955

The taming of the shrew: batterers' constructions of their wives' narratives.

PubMed

Borochowitz, Dalit Yassour

2008-10-01

Constructing a life story is a need shared by all humans to give their lives meaning and coherence. This article explores some of the narrative devices that batterers use to achieve a sense of coherence when telling their stories and justifying their violent behavior. A central theme that emerged from these stories centered on the men's perception of their wives as the embodiment of their own emotions and inner world. Two narrative strategies were identified in this context: (a) The construction of a "couple narrative" that focused on an idealized marital relationship rather than "allowing" the wife her story and (b) constructing a story around the theme of "she's not the same woman I married," which portrays the wife as "a shrew" and the violence as an attempt to discipline her. The stories of 18 batterers were used for this analysis, and two narratives were used to illustrate these strategies.

Apri Gli Occi E Hai Le Cervello Nel Capo: Open Your Eyes and Keep Your Brains in Your Head: Narrative Stories from Italian Immigrant Women--Pasqualina, Susan, Matilde, & Filomena

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pace, Josefa

2013-01-01

This three and a half year longitudinal study focused upon the social and cultural identities of four Italian women. In understanding and interpreting their identities, ethnographic data was analyzed through discourse and narrative analysis and presented in ways that recognized the importance of caring for their lives (Brandt, 2013), staying close…

Research studies on patients' illness experience using the Narrative Medicine approach: a systematic review

PubMed Central

Fioretti, Chiara; Mazzocco, Ketti; Oliveri, Serena; Masiero, Marianna; Pravettoni, Gabriella

2016-01-01

Objective Since its birth about 30 years ago, Narrative Medicine approach has increased in popularity in the medical context as well as in other disciplines. This paper aims to review Narrative Medicine research studies on patients' and their caregivers' illness experience. Setting and participants MEDLINE, Psycinfo, EBSCO Psychological and Behavioural Science, The Cochrane Library and CINAHL databases were searched to identify all the research studies which focused on the Narrative Medicine approach reported in the title, in the abstract and in the keywords the words ‘Narrative Medicine’ or ‘Narrative-based Medicine’. Primary and secondary outcome measures: number of participants, type of disease, race and age of participants, type of study, dependent variables, intervention methods, assessment. Results Of the 325 titles screened, we identified 10 research articles fitting the inclusion criteria. Our systematic review showed that research on Narrative Medicine has no common specific methodology: narrative in Medicine is used as an intervention protocol as well as an assessment tool. Patients' characteristics, types of disease and data analysis procedures differ among the screened studies. Conclusions Narrative Medicine research in medical practice needs to find clear and specific protocols to deepen the impact of narrative on medical practice and on patients' lives. PMID:27417197

Student use of narrative and paradigmatic forms of talk in elementary science conversations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kurth, Lori A.; Kidd, Raymond; Gardner, Roberta; Smith, Edward L.

2002-11-01

The purpose of this work was to examine and characterize student use of narrative and paradigmatic expression in elementary science discourse. This interpretive study occurred over a 2-year period in a professional development school with a largely international population. This analysis focused on the narrative and paradigmatic modes of expression used by combined first-second- and second-grade students in a semistructured, fairly autonomous, whole-class conversational format. Students demonstrated competence with both modes of talk at the beginning of the year. Over time, students moved toward more paradigmatic talk, but narrative examples continued to be key components of the science conversations. Topically, students used narrative more often for life sciences and paradigmatic talk for physical sciences. For gender there were no qualitative differences in narrative or paradigmatic expression. However, boys obtained more opportunities to practice their use of both discourse forms by either receiving more speaking turns or expressing more language features per turn. These conversations show that narrative and paradigmatic modes in science need not be in opposition but can, in fact, be used together in complementary ways that are mutually enhancing.

New roads paved on losses: photovoice perspectives about recovery from mental illness.

PubMed

Mizock, Lauren; Russinova, Zlatka; Shani, Roni

2014-11-01

People with serious mental illness face stigma that interferes with recovery. Photovoice is a method that integrates photography and writing, providing a valuable means for capturing the narratives of people with mental illness whose voices are often marginalized. The purpose of the present article is to explore the meaning of recovery for individuals with serious mental illness based on a qualitative analysis of a new photovoice-based intervention, Recovery Narrative Photovoice. This intervention focuses on promoting the process of recovery and sense of identity through the creation of empowering visual images and narratives of recovery for individuals with serious mental illness. In this article, we present iconographic and thematic analysis for the 23 photovoice works from two pilots of the Recovery Narrative Photovoice intervention. Results reveal several themes, including metaphors for mental illness, associated losses, recovery strategies, and recovery outcomes. A final theme pertains to recovery messages learned from the recovery process. © The Author(s) 2014.

The importance of stories in understanding people's relationship to food: narrative inquiry methodology has much to offer the public health nutrition researcher and practitioner.

PubMed

O'Kane, Gabrielle; Pamphilon, Barbara

2016-03-01

Despite the usefulness of quantitative research, qualitative research methodologies are equally needed to allow researchers to better understand the important social and environmental factors affecting food choice and eating habits. The present paper contributes insights from narrative inquiry, a well-established qualitative methodology, to a food-related doctoral research study. The connections between food shoppers and the producer, family, friends and others in the food system, between eaters and the earth, and how these connections affect people's meaning-making of food and pathways to food citizenship, were explored in the research. The research used narrative inquiry methodology and focus groups for data collection. Five different food-ways in the Canberra region of Australia were selected for the present research; that is, community gardens, community-supported agriculture, farmers' markets, fresh food markets and supermarkets. Fifty-two people voluntarily attended eight focus groups with four to nine participants in each. From a practical perspective, the present paper offers a guide to the way in which narrative inquiry has been applied to one research project. The paper describes the application of narrative inquiry methodology, revealing the important place of narratives in generating new knowledge. The paper further outlines how phased narrative analysis can lead to a defensible and rigorous interpretive framework grounded in the data generated from people's stories and meaning-making. We argue that individual, social and system change will not be possible without further rigorous qualitative studies to inform and complement the empirical basis of public health nutrition practice.

Narratives of Focal Brain Injured Individuals: A Macro-Level Analysis

PubMed Central

Karaduman, Ayşenur; Göksun, Tilbe; Chatterjee, Anjan

2017-01-01

Focal brain injury can have detrimental effects on the pragmatics of communication. This study examined narrative production by unilateral brain damaged people (n= 36) and healthy controls and focused on the complexity (content and coherence) and the evaluative aspect of their narratives to test the general hypothesis that the left hemisphere is biased to process microlinguistic information and the right hemisphere is biased to process macrolinguistic information. We found that people with left hemisphere damage’s (LHD) narratives were less likely to maintain the overall theme of the story and produced fewer evaluative comments in their narratives. These deficits correlated with their performances on microlinguistic linguistic tasks. People with the right hemisphere damage (RHD) seemed to be preserved in expressing narrative complexity and evaluations as a group. Yet, single case analyses revealed that particular regions in the right hemisphere such as damage to the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), the anterior and superior temporal gyrus, the middle temporal gyrus, and the supramarginal gyrus lead to problems in creating narratives. Our findings demonstrate that both hemispheres are necessary to produce competent narrative production. LHD people’s poor production is related to their microlinguistic language problems whereas RHD people’s impaired abilities can be associated with planning and working memory abilities required to relate events in a narrative. PMID:28347806

Dynamic mapping of the structures of content in clinical settings (DMSC). A new coding system for analysing the patient's narratives.

PubMed

Salvatore, Sergio; Gennaro, Alessandro; Auletta, Andrea; Grassi, Rossano; Rocco, Diego

2012-12-01

The paper presents a method of content analysis framed within a semiotic and contextual model of the psychotherapy process as a situated dynamics of sensemaking: the Dynamic Mapping of the Structures of Content in Clinical Settings (DMSC). DMSC is a system of content analysis focused on a generalized level of meaning, concerning basic aspects of the patient's narrative (e.g., if the narrative concerns herself or other than herself). The paper presents the result of the application of DMSC to an intensive single-case analysis (Katja). The method has been applied by judges to the transcripts of sessions and is aimed at identifying patterns of combinations (defined: Patterns of content) of the categories characterizing the patient's narratives (pattern analysis approach) as well as at mapping the transition among these patterns (sequential analysis approach). These results provide evidence of its construct validity. In accordance with the theoretical model grounding the method, we have found that: (a) DMSC provides a meaningful representation of the patient's narratives in terms of Patterns of content; (b) the probability of transition among the Patterns of content have proved to be significantly associated with the clinical quality of the sessions. The DMSC has to be considered an attempt paving the way for further investigations aimed at developing a deeper understanding of the role played by the dynamics of sensemaking in the psychotherapy process. ©2011 The British Psychological Society.

Addressing Poverty Issues in Christian Schools: Teachers' Perspectives

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bankston, Catherine

2015-01-01

The purpose of Christian education is to incorporate Biblical values in the curriculum, and one essential message in the Bible is to reach out and liberate the poor. Through interviews, writing protocols, a focus group meeting, and document analysis, this narrative study focuses on the question of how do Christian educators create pedagogical…

Coherence, disorganization, and fragmentation in traumatic memory reconsidered: A response to Rubin et al. (2016).

PubMed

Brewin, Chris R

2016-10-01

Although clinical theories of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) claim that in this condition trauma memories tend to be disorganized and fragmented, this has been disputed by some autobiographical memory researchers, such as Rubin, Berntsen, and their colleagues (e.g., Rubin et al., 2016). In this article I review the evidence for and against the fragmentation hypothesis and identify important sources of methodological variability between the studies. This analysis suggests that fragmentation and disorganization are associated with differences in the type of narrative (specifically, with detailed rather than general narratives) and in the focus of the analysis (specifically, with a local focus on sections of text concerned with the worst moments of the trauma rather than with a global focus on the text as a whole). The implication is that apparently discrepant data and discrepant views can be accommodated within a more comprehensive formulation of memory impairment in PTSD. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

Slave Narratives as Polemic.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Heglar, Charles J.

Although slave narratives have enjoyed critical attention as literature and autobiography, when presenting them to undergraduates, there is some confusion--usually centering on the dissimilarities between the narratives and traditional autobiography. The narratives are not as linear, not as focused on personal development; the narrators are not as…

Standing up to the black cloud: case example of narrative therapy in the motor vehicle sector.

PubMed

Gibson, Michelle

2015-01-01

Using a case study, this article presents narrative therapy as an effective psychotherapy practice for work with victims of motor vehicle accidents. By troubling the standard cognitive behavioral approaches as deficit focused, narrative therapy is outlined as an approach that is focused on the skills and values present in the client's life; it is an approach that allows the client to take authorship over his or her concerns and enact change. This article is meant to be an example of narrative therapy's usefulness and open space for conversation about rehabilitation therapies that focus less on structure and more on strength.

The Stories We Tell: Exploring Narrative in Education for Justice and Equality in Multicultural Contexts

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Osler, Audrey

2015-01-01

This paper focuses on the role of narrative in enabling educational processes to support justice and equality in multicultural societies. It draws on Bhabha's (2003) concept "the right to narrate", arguing that conceptions of multicultural education which focus exclusively on the nation are insufficient in a globalized and interdependent…

Arts, literature and reflective writing as educational strategies to promote narrative reasoning capabilities among physiotherapy students.

PubMed

Caeiro, Carmen; Cruz, Eduardo Brazete; Pereira, Carla Mendes

2014-11-01

The use of arts, literature and reflective writing has becoming increasingly popular in health professionals education. However, research examining its contribution as an educational strategy to promote narrative reasoning capabilities is limited, particularly from the students' perspective. This study aimed to explore the final year physiotherapy students' perspectives about the contribution of arts, literature and reflective writing in facilitating narrative reasoning capabilities. Three focus group meetings using a semi-structured interview schedule were carried out to collect data. Focus group sessions were audiotaped and transcribed verbatim. Interpretative phenomenological analysis was used to conduct the study and analyze the transcripts. Three themes emerged: (1) developmental understanding of the patients' experiences; (2) developmental understanding about the self; and (3) embedding reflection in clinical practice. Students emphasized an increasing capability to be sensitive and vicariously experience the patient's experience. Through reflective writing, students reported they became more capable of thinking critically about their practice and learning needs for continuous professional development. Finally, students highlighted the contribution of these strategies in making reflection part of their practice. Final year physiotherapy students reported enhanced skills of narrative reasoning. The findings support the inclusion of these strategies within the undergraduate physiotherapy curricula.

The Role of the Narrator in Narrative Inquiry in Education: Construction and Co-Construction in Two Case Studies

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bignold, Wendy; Su, Feng

2013-01-01

This paper explores narratives as an effective means of capturing multiple identities of research participants in complex social environments in education research. In doing so, it explores the role of the narrator in two case studies in two modes of narrative inquiry. Both studies present narratives of young people, focusing on multiple…

Toward an integrative understanding of narrative and emotion processes in Emotion-focused therapy of depression: implications for theory, research and practice.

PubMed

Angus, Lynne

2012-01-01

This paper addresses the fundamental contributions of client narrative disclosure in psychotherapy and its importance for the elaboration of new emotional meanings and self understanding in the context of Emotion-focused therapy (EFT) of depression. An overview of the multi-methodological steps undertaken to empirically investigate the contributions of client story telling, emotional differentiation and meaning-making processes (Narrative Processes Coding System; Angus et al., 1999) in EFT treatments of depression is provided, followed by a summary of key research findings that informed the development of a narrative-informed approach to Emotion-focused therapy of depression (Angus & Greenberg, 2011). Finally, the clinical practice and training implications of adopting a research-informed approach to working with narrative and emotion processes in EFT are described, and future research directions discussed.

Narrative, Poststructuralism, and Social Justice: Current Practices in Narrative Therapy

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Combs, Gene; Freedman, Jill

2012-01-01

This paper is a review of current practice in narrative therapy with a focus on how it is attractive and useful for therapists who wish to work for social justice. The authors describe narrative therapy's roots in poststructuralist philosophy and social science. They illustrate its major theoretical constructs, including the "narrative metaphor,"…

Reviewing the Research on Mail Survey Response Rates: Meta-Analysis.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Green, Kathy E.; Hutchinson, Susan R.

Meta-analysis, a way of cumulating the results of research studies, focuses on the magnitudes of effect sizes and seeks to explain effects through study characteristics. This meta-analysis used the methods developed by G. V. Glass to summarize the research on mail survey response rate manipulations. A narrative review using the same studies set…

Binding and Unfolding: Towards the Linguistic Construction of Narrative Discourse.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bamberg, Michael; Marchman, Virginia

1991-01-01

Explores the relationship between linguistic and conceptual structuring of narratives, focusing on linguistic devices used by German and U.S. narrators to identify transitions in text structure. Identifies and outlines two types of narrative orientation: differentiating events and integrating events. (SR)

Service users' self-narratives on their journey from shame to pride: tales of transition.

PubMed

Natland, Sidsel; Celik, Hilde Dalen

2015-01-01

As part of a course on changing attitudes developed by KREM, a Norwegian service user organization, narratives are used to explore and understand identity formation. The process is based on the role of shame in the lives of those whose life experiences lead to a reliance on government social benefits to sustain themselves. Shame is identified as an obstacle that affects everyday life and undermines one's capacity to take actions that can lead to and support self-sufficiency. Exploring oneself through the construction of the fairy tale can provide service users with a renewed sense of empowerment. Using identity formation and the concept of shame as the conceptual framework, this analysis focuses on the use of narratives to construct and interpret stories. It concludes with both practice and research implications of using narratives to acquire an understanding and sensitivity to service user perspectives.

Facing the Language-Memory Problem in the Study of Autobiographical Memory.

PubMed

Bartoli, Eleonora; Smorti, Andrea

2018-05-16

This paper discusses the problem of the role of language in autobiographical memory, that is barely considered in studies on autobiographical memories and narratives. As a matter of fact, most of the current studies on autobiographical memory confounded memory and narrative together. The present paper focuses on two main issues. Firstly, it debates how narratives contribute to the construction of autobiographical memories through self-other communication. Secondly, it reflects on how language and communication should be manipulated in studies about autobiographical memory. This paper is made of three sections: the first section discusses the role of language, particularly in the form of narrative, as a social tool by which autobiographical memories can be organised in a life story; the second section examines previous methods of investigation used in the study of autobiographical memories; finally, the third section proposes different methodological alternatives to overcome the problems emerging from our analysis of literature.

Narratives of mothers of children with autism spectrum disorders: focus on eating behavior.

PubMed

Lázaro, Cristiane P; Pondé, Milena P

2017-01-01

To investigate the eating behavior of individuals with autism through their mothers' narratives. The study of narratives was used to report on the narrators' experiences. Data on the eating habits of individuals with autism were collected using semi-structured interviews held individually with the mothers. The interviews were recorded, transcribed and codified using the NVivo software program. Eighteen mothers of boys/young men with autism participated in the study. Analysis yielded three major categories: eating patterns, the family's attitudes to the child's eating habits, and food-related behavior. Results show that autism-related factors may affect the child's food choices. Environmental factors, particularly the parents' behavior, may also play a decisive role, both in reinforcing the child's food choices and in encouraging a healthier and more diversified diet. Professionals should instruct parents regarding their decisive role in reinforcing or discouraging inappropriate mealtime behavior in children with autism.

"Kubla Khan" and Its Narratives of Possible Worlds

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nayar, Pramod K.

2013-01-01

This essay argues that Coleridge's "Kubla Khan" is a poem about narrative and specifically focuses on the narrative construction of possible worlds, or even utopian worlds. It notes two pairs of narratives. In pair one the utopian narrative of the monarch's decree which seeks to build a space of pure pleasure is in opposition to the…

What is not, but might be: The disnarrated in parents' stories of their child's cancer treatment.

PubMed

Vindrola-Padros, Cecilia; Brage, Eugenia

2017-11-01

The study of illness narratives is based on the premise that stories are told for a reason and storytellers make narrative decisions on what to include and leave out of a story, the style of narration, the place where the story is told and the audience. Through this narrative work, they situate themselves in particular ways and make sense of the illness and the world around them. In this article, we explore the disnarrated, a style of narration that features events that do not happen, but are nonetheless referred to in the story. The aim of the article is to illustrate the additional layers of meaning that can be uncovered from illness stories when attention is paid to what did not happen, but, yet, is still part of the story. We draw from a qualitative study carried out with 17 parents whose children were diagnosed with cancer and were receiving medical care in Argentina. We carried out narrative interviews with the parents and participant-observation in hospital areas and the hotels where they resided during treatment. The analysis of the interview transcripts was carried out using a holistic understanding of the narratives and focusing on the identification of themes that appeared disnarrated. The fieldnotes from the observations were used to contextualize the narrative analysis. The disnarrated, in its many manifestations, produced a layer of analysis of parents' stories of treatment patterned by parents' desires, hopes and fears. The disnarrated was used by parents to discuss alternative care trajectories and express fears regarding what the future would bring for the child and family. The disnarrated is a useful analytical tool for examining illness stories as it points to storytellers' views of what is acceptable or desirable in their world and their hopes and preferences for alternative realities. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Levels of narrative analysis in health psychology.

PubMed

Murray, M

2000-05-01

The past 10-15 years have seen a rapid increase in the study of narrative across all the social sciences. It is sometimes assumed that narrative has the same meaning irrespective of the context in which it is expressed. This article considers different levels of narrative analysis within health psychology. Specifically, it considers the character of health and illness narratives as a function of the personal, interpersonal, positional and societal levels of analysis. At the personal level of analysis narratives are portrayed as expressions of the lived experience of the narrator. At the interpersonal level of analysis the narrative is one that is co-created in dialogue. At the positional level of analysis the analysis considers the differences in social position between the narrator and the listener. The societal level of analysis is concerned with the socially shared stories that are characteristic of certain communities or societies. The challenge is to articulate the connections between these different levels of narrative analysis and to develop strategies to promote emancipatory narratives.

The use of narrative sampling in the assessment of social cognition: the Narrative of Emotions Task (NET).

PubMed

Buck, Benjamin; Ludwig, Kelsey; Meyer, Piper S; Penn, David L

2014-07-30

Social cognitive deficits in schizophrenia are well documented and related to functional outcome. Current social cognition measures are often not psychometrically validated, too heterogeneous for standardization, and focus principally on one domain of social cognition rather than the simultaneous activation of multiple domains. Also, few if any allow for personalization of stimuli and interpretation of personally evocative events. An alternative methodology that addresses these limitations is the analysis of samples of personal narratives. The present study evaluates the psychometric properties of a measure called the Narrative of Emotions Task (NET). The NET was used to assess the performance of participants with a diagnosis of schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder and nonclinical controls. Use of the NET revealed significant impairments in the emotional narratives of participants with schizophrenia. Various NET indices were significantly related to current measures of theory of mind and emotion perception, as well as a social skills role-play, but were not related to measures of attributional style or clinician-rated functioning scales. Overall, the NET׳s psychometric properties justify further use of the narrative sampling method of social cognition assessment in this population. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

The use of narrative sampling in the assessment of social cognition: The Narrative of Emotions Task (NET)

PubMed Central

Buck, Benjamin; Ludwig, Kelsey; Penn, David L.

2014-01-01

Social cognitive deficits in schizophrenia are well documented and related to functional outcome. Current social cognition measures are often not psychometrically validated, too heterogeneous for standardization, and focus principally on one domain of social cognition rather than the simultaneous activation of multiple domains. Also, few if any allow for personalization of stimuli and interpretation of personally evocative events. An alternative methodology that addresses these limitations is the analysis of samples of personal narratives. The present study evaluates the psychometric properties of a measure called the Narrative of Emotions Task (NET). The NET was used to assess the performance of participants with a diagnosis of schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder and nonclinical controls. Use of the NET revealed significant impairments in the emotional narratives of participants with schizophrenia. Various NET indices were significantly related to current measures of theory of mind and emotion perception, as well as a social skills role-play, but were not related to measures of attributional style or clinician-rated functioning scales. Overall, the NET's psychometric properties justify further use of the narrative sampling method of social cognition assessment in this population. PMID:24726270

Narrative, Preaching, and Formation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Finney, Mark David

2017-01-01

This dissertation focuses on the place of narrative in the transformational encounter that can take place between hearers of sermons and God. Chapter 1 surveys the history and development of contemporary scholarship related to narrative preaching. It argues that most homileticians consider narrative either as a way of structuring sermons, or as a…

Medical students' professionalism narratives: a window on the informal and hidden curriculum.

PubMed

Karnieli-Miller, Orit; Vu, T Robert; Holtman, Matthew C; Clyman, Stephen G; Inui, Thomas S

2010-01-01

The aim of this study was to use medical students' critical incident narratives to deepen understanding of the informal and hidden curricula. The authors conducted a thematic analysis of 272 stories of events recorded by 135 third-year medical students that "taught them something about professionalism and professional values." Students wrote these narratives in a "professionalism journal" during their internal medicine clerkships at Indiana University School of Medicine, June through November 2007. The majority of students' recorded experiences involved witnessing positive embodiment of professional values, rather than breaches. Attending physicians and residents were the central figures in the incidents. Analyses revealed two main thematic categories. The first focused on medical-clinical interactions, especially on persons who were role models interacting with patients, families, coworkers, and colleagues. The second focused on events in the teaching-and-learning environment, particularly on students' experiences as learners in the clinical setting. The findings strongly suggest that students' reflective narratives are a rich source of information about the elements of both the informal and hidden curricula, in which medical students learn to become physicians. Experiences with both positive and negative behaviors shaped the students' perceptions of the profession and its values. In particular, interactions that manifest respect and other qualities of good communication with patients, families, and colleagues taught powerfully.

Customizing clinical narratives for the electronic medical record interface using cognitive methods.

PubMed

Sharda, Pallav; Das, Amar K; Cohen, Trevor A; Patel, Vimla

2006-05-01

As healthcare practice transitions from paper-based to computer-based records, there is increasing need to determine an effective electronic format for clinical narratives. Our research focuses on utilizing a cognitive science methodology to guide the conversion of medical texts to a more structured, user-customized presentation in the electronic medical record (EMR). We studied the use of discharge summaries by psychiatrists with varying expertise-experts, intermediates, and novices. Experts were given two hypothetical emergency care scenarios with narrative discharge summaries and asked to verbalize their clinical assessment. Based on the results, the narratives were presented in a more structured form. Intermediate and novice subjects received a narrative and a structured discharge summary, and were asked to verbalize their assessments of each. A qualitative comparison of the interview transcripts of all subjects was done by analysis of recall and inference made with respect to level of expertise. For intermediate and novice subjects, recall was greater with the structured form than with the narrative. Novices were also able to make more inferences (not always accurate) from the structured form than with the narrative. Errors occurred in assessments using the narrative form but not the structured form. Our cognitive methods to study discharge summary use enabled us to extract a conceptual representation of clinical narratives from end-users. This method allowed us to identify clinically relevant information that can be used to structure medical text for the EMR and potentially improve recall and reduce errors.

The Role of Narratives in Sociohydrological Models of Flood Behaviors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Leong, Ching

2018-04-01

While current efforts to model sociohydrologic phenomena provide crucial insight, critics argue that these do not fully reflect the complexity one observes empirically in the real world. The policy sciences, with its focus on the interaction between human agency and the institutions that constrain public choice, can complement such efforts by providing a narrative approach. This paper demonstrates this complementarity by investigating the idea of resilience in a community response to floods. Using the quantitative Q methodology, we trace the dynamics of a common sociohydrologic hypothesis—the "memory effect" and how it decreases vulnerability and, more crucially, the instances when such memory effects do not obtain. Our analysis of a floodprone maladaptive community in Assam, India, finds four distinct narrative types: the Hardened Preparer, the Engineer, Discontent, and the Pessimist. This paper put forward an explicitly sociohydrological conception of resilience which takes into account the role of sociological indicators such as narrative types and perceptions. Such contextual understandings and narrative types can form the basis of generic resilience indicators which complement the anticipated outcomes of sociohydrologic models generally.

Clinical overview: a framework for analysis.

PubMed

Bossen, Claus; Jensen, Lotte G

2013-01-01

In this presentation, we investigate concepts and theories for analysing how healthcare professionals achieve overview of patient cases. By 'overview' we mean the situation in which a healthcare professional with sufficient certainty and in concrete situations knows how to proceed based on available information upon a patient. Achieving overview is central for the efficient and safe use of healthcare IT systems, and for the realization of the potential improvements of healthcare that are behind investments in such systems. We focus on the theories of decision-making, sensemaking, narratives, ethnomethodology and distributed cognition. Whereas decision-making theory tend to be sequential and normative, we find the concept of 'functional deployment' in sensemaking theory, 'emplotment' in narrative theory, the focus on 'members' methods' in ethnomethodology and the inclusion of 'computational artifacts' in distributed cognition helpful.

"Comments on Coulter and Smith": Relational Ontological Commitments in Narrative Research

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Clandinin, D. Jean; Murphy, M. Shaun

2009-01-01

In this comment article on Coulter and Smith (2009), the authors raise concerns that focusing exclusively on issues of representation may lead readers to misunderstandings about narrative research. The authors argue that narrative ways of thinking about the phenomena under study are interwoven with narrative research methodologies. Drawing on…

"It Was the Best of Times, It Was the Worst of Times": A Qualitative Investigation of Perfectionism and Drinking Narratives in Undergraduate Students.

PubMed

Nealis, Logan J; Mackinnon, Sean P

2017-01-01

Perfectionism is a transdiagnostic risk factor for mental health and interpersonal difficulties, but research on perfectionism and alcohol use in emerging adults remains equivocal. Qualitative research methods are underutilized in this area, and inductive analysis of drinking narratives in undergraduate perfectionists may help clarify conflicting results and support novel approaches to quantitative inquiry in this area. We interviewed 20 undergraduates high in perfectionism (6 adaptive perfectionists and 14 maladaptive perfectionists) using a narrative interview, with analyses focusing on a situation involving alcohol use. We coded interviews for emergent themes using thematic analysis. Five themes emerged as follows: (1) drinking as a social experience, (2) suffering consequences, (3) learning from alcohol, (4) alcohol use as escapism, and (5) reluctance and moderation. Our results add to existing literature by highlighting the interpersonal conflict in perfectionistic people's experience in relation to alcohol use during emerging adulthood. Results also suggest perfectionistic people may use alcohol and intoxication as a way to facilitate a "release" from unpleasant situations or emotions. Perfectionists reported both positive and negative experiences, which lends support for using a narrative perspective to help overcome preexisting assumptions about adaptive and maladaptive qualities of perfectionism.

Personal experience in professional narratives: the role of helpers' families in their work with terror victims.

PubMed

Shamai, Michal

2005-06-01

This article describes research on the narratives of social workers who help terror victims, focusing on the relationship between the helpers' families and their work. Qualitative analysis of three training groups of social workers who are responsible for helping in the event of terror attacks in different parts of Israel, and of three debriefing groups for social workers after terror attacks, reveals that the helpers' families play a role in the narratives constructed by the helpers. Two main themes were identified. The first centers on the interaction between work and the family, and shows that in the situation of a terror attack, the conflict between the two disappears and the family often serves as a support system for the helpers. The second theme refers to the family dimension alone, and focuses on the dichotomy between vitality and loss. The way that family life events affect helpers'professional intervention is described. The findings are discussed in light of Conservation of Resources Theory, the fight-flight response to threat, and the concept of the family as a source of safety and risk taking.

The black box in somatization: unexplained physical symptoms, culture, and narratives of trauma.

PubMed

Waitzkin, H; Magaña, H

1997-09-01

Stimulated by our clinical work with patients who manifest unexplained "somatoform" symptoms in the primary care setting, this article addresses a theoretical black box in our understanding of somatization: how does culture mediate severe stress to produce symptoms that cannot be explained by the presence of physical illness? Despite various problems in his explanation of hysteria, Freud broke new ground by emphasizing narratives of traumatic experiences in the development and treatment of unexplained physical symptoms. Except in anthropologically oriented cultural psychiatry, contemporary psychiatry has traveled away from a focus on narrative in the study of somatization. On the other hand, recent interest in narrative has spread across many intellectual disciplines, including the humanities and literary criticism, psychology, history, anthropology, and sociology. We operationally define narratives as attempts at storytelling that portray the interrelationships among physical symptoms and the psychologic, social, or cultural context of these symptoms. Regarding somatization and trauma, we focus on the ways that narrative integrates the cultural context with traumatic life events. In explaining the black box, we postulate that extreme stress (torture, rape, witnessing deaths of relatives, forced migration, etc.) is processed psychologically as a terrible, largely incoherent narrative of events too awful to hold in consciousness. Culture patterns the psychologic and somatic expression of the terrible narrative. Methodologically, we have developed some techniques for eliciting narratives of severe stress and somatic symptoms, which we illustrate with observations from an ongoing research project. In designing interventions to improve the care of somatizing patients, we are focusing on the creation of social situations where patients may feel empowered to express more coherent narratives of their prior traumatic experiences.

Positioning, telling, and performing a male illness: Chronic prostatitis/chronic pelvic pain syndrome.

PubMed

Wood, Nicholas; Qureshi, Annum; Mughal, Fahim

2017-11-01

There is a paucity of illness accounts of men with chronic prostatitis/chronic pelvic pain syndrome (CP/CPPS), despite a significant level of prevalence and burden of disease. This qualitative study thus elicited twelve accounts from men suffering with CP/CPPS. Narrative analysis was employed, focusing primarily on narrative content. Three major narrative themes were identified: (1) Medical stories: Blame and shame; (2) The Erratic nature of CP/CPPS; and (3) Ongoing struggles for coping and cures and the Search for meaning. Recommendations were made for health care providers and increasing the internal agency, support and activism of men with this debilitating condition. Statement of contribution What is already known on this subject? One qualitative account of this male illness (CP/CPPS) exists: an IPA study. Five cross-sectional themes: (1) Need for repeated confirmation - disease not life-threatening nor leading inexorably towards cancer; (2) Disturbed sleep and fatigue; (3) Concealing pain and problems - 'normalizing'; (4) Enduring pain by performing activities; and (5) Abrupt mood swings and limited sociality. What does this study add? Narrative analysis adds information as to how this illness is managed and survived over time. It challenges the findings (above) by providing an insider perspective. Novel narrative themes include meaning-making amongst others. Masculine performance and experiences are also crucial to this stigmatized illness. © 2017 The British Psychological Society.

(W)righting women: constructions of gender, sexuality and race in the psychiatric chart.

PubMed

Daley, Andrea; Costa, Lucy; Ross, Lori

2012-01-01

This paper examines the interpretative nature of psychiatry in relation to gender, sexuality and race within the particular time and place of one urban, Canadian, clinical psychiatric setting. We bring women's psychiatric inpatient charts and a critical feminist perspective into dialogue in an effort to focus on gender, sexuality and race in psychiatric narratives on women's madness. The research used a qualitative, retrospective research design to examine the psychiatric narrative as a technique of power as it operates on women. This paper focuses on the overarching theme of 'medicalisation', identified from the analysis of women's psychiatric inpatient charts, including two subthemes: (1) language and composition and (2) decontextualisation. Our analysis suggests that psychiatric chart documentation practices that reproduce gendered, sexualised, and racialised biases and assumptions and decontextualise the social and structural context of women's experiences of madness serve to create the paradox of women's visibility/erasure in psychiatric charts. The paper concludes with an exploration of the significance of women's authorship legitimacy in psychiatric chart documentation.

Narrative Coherence of Mandarin-Speaking Children with High-Functioning Autism Spectrum Disorder: An Investigation into Causal Relations

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sah, Wen-hui; Torng, Pao-chuan

2015-01-01

Previous research has shown that individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) had difficulty integrating narrative information coherently. The majority of these studies focused on people narrating in English; however, little is known about the narrative abilities of Mandarin-speaking individuals with ASD. This study investigates the ability of…

Narrative Theology in the High School Classroom: Teaching Theology through the Literature

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Delfra, Louis A.

2005-01-01

If Jesus taught most frequently through symbol and story, and the early Church passed on his teachings primarily through story, especially the four Gospels, why is today's catechesis and theological pedagogy not more informed by "narrative theology"--theology which focuses on the narratives told by Jesus and the Gospels precisely as narratives?…

The Development of Narrative Productivity, Syntactic Complexity, Referential Cohesion and Event Content in Four- to Eight-Year-Old Finnish Children

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mäkinen, Leena; Loukusa, Soile; Nieminen, Lea; Leinonen, Eeva; Kunnari, Sari

2014-01-01

This study focuses on the development of narrative structure and the relationship between narrative productivity and event content. A total of 172 Finnish children aged between four and eight participated. Their picture-elicited narrations were analysed for productivity, syntactic complexity, referential cohesion and event content. Each measure…

Murder on Grimm Isle: The Impact of Game Narrative Design in an Educational Game-Based Learning Environment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dickey, Michele D.

2011-01-01

The purpose of this research is to investigate the impact of narrative design in a game-based learning environment. Specifically, this investigation focuses the narrative design in an adventure-styled, game-based learning environment for fostering argumentation writing by looking at how the game narrative impacted player/learner (1) intrinsic…

[Identity and narration: autobiographical quests].

PubMed

Arfuch, Leonor

2013-01-01

This paper aims to tackle the subtle relation between autobiographical narratives and identity construction, from a non essentialist conception of identity. In a perspective that articulates philosophy of language, psychoanalysis, semiotics and literary critique, we posit the concept of biographical space as an analytical instrument to make a critical update of the reconfiguration of identities and subjectivities in contemporary culture, marked by the predominance of the biographical, the private and a kind of "public intimacy". This look is more symptomatic than descriptive: it intends to account for the rise of auto/biographical narratives and life-stories, from canonic genres to their multiple derivations in the media, social networks and the most diverse artistic practices, a phenomenon that seems to reaffirm the notion of narrative identities by Ricoeur. Our analysis here, from an ethic, aesthetic and political point of view, will focus on two visual arts experiences that have recently taken place for the first time in Buenos Aires: Christian Boltanski's and Tracey Emin's, solo exhibitions, each of them with a different biographical approach.

"Think positively": Parkinson's disease, biomedicine, and hope in contemporary Germany.

PubMed

Metzler, Ingrid; Just, Paul

2017-06-01

Narratives of hope shape contemporary engagements with Parkinson's disease. On the one hand, a "biomedical narrative of hope" promises that biomedical research will help to transform this treatable but incurable disease into a curable one in the future. On the other hand, a more individual "illness narrative of hope" encourages patients to influence the course of Parkinson's disease by practicing self-care and positive thinking. This article asks how these two narratives of hope interact. It bases its argument on an analysis of data from 13 focus groups conducted in Germany in 2012 and 2014 with patients with Parkinson's disease and their relatives. Participants were asked to have their say on clinical trials for advanced therapies for Parkinson's disease and, while doing so, envisioned their biosocial selves in the present and the future. Three "modes of being" for patients were drawn from this body of data: a "users on stand-by" mode, an "unengaged" mode, and an "experimental pioneers" mode. Both narratives of hope were important to all three modes, yet they were mobilized at different frequencies and also had different statuses. While the biomedical narrative of hope was deemed an important "dream of the future" that participants passively supported without having to make it their own, the illness narrative of hope was a truth discourse that took an imperative form: having Parkinson's disease implied the need to maintain a positive attitude.

What we talk about when we talk about depression: doctor-patient conversations and treatment decision outcomes

PubMed Central

Karasz, Alison; Dowrick, Christopher; Byng, Richard; Buszewicz, Marta; Ferri, Lucia; Hartman, Tim C Olde; van Dulmen, Sandra; van Weel-Baumgarten, Evelyn; Reeve, Joanne

2011-01-01

Background Efforts to address depression in primary care settings have focused on the introduction of care guidelines emphasising pharmacological treatment. To date, physician adherence remains low. Little is known of the types of information exchange or other negotiations in doctor-patient consultations about depression that influence physician decision making about treatment. Aim The study sought to understand conversational influences on physician decision making about treatment for depression. Design A secondary analysis of consultation data collected in other studies. Using a maximum variation sampling strategy, 30 transcripts of primary care consultations about distress or depression were selected from datasets collected in three countries. Transcripts were analysed to discover factors associated with prescription of medication. Method The study employed two qualitative analysis strategies: a micro-analysis approach, which examines how conversation partners shape the dialogue towards pragmatic goals; and a narrative analysis approach of the problem presentation. Results Patients communicated their conceptual representations of distress at the outset of each consultation. Concepts of depression were communicated through the narrative form of the problem presentation. Three types of narratives were identified: those emphasising symptoms, those emphasising life situations, and mixed narratives. Physician decision making regarding medication treatment was strongly associated with the form of the patient’s narrative. Physicians made few efforts to persuade patients to accept biomedical attributions or treatments. Conclusion Results of the study provide insight into why adherence to depression guidelines remains low. Data indicate that patient agendas drive the ‘action’ in consultations about depression. Physicians appear to be guided by common-sense decision-making algorithms emphasising patients’ views and preferences. PMID:22520683

Attributes of Spirituality Described by Survivors of Sexual Violence

PubMed Central

Knapik, Gregory P.; Martsolf, Donna S.; Draucker, Claire B.; Strickland, Karen D.

2011-01-01

This study focuses on what aspects of attributes of spirituality as defined by Martsolf and Mickley (1998) are most salient for female and male survivors of sexual violence. Content analysis of secondary narrative data, provided by 50 participants in a study of women’s and men’s responses to sexual violence, was coded to the five attributes of spirituality as defined by Martsolf and Mickley. The attribute aspects of connecting with others in spiritual ways and with God/higher power were particularly significant. The attribute of transcendence was found less important, and the attributes of value, becoming, and meaning were not found important. The Martsolf and Mickley framework helped organize narrative data for a content analysis of spirituality in survivors of sexual violence. PMID:21850278

Exploring PCK ability of prospective science teachers in reflective learning on heat and transfer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nurmatin, S.; Rustaman, N. Y.

2016-02-01

Learning can be planned by the person him/herself when he or she tries to reflect his/her learning. A study involving prospective science teachers in junior secondary schools was carried out to analyze their ability on Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK) in reflective learning after teaching practice. The study was focused especially in creating Pedagogical and Professional Repertoires (PaP-eRs) as part of resource-folios. PaP-eRs as a narrative writing in the learning activities are created by prospective science teachers after lesson plan implementation. Making the narrative writing is intended that prospective science teachers can reflect their learning in teaching. Research subjects are six prospective science teachers who are implementing "Program Pengalaman Lapangan" (PPL) in two junior secondary schools in Bandung, West Java, Indonesia. All of them were assigned by supervisor teachers to teach VII grade students on certain topic "heat and its transfer". Instruments used as a means of collecting data in this study is PaP-eRs. Collected PaP-eRs were then analyzed using PaP-eRs analysis format as instruments for analysis. The result of analyzing PaP-eRs indicates that learning activities, which narrated, involve initial activities, core activities and final activities. However, any activity, which is narrated just superficial as its big line so the narration cannot be, used as reflective learning. It indicates that PCK ability of prospective science teachers in creating narrative writing (PaP-eRs) for reflective learning is still low.

Meta-narrative analysis of sports injury reporting practices based on the Injury Definitions Concept Framework (IDCF): A review of consensus statements and epidemiological studies in athletics (track and field).

PubMed

Timpka, Toomas; Jacobsson, Jenny; Ekberg, Joakim; Finch, Caroline F; Bichenbach, Jerome; Edouard, Pascal; Bargoria, Victor; Branco, Pedro; Alonso, Juan Manuel

2015-11-01

Consistency in routines for reporting injury has been a focus of development efforts in sports epidemiology for a long time. To gain an improved understanding of current reporting practices, we applied the Injury Definitions Concept Framework (IDCF) in a review of injury reporting in a subset of the field. Meta-narrative review. An analysis of injury definitions reported in consensus statements for different sports and studies of injury epidemiology in athletics (track and field) published in PubMed between 1980 and 2013 was performed. Separate narratives for each of the three reporting contexts in the IDCF were constructed from the data. Six consensus statements and 14 studies reporting on athletics injury epidemiology fulfilled the selection criteria. The narratives on sports performance, clinical examination, and athlete self-report contexts were evenly represented in the eligible studies. The sports performance and athlete self-report narratives covered both professional and community athletes as well as training and competition settings. In the clinical examination narrative, data collection by health service professionals was linked to studies of professional athletes at international championships. From an application of the IDCF in a review of injury reporting in sports epidemiology we observed a parallel usage of reporting contexts in this field of research. The co-existence of reporting methodologies does not necessarily reflect a problematic situation, but only provided that firm precautions are taken when comparing studies performed in the different contexts. Copyright © 2014 Sports Medicine Australia. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Work and Family Research in IO/OB: Content Analysis and Review of the Literature (1980-2002)

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Eby, Lillian T.; Casper, Wendy J.; Lockwood, Angie; Bordeaux, Chris; Brinley, Andi

2005-01-01

This monograph reviews 190 work-family studies published in IO/OB journals from 1980 to 2002. The results of a content analysis are presented which catalog these articles with respect to the study focus, nature and direction of the proposed effects, and predictor, criterion, and mediator variables examined. Then a narrative review of the articles…

Narrative Policy Analysis and the Use of the Meta-Narrative in Participatory Policy Development within Higher Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hampton, Greg

2011-01-01

Narrative policy analysis is examined for its contribution to participatory policy development within higher education. Within narrative policy analysis the meta-narrative is developed by the policy analyst in order to find a way to bridge opposing narratives. This development can be combined with participants deliberating in a policy process,…

Well-Being Narratives and Young Children

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Estola, Eila; Farquhar, Sandy; Puroila, Anna-Maija

2014-01-01

Whereas research on children's well-being in education has largely focused on adult perspectives rather than on children's understandings, recent scholarship argues for a stronger focus on children's experience and perceptions of their own well-being. Adopting a narrative approach, this article puts children's stories centre stage as we explore a…

Body composition and functional assessment of nutritional status in adults: a narrative review of imaging, impedance, strength and functional techniques.

PubMed

Smith, S; Madden, A M

2016-12-01

The accurate and valid assessment of body composition is essential for the diagnostic evaluation of nutritional status, identifying relevant outcome measures, and determining the effectiveness of current and future nutritional interventions. Developments in technology and our understanding of the influences of body composition on risk and outcome will provide practitioners with new opportunities to enhance current practice and to lead future improvements in practice. This is the second of a two-part narrative review that aims to critically evaluate body composition methodology in diverse adult populations, with a primary focus on its use in the assessment and monitoring of under-nutrition. Part one focused on anthropometric variables [Madden and Smith (2016) J Hum Nutr Diet 29: 7-25] and part two focuses on the use of imaging techniques, bioelectrical impedance analysis, markers of muscle strength and functional status, with particular reference to developments relevant to practice. © 2016 The British Dietetic Association Ltd.

Narrative Processes across Childhood

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mulvaney, Matthew Keefe

2011-01-01

According to the narrative perspective on personality development, personality is constructed largely by interpreting and representing experience in story format (scripts) over the course of the lifespan. The focus of this paper is to describe briefly the narrative perspective on personality development during childhood and adolescence, to discuss…

Successful African American Women School Leaders in Florida

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Waldron-Asuncion, Alma

2016-01-01

The focus of this basic qualitative study was to explore the lived experiences of Floridian African American women in secondary educational leadership positions. Using critical race theory and Black feminist standpoint theory as a theoretical framework, this narrative analysis serves to increase the understanding of leadership styles among a…

Preventing Mother-to-Child HIV Transmission among South African Adolescents

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Varga, Christine; Brookes, Heather

2008-01-01

Although prevention of mother-to-child HIV transmission (PMTCT) programs are predicated on maternal behavior change, little is known about sociocultural factors affecting maternal-child care practices in this arena. The authors used narrative methods (key informant workshops, questionnaires, focus groups, and case study analysis) to explore how…

Journeys across Educational and Cultural Borders: International Postgraduate Students with Young Children

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Loveridge, Judith; Doyle, Stephanie; Faamanatu-Eteuati, Niusila

2018-01-01

There is substantial research about international postgraduate students but little research about their experiences as parents or their children's experiences. We focus on four postgraduate international students with young children navigating early childhood education and care in New Zealand. A narrative analysis, informed by socio-cultural…

Adolescents' Drawings: A View of Their Worlds.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chula, Marleyne

This qualitative study investigated the medium of drawings as a methodological technique for visual data analysis. The study explored graphical symbols as an additional source for descriptive, interpretive inquiry. The design focused on gaining insight into the perceptions of adolescents' experiences as expressed by the visual narratives in their…

What are narratives good for?

PubMed

Beatty, John

2016-08-01

Narratives may be easy to come by, but not everything is worth narrating. What merits a narrative? Here, I follow the lead of narratologists and literary theorists, and focus on one particular proposal concerning the elements of a story that make it narrative-worthy. These elements correspond to features of the natural world addressed by the historical sciences, where narratives figure so prominently. What matters is contingency. Narratives are especially good for representing contingency and accounting for contingent outcomes. This will be squared with a common view that narratives leave no room for chance. On the contrary, I will argue, tracing one path through a maze of alternative possibilities, and alluding to those possibilities along the way, is what a narrative does particularly well. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

What Do We Learn from Docutainment? Processing Hybrid Television Documentaries

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Glaser, Manuela; Garsoffky, Barbel; Schwan, Stephan

2012-01-01

This study examined how hybrid documentary formats, which embed educational contents into narratives, are cognitively processed. Based on existing research and theories, two reception modes were identified: processing with a focus on the narrative plotline and processing with a focus on the thematic structure. In two experiments, two markers of…

Democratization and Participation: National Education Policy-Making in Africa

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fredua-Kwarteng, Eric

2016-01-01

This is Ghanaian case study that focuses on widening participation in national education policy-making via a social justice panel. It analyses the narratives of two former members of the Ghana Education Reform Committee and focus-groups interviews of ordinary Ghanaians. While the narratives of commission members are in favour of maintaining the…

Affecting Socially Constructed Beliefs through Narrative Simulation.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McCrary, Nancye

This project explores the use of narrative to mediate the delivery of information on the effects of harmful discrimination in a simulated environment that is intended to arouse empathy and inspire reflection. It focuses on the potential of instructional narrative simulation to change biased beliefs about homosexuality. "This just is!"…

Oral Narrative Intervention for Children with Mixed Reading Disability

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Westerveld, Marleen F.; Gillon, Gail T.

2008-01-01

Ten children (aged between 7;11 and 9;2) with mixed reading disability participated in an oral narrative intervention programme that focused on enhancing children's story structure knowledge. The participants had all demonstrated persistent reading and oral narrative comprehension and production difficulties in a two-year longitudinal study prior…

Methodological Pluralism and Narrative Inquiry

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Michie, Michael

2013-01-01

This paper considers how the integral theory model of Nancy Davis and Laurie Callihan might be enacted using a different qualitative methodology, in this case the narrative methodology. The focus of narrative research is shown to be on "what meaning is being made" rather than "what is happening here" (quadrant 2 rather than…

Self-Efficacy and Music Teaching: Five Narratives

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

de Vries, Peter

2017-01-01

This article examines generalist primary (elementary) school teachers' self-efficacy in teaching music. Five teachers, each with five years teaching experience, were interviewed for the study. Using this interview data narratives were constructed for each of the five teachers. These narratives focused on what factors contributed to the level of…

Occupational Therapy Home Safety Intervention via Telehealth

PubMed Central

BREEDEN, LORI E.

2016-01-01

Photography can be an effective addition for education-based telehealth services delivered by an occupational therapist. In this study, photography was used as antecedent to telehealth sessions delivered by an occupational therapist focused on narrative learning about home safety. After taking photographs of past home safety challenges, six participants experienced three web-based occupational therapy sessions. Sessions were recorded and transcribed. Data were examined using content analysis. The content analysis identified the following themes: the value of photos to support learning; the value of narrative learning related to home safety education; and abstract versus concrete learners. Procedural findings are included to support future endeavors. Findings indicate that within a wellness context, home safety education for older adults can be delivered effectively via telehealth when using photography as a part of an occupational therapy intervention. PMID:27563389

Training addiction professionals in empirically supported treatments: perspectives from the treatment community.

PubMed

Hartzler, Bryan; Rabun, Carl

2014-01-01

Large-scale dissemination efforts seek to expand opportunities for the addiction treatment community to receive training in empirically supported treatments (ESTs). Prospective consumers of such training are valuable sources of input about content of interest, preferences for how training events are structured, and obstacles that deter receipt of training. In this mixed-method study, data were collected in 64 semistructured individual interviews with personnel during site visits to 16 community opioid treatment programs (OTPs). At each OTP, interviews were completed with the executive director, a clinical supervisor, and 2 direct-service clinicians. Topical interests were analyzed qualitatively in a cultural domain analysis. Likert ratings of training event preferences were analyzed via generalized linear mixed models (GLMMs), and unstructured interviewee comments were analyzed via narrative analysis. Obstacles to training receipt were analyzed qualitatively with both content coding and narrative analysis. Based on topics of reported interest, cultural domain analysis suggests as ESTs of note: Multidimensional Family Therapy, Motivational Enhancement Therapy, Relapse Prevention Therapy, "Seeking Safety," and broad addiction-focused pharmacotherapy. Regarding training event preferences, GLMMs and narrative analysis revealed clear preferences for time-distributed trainings and use of participatory activities (e.g., trainer demonstrations, role plays, small group exercises). Content coding identified cost as the primary obstacle to receipt of EST trainings, followed by lack of time, logistical challenges, and disinterest, and narrative analysis elaborated on contextual issues underlying these obstacles. As primary consumers of EST technologies, the treatment community has valuable input to offer. Dissemination efforts may be enhanced by greater consideration of their preferences for training content and event structure, as well as practical obstacles that challenge their receipt of training.

Narrative therapy with an emotional approach for people with depression: Improved symptom and cognitive-emotional outcomes.

PubMed

Seo, M; Kang, H S; Lee, Y J; Chae, S M

2015-08-01

Narrative therapy is a useful approach in the treatment of depression that allows that person to 're-author' his/her life stories by focusing on positive interpretations, and such focus on positive emotions is a crucial component of treatment for depression. This paper evaluates narrative therapy with an emotional approach (NTEA) as a therapeutic modality that could be used by nurses for persons with depression. A nurse-administered NTEA intervention for people with depression appears effective in increasing cognitive-emotional outcomes, such as hope, positive emotions and decreasing symptoms of depression. Thus, NTEA can be a useful nursing intervention strategy for people with depression. Narrative therapy, which allows a person to 're-author' his/her life stories by focusing on positive interpretations, and emotion-focused therapy, which enables the person to realize his/her emotions, are useful approaches in the treatment of depression. Narrative therapy with an emotional approach (NTEA) aims to create new positive life narratives that focus on alternative stories instead of negative stories. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of the NTEA programme on people with depression utilizing a quasi-experimental design. A total of 50 patients (experimental 24, control 26) participated in the study. The experimental group completed eight sessions of the NTEA programme. The effects of the programme were measured using a self-awareness scale, the Nowotny Hope Scale, the Positive Affect and Negative Affect Scale, and the Center for Epidemiological Studies-Depression Scale. The two groups were homogeneous. There were significant differences in hope, positive and negative emotions, and depression between the experimental and control group. The results established that NTEA can be a useful nursing intervention strategy for people with depression by focusing on positive experiences and by helping depressed patients develop a positive identity through authoring affirmative life stories. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Narrating the social relations of initiating injecting drug use: transitions in self and society.

PubMed

Rhodes, Tim; Bivol, Stela; Scutelniciuc, Otilia; Hunt, Neil; Bernays, Sarah; Busza, Joanna

2011-11-01

Few studies have explored drug injectors' accounts of their initiation of others into injecting. There also lacks research on the social relations of initiating injecting drug use in transitional society. We draw upon analyses of 42 audio-recorded semi-structured interviews with current and recent injecting drug users, conducted in 2009 in the Republic of Moldova, a transitional society of south-eastern Europe. A thematic analysis informed by narrative theory was undertaken, focusing on accounts of self-initiation and the initiation of others. We also reflect upon the potential of peer efforts to dissuade would-be injectors from initiating. Findings emphasise initiation into injecting as a symbolic identity transition, enabled through everyday social relations. In turn, our analysis locates the drug transitions of the self inside an account of societal transition. We find that personal narratives of self transition are made sense of, and presented, in relation to broader narratives of social transition and change. Furthermore, we explore how narratives of self-initiation, and especially the initiation of others, serve to negotiate initiation as a moral boundary crossing. Self-initiation is located inside an account of transitioning social values. In looking back, initiation is depicted as a feature of a historically situated aberration in normative values experienced by the 'transition generation'. Accounts of the initiation of others (which a third of our sample describe) seek to qualify the act as acceptable given the circumstances. These accounts also connect the contingency of agency with broader narratives of social condition. Lastly, the power of peers to dissuade others from initiating injection was doubted, in part because most self-initiations were accomplished as a product of agency enabled by environment as well as in the face of peer attempts to dissuade. Copyright © 2011. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Re-racialization of Addiction and the Redistribution of Blame in the White Opioid Epidemic.

PubMed

Mendoza, Sonia; Rivera, Allyssa Stephanie; Hansen, Helena Bjerring

2018-04-27

New York City has the largest number of opioid dependent people of U.S. cities, and within New York, Whites have the highest rate of prescription opioid and heroin overdose deaths. The rise of opioid abuse among Whites has resulted in popular narratives of victimization by prescribers, framing of addiction as a biological disease, and the promise of pharmaceutical treatments that differ from the criminalizing narratives that have historically described urban Latino and black narcotic use. Through an analysis of popular media press and interviews with opioid prescribers and community pharmacists in Staten Island-the epicenter of opioid overdose in New York City and the most suburban and white of its boroughs-we found that narratives of white opioid users disrupted notions of the addict as "other," producing alternative logics of blame that focus on prescribers and the encroachment of dealers from outside of white neighborhoods. © 2018 by the American Anthropological Association.

Aging and perceived event structure as a function of modality

PubMed Central

Magliano, Joseph; Kopp, Kristopher; McNerney, M. Windy; Radvansky, Gabriel A.; Zacks, Jeffrey M.

2012-01-01

The majority of research on situation model processing in older adults has focused on narrative texts. Much of this research has shown that many important aspects of constructing a situation model for a text are preserved and may even improve with age. However, narratives need not be text-based, and little is known as to whether these findings generalize to visually-based narratives. The present study assessed the impact of story modality on event segmentation, which is a basic component of event comprehension. Older and younger adults viewed picture stories or read text versions of them and segmented them into events. There was comparable alignment between the segmentation judgments and a theoretically guided analysis of shifts in situational features across modalities for both populations. These results suggest that situation models provide older adults with a stable basis for event comprehension across different modalities of expereinces. PMID:22182344

Living well with end stage renal disease: patients' narratives interrupted from a virtue perspective.

PubMed

Dekker, Wim; Uerz, Inez; Wils, Jean-Pierre

2005-01-01

Over the last few decades there has been a revival of interest in virtue ethics, with the emphasis on the virtuous caregiver. This paper deals with the 'virtuous patient', specifically the patient with End Stage Renal Disease (ESRD). We believe that a virtue approach provides insights not available to current methods of studying coping styles and coping strategies. Data are derived from seven semi-structured in-depth interviews. The transcripts of the interviews were subjected to an Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA). The focus of the analysis was on 'living well with chronic illness.' It appears that the moral challenges faced by patients with ESRD are manifold. When they are invited to tell the story of their illness, they do not explicitly speak of virtues, but they often refer to moral qualities, and to attitudes that can be regarded as virtuous. We identify several such concepts in the narratives of patients with ESRD. We conclude that the Aristotelian model of virtue ethics is particularly descriptively (and possibly also normatively) relevant to the explanation of the life narratives and the moral challenges of patients with an ESRD.

Narratives about illness and medication: a neglected theme/new methodology within pharmacy practice research. Part II: medication narratives in practice.

PubMed

Ryan, Kath; Bissell, Paul; Morecroft, Charles

2007-08-01

Part 2 of this paper aims to provide a methodological framework for the study of medication narratives, including a semi-structured interview guide and suggested method of analysis, in an attempt to aid the development of narrative scholarship within pharmacy practice research. Examples of medication narratives are provided to illustrate their diversity and usefulness. The framework is derived from the work of other researchers and adapted for our specific purpose. It comes from social psychology, narrative psychology, narrative anthropology, sociology and critical theory and fits within the social constructionist paradigm. The suggested methods of analysis could broadly be described as narrative analysis and discourse analysis. Examples of medication narratives are chosen from a variety of sources and brief interpretations are presented by way of illustration. Narrative analysis, a neglected area of research in pharmacy practice, has the potential to provide new understanding about how people relate to their medicines, how pharmacists are engaged in producing narratives and the importance of narrative in the education of students. IMPACT OF THE ARTICLE: This article aims to have the following impact on pharmacy practice research: Innovative approach to researching and conceptualising the use of medicines. Introduction of a new theoretical perspective and methodology. Incorporation of social science research methods into pharmacy practice research. Development of narrative scholarship within pharmacy.

Jenny's story: reinventing oneself through occupation and narrative configuration.

PubMed

Price-Lackey, P; Cashman, J

1996-04-01

Two life history interviews were conducted to discover how one women, Jenny, experienced a traumatic head injury, rehabilitation, and recovery. Narrative analysis of the transcribed interviews revealed a rich story of how Jenny had fashioned her identity and character through childhood occupations, including studying classical literature and music, and of how she drew upon resources developed in childhood to engineer her recovery. It also illustrated how Jenny used a recursive process of narrative construction and engagement in self-devised graduated occupations, including studying, playing music, writing, computer graphics, and theater production, to create a new identity and develop capacities to process complex information and exercise creativity. Jenny's story illustrates the usefulness of gaining a perspective on patients as occupational beings through the gathering of life histories focused on occupation, the importance of collaborative patient-therapist goal setting, and the necessity for considering both the doing (practic) and the meaning (narrative) aspects of occupation. Her story supports many scholars' arguments that the therapeutic relationship, and thus occupational therapy practice, may be enhanced through the use of life history interviewing in occupational therapy evaluation and treatment.

Definitions of Violence: Narratives of Survivors From the War in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

PubMed

Basic, Goran

2018-07-01

Previous research on violence during the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina has resulted in a one-sided presentation of the phenomenon of "war violence." Researchers have emphasized the importance of narratives in general but have not analyzed stories on war violence that were the product of interpersonal interaction and meaning-making activity. The aim of this article is to fill this knowledge gap by analyzing survivor narratives of the 1990s war in northwestern Bosnia. The focus is on analyzing interviewees' descriptions of wartime violence and the discursive patterns that contribute to constructing the phenomenon of "war violence." My analysis reveals an intimate relationship between how an interviewee interprets the biographical consequences of war violence and the individual's own war experiences. All interviewees described war violence as something that is morally reprehensible. These narratives, from both perpetrators of violence and those subjected to violence, recount violent situations that not only exist as mental constructions but also live on even after the war; thus, they have real consequences for the individuals and their society.

A Narrative Analysis of the Process of Self-Authorship for Student Affairs Graduate Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schoper, Sarah E.

2011-01-01

Research on preparation programs for student affairs professionals has focused primarily on identifying competencies. Limited attention has been paid to the process of how meaning is made of preparation program experiences. Of the scholarship conducted, minimal consideration has been paid to the relationship between development and the…

Voice, Identity, and Mathematics: Narratives of Working Class Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hodge, Lynn Liao; Harris, Ramona Gartman

2015-01-01

In this paper, we present an analysis of student interview data focusing on students' ideas about mathematics and their experiences learning mathematics. We draw on the idea of "personal identity" (Cobb, Gresalfi, & Hodge, 2009) to capture the differences and similarities in students' views of math and themselves as math learners,…

Disciplining Professionals: A Feminist Discourse Analysis of Public Preschool Teachers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sisson, Jamie Huff; Iverson, Susan V.

2014-01-01

Educational reforms across the globe have had implications for the work of preschool teachers and thus their professional identities. This article draws on a feminist discourse lens to examine data collected from a recent narrative inquiry focused on understanding the professional identities of five public preschool teachers in the USA. This…

Conquest or Reconquest? Students' Conceptions of Nation Embedded in a Historical Narrative

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lopez, Cesar; Carretero, Mario; Rodriguez-Moneo, Maria

2015-01-01

This article focuses on university students' understanding of the concept of nation. First an analysis of this concept from a historiographical point of view is presented. This allows for distinguishing between different conceptions of the nation related to 3 main approaches: the romantic, the modernist, and the ethnosymbolic approaches. Based on…

Insidious Colonialism in Post-Apartheid Education: Interplay of Black Teacher Narratives, Educational Policy and Textbook Analysis

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Subreenduth, Sharon

2013-01-01

This article focuses on the larger project of identifying oppressive structures (during apartheid more specifically in this instance) and how educational policy/textbooks (post-apartheid) produce transformative knowledge for decolonization. It presents Black South African teacher perceptions and desires of what/how educational policy, history…

Playing It Down/Playing It Up: Girls' Strategic Negotiations of Academic Success

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Raby, Rebecca; Pomerantz, Shauna

2015-01-01

Through the lens of post-structural agency, this article focuses on how self-identified smart girls strategically negotiate their academic identities within the gendered terrain of the school. Based on interviews with 51 smart high school girls in Canada, our analysis complicates current narrative of girls' easy achievement in school. Participants…

Effects of Immediate Repetition in L2 Speaking Tasks: A Focused Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bei, Gavin Xiaoyue

2013-01-01

This paper reports on a focused investigation into the immediate effects of oral narrative task repetition by two adult EFL learners of intermediate and high proficiency. Two participants performed a narrative speaking task after watching a cartoon video clip and repeated their performance three times, followed by a retrospective report in an…

Storying Our Claims, Claiming Our Stories: Becoming through Narrative in the Social-Justice Focused Classroom

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kantor, Julia Churchill

2013-01-01

The following project uses both narrative and feminist poststructural lenses to consider how narratives operated in one undergraduate social foundations of education class purposefully designed around issues of social justice. These theoretical frameworks were useful in exploring the ways students and myself, the course instructor, were variously…

Towards a New Understanding: Complex Familial Constructs of Autism

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kim, Joanne J.

2016-01-01

The focus of this dissertation was to gain a better understanding of how families construct autism. Studies have overwhelmingly used the medical model or the institutional narrative to interpret how autism is understood in families. More recently, a counter-narrative has emerged resisting this medical model. Both narratives, however, simplify the…

Extending the Classroom: Digital Micro-Narratives for Novice Language Learners

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kronenberg, Felix A.

2014-01-01

Digital Storytelling offers many advantages for language learning, especially within a project-based framework. In this article, the use of Digital Micro-Narratives is proposed as particularly useful for second language learners at the novice level. As a sub-genre of Digital Storytelling, Digital Micro-Narratives focus more on frequently updated…

Workplace Violence in Early Childhood Settings: A Counter Narrative.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sumsion, Jennifer

Noting that portrayals of early childhood settings as communities of care distinguish them from other education contexts, this paper presents a counter-narrative that focuses on workplace tensions experienced by an Australian preschool teacher. The counter-narrative was informed by informal interviews held 4 times yearly over a period of 7 years…

Drawing the Line between Constituent Structure and Coherence Relations in Visual Narratives

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cohn, Neil; Bender, Patrick

2017-01-01

Theories of visual narrative understanding have often focused on the changes in meaning across a sequence, like shifts in characters, spatial location, and causation, as cues for breaks in the structure of a discourse. In contrast, the theory of visual narrative grammar posits that hierarchic "grammatical" structures operate at the…

Story Crafting: Strategies for Facilitating Narrative Career Counselling

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McMahon, Mary; Watson, Mark

2012-01-01

Narrative career counselling is a growing force in career guidance and counselling that offers a direction for the field to respond to the needs of increasingly diverse client groups. In this article, we review established and emerging approaches to narrative career counselling, then focus on the emerging story telling approach. We offer examples…

Reading Minds and Telling Tales in a Cultural Borderland

PubMed Central

Mattingly, Cheryl

2010-01-01

In this article I consider “narrative mind reading,” the practical capability of inferring the motives that precipitate and underlie the actions of others. Following Jerome Bruner, I argue that this everyday capacity depends on our ability to place action within unfolding narrative contexts. While Bruner has focused on narrative mind reading as a within-culture affair, I look to border situations that cross race and class lines where there is a strong presumption among participants that they do not, in fact, share a cultural framework. Instead, interactions often reinforce actors’ perceptions of mutual misunderstanding and cultural difference. Drawing on a longitudinal study of African American families who have children with severe illnesses, I examine narrative mind reading and misreading in one mother’s interactions with the clinicians who treat her child. I further explore how narrative misreadings are supported through chart notes and “familiar stranger” stories. The focus on miscommunication grounds a theory of the reproduction of cultural difference in interactive dynamics and brings Bruner’s emphasis on narrative into dialogue with contemporary anthropology of cultural borderlands. PMID:20706549

Career Paths in Educational Leadership: Examining Principals' Narratives

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Parylo, Oksana; Zepeda, Sally J.; Bengtson, Ed

2012-01-01

This qualitative study analyzes the career path narratives of active principals. Structural narrative analysis was supplemented with sociolinguistic theory and thematic narrative analysis to discern the similarities and differences, as well as the patterns in the language used by participating principals. Thematic analysis found four major themes…

Becoming a Narrator: A Case Study in the Dynamics of Learning Based on the Theories/Methods of Vygotsky

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jansson, Anders B.

2011-01-01

This article focuses on the learning that is enabled while a primary school child makes a story using multimodal software. This child is diagnosed with autism. The aim is to use a cultural-historical framework to carry out an in-depth analysis of a process of learning with action as a unit of analysis. The article is based on a collaborative…

Parental Grief Following the Death of a Child from Cancer: The Ongoing Odyssey.

PubMed

Snaman, Jennifer M; Kaye, Erica C; Torres, Carlos; Gibson, Deborah; Baker, Justin N

2016-09-01

The death of a child is a devastating event that results in profound grief and significant psychosocial and physical morbidities in parents. The parental grief journey is a complex phenomenon necessitating the utilization of newer models of bereavement with a focus on relationships and exploration of parents' perceived meanings of the experience. To further characterize the grief journey of parents whose child died from cancer in order to better identify parents who can benefit from additional bereavement support and design strategies to improve bereavement services for these parents. We conducted focus group sessions with 11 bereaved parents. The parents were given two prompts to describe their grief journey before and after their child's death, and their responses in a narrative form were audio-recorded. The responses were coded and studied independently by semantic content analysis. Collation and analysis of the coded responses to both prompts results in the emergence of four concepts from the parental narratives: (1) description of the grief trajectory and evolution of grief over time, (2) mechanisms of parental coping throughout the grief journey, (3) factors that exacerbate parental grief, and (4) sources of parental support throughout the grief journey. The narratives highlighted that parents whose child died of cancer experience a unique and evolving form of grief and they wish to continue their bond with the deceased child. We recommend that healthcare providers and institutions incorporate support systems into a comprehensive bereavement program for families of children who die from cancer. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

The emotional impact of loss narratives: event severity and narrative perspectives.

PubMed

Habermas, Tilmann; Diel, Verena

2010-06-01

Out of the complex influences of event, narrative and listener characteristics on narrative emotions, this paper focuses on event severity, narrative perspectives, mood, and dispositions for emotion regulation and empathy. Event severity and perspective representation were systematically varied in sad autobiographical narratives to study their influence on quantity and quality of readers' emotional response. Each of three stories were manipulated to contain elaborated perspectives, only the past protagonists' perspective (dramatic narration), and very little perspectives at all (impersonal narration). We predicted that event severity influences the quantity of emotional response, while degree of perspective representation influences plausibility and whether emotional responses are sympathetic or interactional, that is, directed against the narrator. Hypotheses were confirmed except for plausibility, and perspective representation had an effect only on anger against and dislike of the narrator. In a second study, impersonal narration evoked anger at and negative evaluations of the narrator which were related to blaming the narrator for showing too little emotional involvement. The generalizability of findings across emotions and implications for sharing of emotions in everyday and clinical settings are discussed.

Storytelling in dementia: embodiment as a resource.

PubMed

Hydén, Lars-Christer

2013-05-01

In narrative research about persons with dementia, much research focuses on individual storytellers and their stories often stressing the discursive or textual aspects of stories. As persons with Alzheimer's disease generally have difficulties in telling stories according to often implicit narrative norms, they may appear to be less competent and agentive than what is actually the case. In the article, I argue for a change of focus from the textual aspects of narratives and the story as a product, to a focus on performative aspects and the embodied aspects of storytelling. A focus on the storytelling activity implies a change from the individual storyteller to the interaction with other participants in the storytelling situation. Drawing on two particular cases of storytelling, I stress the collaborative and embodied aspects of storytelling and argue that embodiment is less an individual expressive phenomenon than it is an interactive resource.

Becoming a teller of tales: Associations between children’s fictional narratives and parent-child reminiscence narratives

PubMed Central

Wenner, Jennifer A.; Burch, Melissa M.; Lynch, Julie S.; Bauer, Patricia J.

2008-01-01

Previous research has revealed a connection between the contributions parents make while reminiscing and their children’s narratives for personally experienced events. The present research expands the literature by focusing on the connection between parental reminiscing and children’s production of fictional narratives. Four- to 9-year-olds and their parents reminisced about past shared events and then, with an experimenter, the children produced narratives based on wordless picture books. The results revealed that the overall quality of the fictional narratives was correlated with parents’ provision statements that emphasized orientation and evaluation in the reminiscence narrative. For younger children, correlations held for reminiscence narratives about recent events. For older children, correlations held for reminiscence narratives about events from the distant past. The results are consistent with the suggestion that children learn general storytelling skills from adult models. PMID:18062986

Anorexia Nervosa: A Synthesis of Poetic and Narrative Therapies in the Outpatient Treatment of Young Adult Women

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Robbins, Joy M.; Pehrsson, Dale-Elizabeth

2009-01-01

Current trends for treatment of women with anorexia nervosa often focus on weight gain as the primary therapeutic goal without concurrently addressing psychological concerns. As a result of this singular focus, many women drop out of treatment before recovering. This article offers an alternate treatment model. A synthesized narrative and poetry…

Teachers Performing Gender and Belonging: A Case Study of How SENCOs Narrate Inclusion Identities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Woolhouse, Clare

2015-01-01

This paper investigates how the narratives Special Educational Needs Co-ordinators (SENCOs) tell can be framed as social, discursive practices and performances of identity by analysing accounts offered in focus groups and life history interviews. I explore how the narratives deployed demonstrate an engagement with a rhetoric about who works in…

Racial Microaggressions: The Narratives of African American Faculty at a Predominantly White University

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pittman, Chavella T.

2012-01-01

What role does race play in the lives of fourteen African American (7 women, 7 men) faculty on a predominantly White campus? This case study focuses on their narratives which revealed that racial microaggressions were a common and negative facet of their lives on campus. Specifically, their narratives suggest interactions of microinvalidations…

Teaching Writing: Support Material for Text Level Objectives. The National Literacy Strategy.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Department for Education and Skills, London (England).

These 10 fliers focus on strategies to improve students' writing. The fliers are: (1) Improving Writing (covers general points related to all types of writing); (2) Writing Narrative (covers the main points to writing narrative, helping children to build up a repertoire of different types of narrative); (3) Writing Poetry (covers the main points…

Harnessing the Power of Story: Using Narrative Reading and Writing across Content Areas

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nathanson, Steven

2006-01-01

This article reviews research to examine how teaching and learning are improved with the use of narrative story materials. Stories help to focus the reader's attention and build personal connection, resulting in better retention and deeper subject-matter understanding. Four key advantages of narratives cited by D. T. Willingham are discussed. The…

Narratives in Teaching Practice: Matti Raekallio as Narrator in His Piano Lessons

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hyry-Beihammer, Eeva Kaisa

2011-01-01

The present article considers the narratives told in piano lessons, studied as both a teacher's "way of knowing" and as echoes of "masters' voices" in classical music. The main character is a well known Finnish music pedagogue and artist, Matti Raekallio, and the study focuses on his knowledge of teaching practice; that is, his…

Difference, Visual Narration, and "Point of View" in "My Name is Red"

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cicekoglu, Feride

2003-01-01

This paper focuses on the difference between Eastern and Western ways of visual narration, taking as its frame of reference the novel "My Name is Red," by Turkish author Orhan Pamuk, winner of the 2003 International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award. This book is particularly important in terms of visual narration because it highlights the…

Inventing Memories: Returnees' Retrospective Narratives of Street Experience

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Choi, Jung-ah

2005-01-01

In this paper I focus on the narratives of youths who attended an alternative school after engaging in the street culture. Based on retrospective narrative stories I examine the ways in which returnees? returning decision stimulates reflections on their past experiences, both in mainstream schools as well as in the street, and the way in which the…

Teacher Counter Stories to a Citizenship Education Mega Policy Narrative. Preparing for Citizenship in Chile

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cavieres-Fernández, Eduardo

2017-01-01

The present article focuses on the counter stories of two Chilean social studies high school teachers. Counter stories describe how teachers use their professional experience to confront those mega narratives composed of dominant educational policies that impinge upon their pedagogical practices. The mega narrative described in this study as a…

Multimodal Literacy Narratives: Weaving the Threads of Young Children's Identity through the Arts

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Binder, Marni; Kotsopoulos, Sally

2011-01-01

The current study examines how children develop multimodal narratives through the construction of quilt squares and I Am poetry. Creating visual narratives through the use of personal artifacts lays the foundation for this artistic multiple literacy experience. The study focuses on the process and growth that a diverse group of kindergarten…

The Contributions of Postmodern Narratives to Master's Degree Students' Higher-Order Thinking Skills

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Isiksalan, Sevim Nilay

2016-01-01

This study has been prepared for the purpose of examining the contributions of postmodern narrations to literature education. It focuses on the outcomes of readings from postmodern narrations by 12 master's degree students studying in the Department of Turkish Language at a university in Central Anatolia. In the theoretical dimension of the study,…

"A Bad Head for Maths"? Constructions of Educability and Mathematics in Adult Students' Narrative Life Histories

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Siivonen, Päivi

2013-01-01

The article focuses on the social differences of educability constructed in Finnish general upper secondary school adult graduates' narratives on mathematics. Social class, gender, and age intertwine in the narratives that express the adult students' worries about their ability and competence to study and learn mathematics. Social differences of…

Separating the Problem and the Person: Insights from Narrative Therapy with People Who Stutter

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ryan, Fiona; O'Dwyer, Mary; Leahy, Margaret M.

2015-01-01

Stuttering is a complex disorder of speech that encompasses motor speech and emotional and cognitive factors. The use of narrative therapy is described here, focusing on the stories that clients tell about the problems associated with stuttering that they have encountered in their lives. Narrative therapy uses these stories to understand, analyze,…

"In this scenario, I do this, for these reasons": narrative, genre and ethical reasoning in the clinic.

PubMed

Jordens, Christopher F C; Little, Miles

2004-05-01

Narrative analysis has been applied by health researchers to investigate (among other things) clinical reasoning, clinical ethics and human identity. The term 'narrative' is often used as a broad category that covers a variety of spoken genres, however, and it thereby lacks delicacy as an analytic tool. We introduce genre theory, which enables us to differentiate more clearly between story genres and other spoken genres. We then apply the theory to ten narrative-style interviews with clinicians involved in the treatment and management of colorectal cancer in Sydney, Australia. We characterise the narrative-style interview as a macro-genre, and draw attention to the occurrence of spoken genres other than stories. We focus our analysis on a policy genre that occurred naturally and frequently in the spoken discourse of the informants, but which has not been described before in either the literature of social linguistics or the health and medical literature. We analyse two examples of this genre in detail in order to characterise its main semantic features, and differentiate it from story genres. We then discuss the genre with reference to Aristotelian interpretations of ethical reasoning in the clinic. We conclude that the policy genre is both the unfolding of practical wisdom in speech, and the appropriate choice of genre where a display of ethical identity is called for. Finally, we discuss the implications of our findings for ongoing research, for ethics education, for bioethical theory, and for communication between some of the different stakeholder groups in clinical medicine.

Unsolicited written narratives as a methodological genre in terminal illness: challenges and limitations.

PubMed

O'Brien, Mary R; Clark, David

2012-02-01

Stories about illness have proven invaluable in helping health professionals understand illness experiences. Such narratives have traditionally been solicited by researchers through interviews and the collection of personal writings, including diaries. These approaches are, however, researcher driven; the impetus for the creation of the story comes from the researcher and not the narrator. In recent years there has been exponential growth in illness narratives created by individuals, of their own volition, and made available for others to read in print or as Internet accounts. We sought to determine whether it was possible to identify such material for use as research data to explore the subject of living with the terminal illness amyotrophic lateral sclerosis/motor neuron disease--the contention being that these accounts are narrator driven and therefore focus on issues of greatest importance to the affected person. We encountered and sought to overcome a number of methodological and ethical challenges, which is our focus here.

Cultural Differences in the Relationship between Intrusions and Trauma Narratives Using the Trauma Film Paradigm

PubMed Central

Jobson, Laura; Dalgleish, Tim

2014-01-01

Two studies explored the influence of culture on the relationship between British and East Asian adults’ autobiographical remembering of trauma film material and associated intrusions. Participants were shown aversive film clips to elicit intrusive images. Then participants provided a post-film narrative of the film content (only Study 1). In both studies, participants reported intrusive images for the film in an intrusion diary during the week after viewing. On returning the diary, participants provided a narrative of the film (delayed). The trauma film narratives were scored for memory-content variables. It was found that for British participants, higher levels of autonomous orientation (i.e. expressions of autonomy and self-determination) and self-focus in the delayed narratives were correlated significantly with fewer intrusions. For the East Asian group, lower levels of autonomous orientation and greater focus on others were correlated significantly with fewer intrusions. Additionally, Study 2 found that by removing the post-film narrative task there was a significant increase in the number of intrusions relative to Study 1, suggesting that the opportunity to develop a narrative resulted in fewer intrusions. These findings suggest that the greater the integration and contextualization of the trauma memory, and the more the trauma memory reflects culturally appropriate remembering, the fewer the intrusions. PMID:25203300

Cultural differences in the relationship between intrusions and trauma narratives using the trauma film paradigm.

PubMed

Jobson, Laura; Dalgleish, Tim

2014-01-01

Two studies explored the influence of culture on the relationship between British and East Asian adults' autobiographical remembering of trauma film material and associated intrusions. Participants were shown aversive film clips to elicit intrusive images. Then participants provided a post-film narrative of the film content (only Study 1). In both studies, participants reported intrusive images for the film in an intrusion diary during the week after viewing. On returning the diary, participants provided a narrative of the film (delayed). The trauma film narratives were scored for memory-content variables. It was found that for British participants, higher levels of autonomous orientation (i.e. expressions of autonomy and self-determination) and self-focus in the delayed narratives were correlated significantly with fewer intrusions. For the East Asian group, lower levels of autonomous orientation and greater focus on others were correlated significantly with fewer intrusions. Additionally, Study 2 found that by removing the post-film narrative task there was a significant increase in the number of intrusions relative to Study 1, suggesting that the opportunity to develop a narrative resulted in fewer intrusions. These findings suggest that the greater the integration and contextualization of the trauma memory, and the more the trauma memory reflects culturally appropriate remembering, the fewer the intrusions.

Mapping letters from the future: exploring narrative processes of imagining the future.

PubMed

Sools, Anneke M; Tromp, Thijs; Mooren, Jan H

2015-03-01

This article uses Letters from the Future (a health promotion instrument) to explore the human capacity of imagining the future. From a narrative perspective, letters from the future are considered to be indicative of a variety of forms through which human beings construct and understand their future selves and worlds. This is consistent with an interpretive approach to understanding the human mind, which offers an alternative for the current dominant causal-explanatory approach in psychology. On the basis of qualitative analysis of 480 letters from the future, collected online from a diverse group of Dutch and German persons, we first identified five narrative processes operating in the letters: imagining, evaluating, orienting, expressing emotions and engaging in dialogue. Second, using comparative analysis, we identified six types of how these processes are organized in the letters as a whole. These types differ regarding functionality (which of the five processes was dominant); temporality (prospective, retrospective and present-oriented); the extent to which a path between present and future was described; and the vividness of the imagination. We suggest that these types can be used in narrative health practice as 'pathways' to locate where letter writers are on their path to imagine the future, rather than as a normative taxonomy. Future research should focus on how these pathways can be used to navigate to health and well-being. © The Author(s) 2015.

Testimony in Narrative Educational Research: A Qualitative Interview, Narrative Analysis and Epistemological Evaluation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Christopher, Justin

2017-01-01

The purpose of this study is to assess issues that arise in the context of epistemological claims in narrative educational research by means of narrative analysis and epistemological evaluation. The research questions which guided the study were: 1) To what extent is epistemology considered by narrative educational researchers?; 2) What issues do…

"In a Position I See Myself in:" (Re)Positioning Identities and Culturally-Responsive Pedagogies

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Golden, Noah Asher

2017-01-01

Culturally-responsive pedagogies require moving beyond blanket assumptions about learners to focus deeply on local meaning-makings. This narrative analysis case study examines the ways a 20-year-old African American man challenges the negative educational identity with which he is forced to contend as he navigates a large and complex urban public…

The Emergence of the Strengths Philosophy and Its Movement into Christian Higher Education: A Historiography

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jones, Jeffrey A.

2013-01-01

This historical narrative analysis traces the emergence of the strengths philosophy and its movement into Christian higher education using data collected between 2009 and 2010. Beginning with a focus on Don Clifton, Lee Noel, and Edward "Chip" Anderson, a theoretical model from social movement literature is used to construct the…

Producing Global Citizens for the Future: Space, Discourse and Curricular Reform

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Matus, Claudia; Talburt, Susan

2015-01-01

This article inquires into discourses of globalisation as they are put to use to accelerate higher education's seemingly ready acquiescence to the demands of the market. We maintain that globalisation operates as a way to reason about space that produces images and narratives of universities, knowledge and students. We focus our analysis on…

How Urban Fathers Represent the Transition to Fathering: A Discourse Analysis of Fathering Narratives.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gadsden, Vivian; Wortham, Stanton; Wojcik, Teresa

Noting that researchers rarely ask urban fathers about their perspectives and choices regarding fatherhood, this pilot study examined the experiences of urban fathers, focusing on their views of the challenges of fatherhood and how they accounted for both their irresponsible and their promising fathering behaviors; the study's larger goal will be…

A Feminist Post-Structuralist Analysis of an Exemplar South African School History Text

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fardon, Jill; Schoeman, Sonja

2010-01-01

A feminist post-structuralist perspective offers an alternative paradigm for the study of gender bias in History texts. It focuses on multiple perspectives and open interpretation, opens up space for female voices of the past and present, and deconstructs realist historical narrative. Our aim in this article is to discuss feminist…

Attributes of Spirituality Described by Survivors of Sexual Violence

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Knapik, Gregory P.; Martsolf, Donna S.; Draucker, Claire B.; Strickland, Karen D.

2010-01-01

This study focuses on what aspects of attributes of spirituality as defined by Martsolf and Mickley (1998) are most salient for female and male survivors of sexual violence. Content analysis of secondary narrative data, provided by 50 participants in a study of women's and men's responses to sexual violence, was coded to the five attributes of…

Narrative writing: Effective ways and best practices

PubMed Central

Ledade, Samir D.; Jain, Shishir N.; Darji, Ankit A.; Gupta, Vinodkumar H.

2017-01-01

A narrative is a brief summary of specific events experienced by patients, during the course of a clinical trial. Narrative writing involves multiple activities such as generation of patient profiles, review of data sources, and identification of events for which narratives are required. A sponsor outsources narrative writing activities to leverage the expertise of service providers which in turn requires effective management of resources, cost, time, quality, and overall project management. Narratives are included as an appendix to the clinical study report and are submitted to the regulatory authorities as a part of dossier. Narratives aid in the evaluation of the safety profile of the investigational drug under study. To deliver high-quality narratives within the specified timeframe to the sponsor can be achieved by standardizing processes, increasing efficiency, optimizing working capacity, implementing automation, and reducing cost. This paper focuses on effective ways to design narrative writing process and suggested best practices, which enable timely delivery of high-quality narratives to fulfill the regulatory requirement. PMID:28447014

Narrative writing: Effective ways and best practices.

PubMed

Ledade, Samir D; Jain, Shishir N; Darji, Ankit A; Gupta, Vinodkumar H

2017-01-01

A narrative is a brief summary of specific events experienced by patients, during the course of a clinical trial. Narrative writing involves multiple activities such as generation of patient profiles, review of data sources, and identification of events for which narratives are required. A sponsor outsources narrative writing activities to leverage the expertise of service providers which in turn requires effective management of resources, cost, time, quality, and overall project management. Narratives are included as an appendix to the clinical study report and are submitted to the regulatory authorities as a part of dossier. Narratives aid in the evaluation of the safety profile of the investigational drug under study. To deliver high-quality narratives within the specified timeframe to the sponsor can be achieved by standardizing processes, increasing efficiency, optimizing working capacity, implementing automation, and reducing cost. This paper focuses on effective ways to design narrative writing process and suggested best practices, which enable timely delivery of high-quality narratives to fulfill the regulatory requirement.

Coupled neural systems underlie the production and comprehension of naturalistic narrative speech

PubMed Central

Silbert, Lauren J.; Honey, Christopher J.; Simony, Erez; Poeppel, David; Hasson, Uri

2014-01-01

Neuroimaging studies of language have typically focused on either production or comprehension of single speech utterances such as syllables, words, or sentences. In this study we used a new approach to functional MRI acquisition and analysis to characterize the neural responses during production and comprehension of complex real-life speech. First, using a time-warp based intrasubject correlation method, we identified all areas that are reliably activated in the brains of speakers telling a 15-min-long narrative. Next, we identified areas that are reliably activated in the brains of listeners as they comprehended that same narrative. This allowed us to identify networks of brain regions specific to production and comprehension, as well as those that are shared between the two processes. The results indicate that production of a real-life narrative is not localized to the left hemisphere but recruits an extensive bilateral network, which overlaps extensively with the comprehension system. Moreover, by directly comparing the neural activity time courses during production and comprehension of the same narrative we were able to identify not only the spatial overlap of activity but also areas in which the neural activity is coupled across the speaker’s and listener’s brains during production and comprehension of the same narrative. We demonstrate widespread bilateral coupling between production- and comprehension-related processing within both linguistic and nonlinguistic areas, exposing the surprising extent of shared processes across the two systems. PMID:25267658

Narrative Interest Standard: A Novel Approach to Surrogate Decision-Making for People With Dementia.

PubMed

Wilkins, James M

2017-06-17

Dementia is a common neurodegenerative process that can significantly impair decision-making capacity as the disease progresses. When a person is found to lack capacity to make a decision, a surrogate decision-maker is generally sought to aid in decision-making. Typical bases for surrogate decision-making include the substituted judgment standard and the best interest standard. Given the heterogeneous and progressive course of dementia, however, these standards for surrogate decision-making are often insufficient in providing guidance for the decision-making for a person with dementia, escalating the likelihood of conflict in these decisions. In this article, the narrative interest standard is presented as a novel and more appropriate approach to surrogate decision-making for people with dementia. Through case presentation and ethical analysis, the standard mechanisms for surrogate decision-making for people with dementia are reviewed and critiqued. The narrative interest standard is then introduced and discussed as a dementia-specific model for surrogate decision-making. Through incorporation of elements of a best interest standard in focusing on the current benefit-burden ratio and elements of narrative to provide context, history, and flexibility for values and preferences that may change over time, the narrative interest standard allows for elaboration of an enriched context for surrogate decision-making for people with dementia. More importantly, however, a narrative approach encourages the direct contribution from people with dementia in authoring the story of what matters to them in their lives.

A Cross-Linguistic Study of the Development of Gesture and Speech in Zulu and French Oral Narratives

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nicolas, Ramona Kunene; Guidetti, Michele; Colletta, Jean-Marc

2017-01-01

The present study reports on a developmental and cross-linguistic study of oral narratives produced by speakers of Zulu (a Bantu language) and French (a Romance language). Specifically, we focus on oral narrative performance as a bimodal (i.e., linguistic and gestural) behaviour during the late language acquisition phase. We analyzed seventy-two…

The Diagram as Story: Unfolding the Event-Structure of the Mathematical Diagram

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

de Freitas, Elizabeth

2012-01-01

This paper explores the role of narrative in decoding diagrams. I focus on two fundamental facets of narrative: (1) the recounting of causally related sequences of events, and (2) the positioning of the narrator through point-of-view and voice. In the first two sections of the paper I discuss philosophical and semiotic frameworks for making sense…

Quantifying Narrative Ability in Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Computational Linguistic Analysis of Narrative Coherence

PubMed Central

Losh, Molly; Gordon, Peter C.

2014-01-01

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is characterized by difficulties with social communication and functioning, and ritualistic/repetitive behaviors (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). While substantial heterogeneity exists in symptom expression, impairments in language discourse skills, including narrative, are universally observed (Tager-Flusberg, Paul, & Lord, 2005). This study applied a computational linguistic tool, Latent Semantic Analysis (LSA), to objectively characterize narrative performance in ASD across two narrative contexts differing in interpersonal and cognitive demands. Results indicated that individuals with ASD produced narratives comparable in semantic content to those from controls when narrating from a picture book, but produced narratives diminished in semantic quality in a more demanding narrative recall task. Results are discussed in terms of the utility of LSA as a quantitative, objective, and efficient measure of narrative ability. PMID:24915929

A cross-linguistic study of the development of gesture and speech in Zulu and French oral narratives.

PubMed

Kunene Nicolas, Ramona; Guidetti, Michèle; Colletta, Jean-Marc

2017-01-01

The present study reports on a developmental and cross-linguistic study of oral narratives produced by speakers of Zulu (a Bantu language) and French (a Romance language). Specifically, we focus on oral narrative performance as a bimodal (i.e., linguistic and gestural) behaviour during the late language acquisition phase. We analyzed seventy-two oral narratives produced by L1 Zulu and French adults and primary school children aged between five and ten years old. The data were all collected using a narrative retelling task. The results revealed a strong effect of age on discourse performance, confirming that narrative abilities improve with age, irrespective of language. However, the results also showed cross-linguistic differences. Zulu oral narratives were longer, more detailed, and accompanied by more co-speech gestures than the French narratives. The parallel effect of age and language on gestural behaviour is discussed and highlights the importance of studying oral narratives from a multimodal perspective within a cross-linguistic framework.

Story-telling, women's authority and the "Old Wife's Tale": "The Story of the Bottle of Medicine".

PubMed

Abrams, Lynn

2012-01-01

The focus of this article is a single personal narrative – a Shetland woman's telling of a story about two girls on a journey to fetch a cure for a sick relative from a wise woman. The story is treated as a cultural document which offers the historian a conduit to a past that is respectful of indigenous woman-centred interpretations of how that past was experienced and understood. The "story of the bottle of medicine" is more than a skilful telling of a local tale; it is a memory practice that provides a path to a deeper and more nuanced understanding of a culture. Applying perspectives from anthropology, oral history and narrative analysis, three sets of questions are addressed: the issue of authenticity; the significance of the narrative structure and storytelling strategies employed; and the nature of the female performance. Ultimately the article asks what this story can tell us about women's interpretation of their own history.

"It's in the Cards": The Contribution of Illustrated Metaphor Cards to Exploring Values Within Narratives.

PubMed

Karnieli-Miller, Orit; Nissim, Geffen; Goldberg, Miriam

2017-01-01

In this article, we present the use of illustrated metaphorical cards as a technique to enrich the qualitative narrative interview. We examine the advantages of incorporating a projective tool to assist in constructing and understanding personal narratives of people living with severe mental illness. We interviewed 25 participants-staff and members of a clubhouse in Israel (an international community model of rehabilitation in mental health)-and sought to understand their stories focused on personal and organizational values. The findings revealed that, in most cases, the cards contributed to data collection by enhancing the interviewees' ability for expression and by facilitating richer, more comprehensive stories and descriptions. This in turn enhanced the researcher's ability to understand the messages and stories presented. The research conclusions discuss the cards' potential contribution to improving data collection and analysis. The cards became an additional channel for expressing participants' experiences, emotions, and unique voice. © The Author(s) 2015.

Young Children's Interpretations of Gender from Visual Text and Narrative.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Smith, Ruth S.

1995-01-01

Describes a text and some children's readings of a fictional animal story in which a bossy rooster is "tamed" by a female sheep dog. The article's analysis of the children's discussions of the story focuses on modality to trace their acceptance of "credibility" in the text with respect to the construction of gender and the story's resolution. (23…

Teachers Negotiating Discourses of Gender (In) Equality: The Case of Equal Opportunities Reform in Andalusia

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cubero, Mercedes; Santamaría, Andrés; Rebollo, Mª Ángeles; Cubero, Rosario; García, Rafael; Vega, Luisa

2015-01-01

This article is focused on the analysis of the narratives produced by a group of teachers, experts in coeducation, while they were discussing their everyday activities. They are responsible for the implementation of a Plan for Gender Equality in public secondary schools in Andalusia (Spain). This study is based on contributions about doing gender…

"It's Sweeter Where the Bruise Is": Making Sense of the Experience of Family Homelessness in a Community-Campus Partnership

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sandy, Marie

2014-01-01

Individual and family stories of homelessness that focus on the transition out of homelessness remain comparatively unexplored. Using hermeneutic inquiry and microstoria analysis to orient the inquiry and design the narrative, this case study involves the story of a woman overcoming homelessness with her family, and her participation in, and…

A Curriculum of Open Possibilities: A New Zealand Kindergarten Teacher's View of Professional Practice

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dalli, Carmen

2011-01-01

Thematic analysis of a continuous video record of a day in the life of a New Zealand kindergarten teacher, and of a narrative reconstruction of the day during a follow-up interview, yielded a view of early childhood professional practice as focused on a "curriculum of open possibilities". This paper discusses elements of the teacher's…

Public Rhetoric in the Shadow of Ferguson: Co-Creating Rhetorical Theory in the Community and the Classroom

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Obermark, Lauren E.

2017-01-01

This multimedia article focuses on my experience as a professor working on a campus adjacent to Ferguson, Missouri. I discuss the ways that Ferguson and Black Lives Matter pushed me to intentionally and meaningfully connect my teaching, research, and the local community. Through narrative, video and audio excerpts and analysis of conversations…

Bullying in the Academy: Understanding the Student Bully and the Targeted "Stupid, Fat, Mother Fucker" Professor

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

May, Amy; Tenzek, Kelly E.

2018-01-01

Bullying within academia often focuses on peer bullying or the student victim. However, the student bully who targets professors is a neglected area of study yet just as destructive, demeaning, and intimidating. Using a narrative lens analysis, the researchers share how the story of bullying unfolds in the classroom. Distinct triggers, such as…

Communities of Practice in Higher Education: Contradictory Narratives of a University-Wide Curriculum Reform

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Annala, Johanna; Mäkinen, Marita

2017-01-01

This article presents an analysis of the experiences of scholars in a university-wide curriculum reform in one public research university. The focus is on the intentions and dynamics that shape the curriculum process in the local communities of practice (CoPs). The data, comprising interviews with 25 scholars, are examined as experience-centred…

Toward Understanding the Heterogeneity in OCD: Evidence from narratives in adult patients

PubMed Central

Van Schalkwyk, Gerrit I; Bhalla, Ish P; Griepp, Matthew; Kelmendi, Benjamin; Davidson, Larry; Pittenger, Christopher

2015-01-01

Background Current attempts at understanding the heterogeneity in OCD have relied on quantitative methods. The results of such work point towards a dimensional structure for OCD. Existing qualitative work in OCD has focused on understanding specific aspects of the OCD experience in greater depth. However, qualitative methods are also of potential value in furthering our understanding of OCD heterogeneity by allowing for open-ended exploration of the OCD experience and correlating identified subtypes with patient narratives. Aims We explored variations in patients’ experience prior to, during, and immediately after performing their compulsions. Method Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 20 adults with OCD, followed by inductive thematic analysis. Participant responses were not analyzed within the context of an existing theoretical framework, and themes were labeled descriptively. Results The previously dichotomy of ‘anxiety’ vs ‘incompleteness’ emerged organically during narrative analysis. In addition, we found that some individuals with OCD utilize their behaviors as a way to cope with stress and anxiety more generally. Other participants did not share this experience and denied finding any comfort in their OC behaviors. The consequences of attention difficulties were highlighted, with some participants describing how difficulty focusing on a task could influence the need for it to be repeated multiple times. Conclusions The extent to which patients use OCD as a coping mechanism is a relevant distinction with potential implications for treatment engagement. Patients may experience ambivalence about suppressing behaviors that they have come to rely upon for management of stress and anxiety, even if these behaviors represent symptoms of a psychiatric illness. PMID:25855685

The Narrative-Emotion Process Coding System 2.0: A multi-methodological approach to identifying and assessing narrative-emotion process markers in psychotherapy.

PubMed

Angus, Lynne E; Boritz, Tali; Bryntwick, Emily; Carpenter, Naomi; Macaulay, Christianne; Khattra, Jasmine

2017-05-01

Recent studies suggest that it is not simply the expression of emotion or emotional arousal in session that is important, but rather it is the reflective processing of emergent, adaptive emotions, arising in the context of personal storytelling and/or Emotion-Focused Therapy (EFT) interventions, that is associated with change. To enhance narrative-emotion integration specifically in EFT, Angus and Greenberg originally identified a set of eight clinically derived narrative-emotion integration markers were originally identified for the implementation of process-guiding therapeutic responses. Further evaluation and testing by the Angus Narrative-Emotion Marker Lab resulted in the identification of 10 empirically validated Narrative-Emotion Process (N-EP) markers that are included in the Narrative-Emotion Process Coding System Version 2.0 (NEPCS 2.0). Based on empirical research findings, individual markers are clustered into Problem (e.g., stuckness in repetitive story patterns, over-controlled or dysregulated emotion, lack of reflectivity), Transition (e.g., reflective, access to adaptive emotions and new emotional plotlines, heightened narrative and emotion integration), and Change (e.g., new story outcomes and self-narrative discovery, and co-construction and re-conceptualization) subgroups. To date, research using the NEPCS 2.0 has investigated the proportion and pattern of narrative-emotion markers in Emotion-Focused, Client-Centered, and Cognitive Therapy for Major Depression, Motivational Interviewing plus Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Generalized Anxiety Disorder, and EFT for Complex Trauma. Results have consistently identified significantly higher proportions of N-EP Transition and Change markers, and productive shifts, in mid- and late phase sessions, for clients who achieved recovery by treatment termination. Recovery is consistently associated with client storytelling that is emotionally engaged, reflective, and evidencing new story outcomes and self-narrative change. Implications for future research, practice and training are discussed.

Critical Narrative Analysis: The Interplay of Critical Discourse and Narrative Analyses

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Souto-Manning, Mariana

2014-01-01

In this article, I question the micro-macro separation in discourse analysis, the separation of personal and institutional discourses. I apply a mostly macroanalytic perspective (critical discourse analysis [CDA]) to inform a predominantly microanalytic perspective (analysis of conversational narratives) and vice versa. In the combination of these…

"Could I return to my life?" Integrated Narrative Nursing Model in Education (INNE).

PubMed

Artioli, Giovanna; Foà, Chiara; Cosentino, Chiara; Sulla, Francesco; Sollami, Alfonso; Taffurelli, Chiara

2018-03-28

The Integrated Narrative Nursing Model (INNM) is an approach that integrates the qualitative methodology typical of the human sciences, with the quantitative methodology more often associated with the natural sciences. This complex model, which combines a focus on narrative with quantitative measures, has recently been effectively applied to the assessment of chronic patients. In this study, the model is applied to the planning phase of education (Integrated Narrative Nursing Education, INNE), and proves to be a valid instrument for the promotion of the current educational paradigm that is centered on the engagement of both the patient and the caregiver in their own path of care. The aim of this study is therefore to describe the nurse's strategy in the planning of an educational intervention by using the INNE model. The case of a 70-year-old woman with pulmonary neoplasm is described at her first admission to Hospice. Each step conducted by the reference nurse, who uses INNE to record the nurse-patient narrative and collect subsequent questionnaires in order to create a shared educational plan, is also described. The information collected was submitted, starting from a grounded methodology to the following four levels of analysis: I. Needs Assessment, II. Narrative Diagnosis, III. Quantitative Outcome, IV. Integrated Outcome. Step IV, which is derived from the integration of all levels of analysis, allows a nurse to define, even graphically, the conceptual map of a patient's needs, resources and perspectives, in a completely tailored manner. The INNE model offers a valid methodological support for the professional who intends to educate the patient through an inter-subjective and engaged pathway, between the professional, their patient and the socio-relational context. It is a matter of adopting a complex vision that combines processes and methods that require a steady scientific basis and advanced methodological expertise with active listening and empathy - skills which require emotional intelligence.

Narratives as Zones of Dialogic Constructions: A Bakhtinian Approach to Data in Qualitative Research

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Vitanova, Gergana

2013-01-01

Narratives have become increasingly important in the field of applied linguistics, as recent publications have illustrated, yet narrative analysis could still be considered undertheorized. This article outlines a specific, dialogical approach to the narrative analysis of data in qualitative research. Building on Bakhtin's notion of dialogue,…

Manual versus Automated Narrative Analysis of Agrammatic Production Patterns: The Northwestern Narrative Language Analysis and Computerized Language Analysis

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hsu, Chien-Ju; Thompson, Cynthia K.

2018-01-01

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to compare the outcomes of the manually coded Northwestern Narrative Language Analysis (NNLA) system, which was developed for characterizing agrammatic production patterns, and the automated Computerized Language Analysis (CLAN) system, which has recently been adopted to analyze speech samples of individuals…

Bananas, pesticides and health in southwestern Ecuador: A scalar narrative approach to targeting public health responses.

PubMed

Brisbois, Benjamin

2016-02-01

Public health responses to agricultural pesticide exposure are often informed by ethnographic or other qualitative studies of pesticide risk perception. In addition to highlighting the importance of structural determinants of exposure, such studies can identify the specific scales at which pesticide-exposed individuals locate responsibility for their health issues, with implications for study and intervention design. In this study, an ethnographic approach was employed to map scalar features within explanatory narratives of pesticides and health in Ecuador's banana-producing El Oro province. Unstructured observation, 14 key informant interviews and 15 in-depth semi-structured interviews were carried out during 8 months of fieldwork in 2011-2013. Analysis of interview data was informed by human geographic literature on the social construction of scale. Individual-focused narratives of some participants highlighted characteristics such as carelessness and ignorance, leading to suggestions for educational interventions. More structural explanations invoked farm-scale processes, such as uncontrolled aerial fumigations on plantations owned by elites. Organization into cooperatives helped to protect small-scale farmers from 'deadly' banana markets, which in turn were linked to the Ecuadorian nation-state and actors in the banana-consuming world. These scalar elements interacted in complex ways that appear linked to social class, as more well-off individuals frequently attributed the health problems of other (poorer) people to individual behaviours, while providing more structural explanations of their own difficulties. Such individualizing narratives may help to stabilize inequitable social structures. Research implications of this study include the possibility of using scale-focused qualitative research to generate theory and candidate levels for multi-level models. Equity implications include a need for public health researchers planning interventions to engage with scale-linked inequities, such as disparities within nation-states. Finally, the prominence of the global North in explanatory narratives is a useful reminder that 'structural factors' prominently include inequities related to the legacies of colonialism. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The "here and now" of youth: the meanings of smoking for sexual and gender minority youth.

PubMed

Antin, Tamar M J; Hunt, Geoffrey; Sanders, Emile

2018-05-31

The mainstream tobacco field in the USA tends to situate youth as passive, particularly in terms of their susceptibility to industry manipulation and peer pressure. However, failing to acknowledge youths' agency overlooks important meanings youth ascribe to their tobacco use and how those meanings are shaped by the circumstances and structures of their everyday lives. This article is based on analysis of 58 in-depth qualitative interviews conducted with sexual and gender minority youth living in the San Francisco Bay area in California. Topics covered in interviews focused on meanings of tobacco in the lives of youth. Interviews lasted approximately 2.5 h and were transcribed verbatim and linked with ATLAS.ti, a qualitative data analysis software. Following qualitative coding, narrative segments were sorted into piles of similarity identified according to principles of pattern-level analysis to interpret to what extent meanings of smoking for young people may operate as forms of resistance, survival, and defense. Analysis of our participants' narratives highlights how smoking is connected to what Bucholtz calls the "'here-and-now' of young people's experience, the social and cultural practices through which they shape their worlds" as active agents (Bucholtz, Annu Rev Anthropol31:525-52, 2003.). Specifically, narratives illustrate how smoking signifies "control" in a multitude of ways, including taking control over an oppressor, controlling the effects of exposure to traumatic or day-to-day stress, and exerting control over the physical body in terms of protecting oneself from violence or defending one's mental health. These findings call into question the universal appropriateness of foundational elements that underlie tobacco control and prevention efforts directed at youth in the USA, specifically the focus on abstinence and future orientation. Implications of these findings for research, prevention, and policy are discussed, emphasizing the risk of furthering health inequities should we fail to acknowledge the "here and now" of youth.

Behavioral, cognitive, and emotional coping strategies of women with endometriosis: a critical narrative review.

PubMed

Zarbo, Cristina; Brugnera, Agostino; Frigerio, Luigi; Malandrino, Chiara; Rabboni, Massimo; Bondi, Emi; Compare, Angelo

2018-02-01

Endometriosis is a disabling and long-term medical condition affecting quality of life and mental health. Behavioral, cognitive, and emotional coping strategies, emotional intelligence, and metacognition could in part explain the link between the disease and impaired psychological and life functioning. This critical narrative review aimed at examining the state of the art of the relationships between endometriosis and these factors. According to PRISMA principles, we performed a systematic search for quantitative and qualitative studies on multiple electronic databases as regards coping strategies, emotional intelligence, and metacognition in women with endometriosis. Studies were subjected to interpretative and critical narrative synthesis. A total of 9 papers were included in the review. Three main categories were identified in thematic analysis and resumed in the manuscript. Findings suggested that (a) pain is considered the major stressor; (b) they usually use both adaptive and maladaptive coping strategies; (c) women with endometriosis and related chronic pain seem to repress emotions more likely than healthy ones; (d) suppressing own emotions, pain catastrophizing, and having a passive coping style are related to higher self-reported pain; and (e) emotional and avoidance coping styles are associated to poor mental status, while positive coping strategies focusing on the problem or on emotions, detached and rational styles are associated to better mental health. Few studies with mixed results and some methodological flaws have focused on coping strategies in women with endometriosis. No studies focusing on metacognition or emotional intelligence were found. Methodological biases, suggestions for future research, and implications for clinical practice were discussed.

Narrative communication in cancer prevention and control: a framework to guide research and application.

PubMed

Kreuter, Matthew W; Green, Melanie C; Cappella, Joseph N; Slater, Michael D; Wise, Meg E; Storey, Doug; Clark, Eddie M; O'Keefe, Daniel J; Erwin, Deborah O; Holmes, Kathleen; Hinyard, Leslie J; Houston, Thomas; Woolley, Sabra

2007-06-01

Narrative forms of communication-including entertainment education, journalism, literature, testimonials, and storytelling-are emerging as important tools for cancer prevention and control. To stimulate critical thinking about the role of narrative in cancer communication and promote a more focused and systematic program of research to understand its effects, we propose a typology of narrative application in cancer control. We assert that narrative has four distinctive capabilities: overcoming resistance, facilitating information processing, providing surrogate social connections, and addressing emotional and existential issues. We further assert that different capabilities are applicable to different outcomes across the cancer control continuum (e.g., prevention, detection, diagnosis, treatment, survivorship). This article describes the empirical evidence and theoretical rationale supporting propositions in the typology, identifies variables likely to moderate narrative effects, raises ethical issues to be addressed when using narrative communication in cancer prevention and control efforts, and discusses potential limitations of using narrative in this way. Future research needs based on these propositions are outlined and encouraged.

Self construction in schizophrenia: a discourse analysis.

PubMed

Meehan, Trudy; MacLachlan, Malcolm

2008-06-01

Lysaker and Lysaker (Theory and Psychology, 12(2), 207-220, 2002) employ a dialogical theory of self in their writings on self disruption in schizophrenia. It is argued here that this theory could be enriched by incorporating a discursive and social constructionist model of self. Harr's model enables researchers to use subject positions to identify self construction in people with a diagnosis of schizophrenia that the dialogical model, using analysis of narrative, does not as easily recognize. The paper presents a discourse analysis of self construction in eight participants with a diagnosis of schizophrenia. Transcripts from semi-structured interviews are analysed, wherein focus falls on how participants construct self in talk through the use of subject positioning. The findings indicate that Harr's theory of self and the implied method of discourse analysis enables more subtle and nuanced constructions of self to be identified than those highlighted by Lysaker and Lysaker (Theory and Psychology, 12(2), 207-220, 2002). The analysis of subject positions revealed that participants constructed self in the form of Harr's (The singular self: An introduction to the psychology of personhood, 1998, London: Sage) self1, self2, and self3. The findings suggest that there may be constructions of self used by people diagnosed with schizophrenia that are not recognized by the current research methods focusing on narrative. The paper argues for the recognition of these constructions and by implication a model of self that takes into account different levels of visibility of self construction in talk.

Drawing the line between constituent structure and coherence relations in visual narratives

PubMed Central

Cohn, Neil; Bender, Patrick

2016-01-01

Theories of visual narrative understanding have often focused on the changes in meaning across a sequence, like shifts in characters, spatial location, and causation, as cues for breaks in the structure of a discourse. In contrast, the theory of Visual Narrative Grammar posits that hierarchic “grammatical” structures operate at the discourse level using categorical roles for images, which may or may not co-occur with shifts in coherence. We therefore examined the relationship between narrative structure and coherence shifts in the segmentation of visual narrative sequences using a “segmentation task” where participants drew lines between images in order to divide them into sub-episodes. We used regressions to analyze the influence of the expected constituent structure boundary, narrative categories, and semantic coherence relationships on the segmentation of visual narrative sequences. Narrative categories were a stronger predictor of segmentation than linear coherence relationships between panels, though both influenced participants’ divisions. Altogether, these results support the theory that meaningful sequential images use a narrative grammar that extends above and beyond linear semantic shifts between discourse units. PMID:27709982

Drawing the line between constituent structure and coherence relations in visual narratives.

PubMed

Cohn, Neil; Bender, Patrick

2017-02-01

Theories of visual narrative understanding have often focused on the changes in meaning across a sequence, like shifts in characters, spatial location, and causation, as cues for breaks in the structure of a discourse. In contrast, the theory of visual narrative grammar posits that hierarchic "grammatical" structures operate at the discourse level using categorical roles for images, which may or may not co-occur with shifts in coherence. We therefore examined the relationship between narrative structure and coherence shifts in the segmentation of visual narrative sequences using a "segmentation task" where participants drew lines between images in order to divide them into subepisodes. We used regressions to analyze the influence of the expected constituent structure boundary, narrative categories, and semantic coherence relationships on the segmentation of visual narrative sequences. Narrative categories were a stronger predictor of segmentation than linear coherence relationships between panels, though both influenced participants' divisions. Altogether, these results support the theory that meaningful sequential images use a narrative grammar that extends above and beyond linear semantic shifts between discourse units. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

Stories of chronic kidney disease: listening for the unsayable.

PubMed

Makaroff, Kara L Schick; Sheilds, Laurene; Molzahn, Anita

2013-12-01

To explore individuals' stories of chronic kidney disease, particularly those aspects of experience that are difficult to discuss using language (i.e. unsayable). Chronic kidney disease is continuous, but it is also life-threatening and sometimes people ask difficult questions about life and death that can be challenging and for some, impossible to discuss. These 'unsayables' are the focus of this article. The unsayable may reside both within and beyond language. Careful analysis of narratives of illness for sayable and unsayable aspects of the experience can help illuminate new areas of concern for people with chronic kidney disease. Narrative inquiry, located in a social constructionist framework, guided this study. Secondary data analysis was conducted with 46 in-depth interviews (collected between 2008-2011) with 14 people living with chronic kidney disease. Through narrative thematic analysis, we identify that the unsayable includes the following five themes: living with death, embodied experiences that were difficult to language, that which was unthinkable, unknowable mystery and that which was untold/unheard. Whereas the first four themes attend to that which is unsayable for people living with chronic kidney disease, the last theme acknowledges that which is unsayable to people living with chronic kidney disease. Not all experiences of illness can be explicitly articulated in language. Listening for both the sayable and unsayable aspects of life with chronic and life-threatening illness is an important nursing role. © 2013 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Narrative Analysis: Exploring Experiences of Observational Drawing and Dyspraxia

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Penketh, Claire

2011-01-01

Narrative analysis offers a powerful and accessible means of understanding the ways in which individuals experience learning across a range of educational sites. Drawing on a recent study that explored "dyspraxic" pupils' experiences of drawing from observation, this paper offers an insight into the potential that narrative analysis has…

New International Academics' Narratives of Cross-Cultural Transition

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Thomas, Sharon L.; Malau-Aduli, Bunmi S.

2013-01-01

Increasing numbers of academics world-wide are migrating as higher education institutions internationalise. Yet academics' experiences of cross-cultural transition remain underexplored, especially in comparison with students. This small-scale narrative study, employing focus group interviews, aimed to explore the cross-cultural transition…

An on-line narrative of Colorado wilderness: Self-in-"cybernetic space"

Treesearch

Joseph G. Champ; Daniel R. Williams; Catherine M. Lundy

2013-01-01

The authors consider a new frontier for the study of wilderness recreation experience, an increasingly common form of blog known as online trip reports. Analysis and discussion in this article is the result of collecting and reflecting upon more than 300 trip reports focused on wilderness areas in the state of Colorado. The authors present a case study of one trip...

"Fairy Tale for Pioneers": Deconstruction of Official Ideology in Memories about Artek 1960s-1980s

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kozlova, Anna

2016-01-01

This article focuses on the memories of the Soviet pioneer camp Artek among camp leaders and Pioneers who visited this camp in the 1960s-1980s. The study examines the interaction between the ideology discourse of the late Soviet epoch about Artek and personal autobiographical memories. Turning to analysis of narrative structure and the pragmatic…

Variation et heterogeneite de recits en francais de jeunes eleves tunisiens (Variation and Heterogeneity of the French Narrative Productions of Young Tunisian Students).

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Anane, Chiraz

2001-01-01

This study analyzes narrative productions in the French of 10 Tunisian pupils selected from 2 schools (1 in an urban area, 1 in a rural area) in Tunisia (Tunis). The purpose of the study was to observe the development of the French language in native Tunisian Arabic speakers. Particular attention is focused on the narrative structure and time…

Narrative Therapy's Relational Understanding of Identity.

PubMed

Combs, Gene; Freedman, Jill

2016-06-01

We describe how we think of identity as relational, distributed, performed, and fluid, and we illustrate the use of this conceptualization within a narrative worldview. Drawing on the work of Michael White, we describe how this relational view of identity leads to therapeutic responses that give value to interconnection across multiple contexts and that focus on becoming rather than on being. We show how a narrative worldview helps focus on the relational, co-evolving perspective that was the basis of our early attraction to family therapy. We offer detailed examples from our work of practices that help us stay firmly situated in a relational worldview that is counter to the pervasive influence of individualism in our contemporary culture. © 2016 Family Process Institute.

Game Design Narrative for Learning: Appropriating Adventure Game Design Narrative Devices and Techniques for the Design of Interactive Learning Environments

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dickey, Michele D.

2006-01-01

The purpose of this conceptual analysis is to investigate how contemporary video and computer games might inform instructional design by looking at how narrative devices and techniques support problem solving within complex, multimodal environments. Specifically, this analysis presents a brief overview of game genres and the role of narrative in…

Enabling narrative pedagogy: inviting, waiting, and letting be.

PubMed

Ironside, Pamela M

2014-01-01

This article describes how teachers enable Narrative Pedagogy in their courses by explicating the Concernful Practice Inviting: Waiting and Letting Be. Narrative Pedagogy, a research-based, phenomenological approach to teaching and learning, extends conventional pedagogies and offers nursing faculty an alternative way of transforming their schools and courses. Using hermeneutic phenomenology, interview data collected over a 10-year period were analyzed by coding practical examples of teachers' efforts to enact Narrative Pedagogy. When Narrative Pedagogy is enacted, teachers and students focus on thinking and learning together about nursing phenomena and seek new understandings about how they may provide care in the myriad situations they encounter. Although the Concernful Practices co-occur, explicating inviting experiences can assist new teachers, and those seeking to extend their pedagogical literacy, by providing new understandings of how Narrative Pedagogy can be enacted.

Narrative Style Influences Citation Frequency in Climate Change Science

PubMed Central

Hillier, Ann; Kelly, Ryan P.; Klinger, Terrie

2016-01-01

Peer-reviewed publications focusing on climate change are growing exponentially with the consequence that the uptake and influence of individual papers varies greatly. Here, we derive metrics of narrativity from psychology and literary theory, and use these metrics to test the hypothesis that more narrative climate change writing is more likely to be influential, using citation frequency as a proxy for influence. From a sample of 732 scientific abstracts drawn from the climate change literature, we find that articles with more narrative abstracts are cited more often. This effect is closely associated with journal identity: higher-impact journals tend to feature more narrative articles, and these articles tend to be cited more often. These results suggest that writing in a more narrative style increases the uptake and influence of articles in climate literature, and perhaps in scientific literature more broadly. PMID:27978538

Narrative Style Influences Citation Frequency in Climate Change Science.

PubMed

Hillier, Ann; Kelly, Ryan P; Klinger, Terrie

2016-01-01

Peer-reviewed publications focusing on climate change are growing exponentially with the consequence that the uptake and influence of individual papers varies greatly. Here, we derive metrics of narrativity from psychology and literary theory, and use these metrics to test the hypothesis that more narrative climate change writing is more likely to be influential, using citation frequency as a proxy for influence. From a sample of 732 scientific abstracts drawn from the climate change literature, we find that articles with more narrative abstracts are cited more often. This effect is closely associated with journal identity: higher-impact journals tend to feature more narrative articles, and these articles tend to be cited more often. These results suggest that writing in a more narrative style increases the uptake and influence of articles in climate literature, and perhaps in scientific literature more broadly.

Translingual Practice in L2 Japanese: Workplace Narratives

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Menard-Warwick, Julia; Leung, Genevieve

2017-01-01

Translingual practice is an emergent theoretical perspective which emphasizes the capacity and disposition for meaning-making across linguistic boundaries. Following on studies of globalized workplaces that have focused on lingua franca English, this article explores translingual practice as represented in interview and blog narratives recounted…

Apollo by the Numbers: A Statistical Reference

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Orloff, Richard; Garber, Stephen (Technical Monitor)

2000-01-01

The purpose of this work is to provide researchers, students, and space enthusiasts with a comprehensive reference for facts about Project Apollo, America's effort to put humans in the Moon. Research for this work started in 1988, when the author discovered that, despite the number of excellent books that focused on the drama of events that highlighted Apollo, there were none that focused on the drama of the numbers. This book is separated into two parts. The first part contains narratives for the Apollo 1 fire and the 11 flown Apollo missions. Included after each narrative is a series of data tables, followed by a comprehensive timeline of events from just before liftoff to just after crew and spacecraft recovery. The second part contains more than 50 tables. These tables organize much of the data from the narratives in one place so they can be compared among all missions. The tables offer additional data as well. The reader can select a specific mission narrative or specific data table by consulting the Table of Contents.

Process tracing in political science: What's the story?

PubMed

Crasnow, Sharon

2017-04-01

Methodologists in political science have advocated for causal process tracing as a way of providing evidence for causal mechanisms. Recent analyses of the method have sought to provide more rigorous accounts of how it provides such evidence. These accounts have focused on the role of process tracing for causal inference and specifically on the way it can be used with case studies for testing hypotheses. While the analyses do provide an account of such testing, they pay little attention to the narrative elements of case studies. I argue that the role of narrative in case studies is not merely incidental. Narrative does cognitive work by both facilitating the consideration of alternative hypotheses and clarifying the relationship between evidence and explanation. I consider the use of process tracing in a particular case (the Fashoda Incident) in order to illustrate the role of narrative. I argue that process tracing contributes to knowledge production in ways that the current focus on inference tends to obscure. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

African American women's infant feeding choices: prenatal breast-feeding self-efficacy and narratives from a black feminist perspective.

PubMed

Robinson, Karen M; VandeVusse, Leona

2011-01-01

Examining prenatal breast-feeding self-efficacy and infant feeding decisions among African American women using a mixed-method approach. A black feminist philosophy was used to keep women's experiences as the central research focus. The Prenatal Breast-feeding Self-efficacy Scale was used to determine differences between intended breast-feeders and formula users among 59 women. Seventeen narrative interviews were conducted to analyze postpartum accounts of actual feeding practices. Both groups (intended breast- or formula-feeders) demonstrated confidence in their ability to breast-feed. Women planning to breast-feed (M = 82.59, SD = 12.53) scored significantly higher than anticipated formula users (M = 70, SD = 15.45), P = .001 (2-tailed). Four of the six themes emerging from narrative analysis were similar to categories of self-efficacy: performance accomplishments, vicarious experiences, verbal persuasions, and physiological reactions. In addition, themes of social embarrassment and feelings of regret were identified. Although African American women in this study rated themselves overall as confident with breast-feeding, several narratives about actual feeding choices indicated ambivalence. Women planning to breast-feed need continued support from their healthcare providers throughout the childbearing year. Furthermore, prenatal and immediate postpartum opportunities may exist for nurses to encourage breast-feeding among individuals who initially plan formula use.

Conflicting Notions on Violence and PTSD in the Military: Institutional and Personal Narratives of Combat-Related Illness.

PubMed

Molendijk, Tine; Kramer, Eric-Hans; Verweij, Désirée

2016-09-01

Research indicates that soldiers struggling with PTSD under-utilize mental health care. Quantitative studies of barriers to care point to the importance of soldiers' beliefs about mental health and mental health interventions in their care-seeking behavior, yet these studies still struggle to understand the particular beliefs involved and the ways they impact care-seeking behavior. This preliminary study makes a start in examining these questions through qualitative literature analysis. It maps out dominant messages surrounding PTSD in military mental health interventions, and explores how they can both shape and conflict with soldiers' personal notions. It does so by analyzing these messages and notions as institutional and personal (illness) narratives. Institutional military PTSD-narratives, which draw on mainstream scientific and clinical models, appear to communicate contradictory notions on the meanings of violence and its psychological consequences, often without acknowledging these contradictions. As such, these narratives seem to shape struggles of soldiers, both within themselves and with the military institution. The identified conflicts indicate, contrary to the individualizing and decontextualizing focus of dominant PTSD-understandings, that soldiers' struggles also have social and moral dimensions. This has important implications for both research into PTSD-interventions and understandings of PTSD as such.

Theorizing Foreshadowed Death Narratives: Examining the Impact of Character Death on Narrative Processing and Skin Self-Exam Intentions.

PubMed

Jensen, Jakob D; Yale, Robert N; Krakow, Melinda; John, Kevin K; King, Andy J

2017-01-01

Narratives are common in health campaigns and interventions, with many depicting individuals battling a particular illness or disease. Past research has focused primarily on the form and effects of survivor stories, but considerably less attention has been devoted to stories in which 1 or more of the central characters passes away. The goal of the current study was to compare the relative persuasive impact of survivor and death narratives in influencing skin prevention behaviors and to test narrative mediators that might explicate underlying mechanisms of effect. To that end, adults (N = 635, M age = 32.43 [SD = 11.23]) were randomly assigned to 1 of 6 narrative intervention conditions in an online message experiment. Participants read 1 of 2 stories about a person with melanoma (Rusty or Diane) that was manipulated as a narrative depicting the survival, death, or foreshadowed death of the main character. Foreshadowed death narratives increased intentions to perform a skin self-exam (SSE), a relationship that was mediated by narrative transportation and perceived SSE benefits. The results support the central postulate of narrative transportation theory and the utility of using foreshadowed death narratives in communication-based interventions designed to increase SSE frequency.

Theorizing Foreshadowed Death Narratives: Examining the Impact of Character Death on Narrative Processing and Skin Self-Exam Intentions

PubMed Central

JENSEN, JAKOB D.; YALE, ROBERT N.; KRAKOW, MELINDA; JOHN, KEVIN K.; KING, ANDY J.

2017-01-01

Narratives are common in health campaigns and interventions, with many depicting individuals battling a particular illness or disease. Past research has focused primarily on the form and effects of survivor stories, but considerably less attention has been devoted to stories in which 1 or more of the central characters passes away. The goal of the current study was to compare the relative persuasive impact of survivor and death narratives in influencing skin prevention behaviors and to test narrative mediators that might explicate underlying mechanisms of effect. To that end, adults (N = 635, M age = 32.43 [SD = 11.23]) were randomly assigned to 1 of 6 narrative intervention conditions in an online message experiment. Participants read 1 of 2 stories about a person with melanoma (Rusty or Diane) that was manipulated as a narrative depicting the survival, death, or foreshadowed death of the main character. Foreshadowed death narratives increased intentions to perform a skin self-exam (SSE), a relationship that was mediated by narrative transportation and perceived SSE benefits. The results support the central postulate of narrative transportation theory and the utility of using foreshadowed death narratives in communication-based interventions designed to increase SSE frequency. PMID:28060585

Interactive effects of work psychosocial factors on participation in workplace wellness programs.

PubMed

Sangachin, Mahboobeh Ghesmaty; Cavuoto, Lora A

2018-01-01

This study explored concurrent effects of six work psychosocial factors on current participation and the self-reported likelihood of future participation in workplace wellness programs using a cross-sectional survey, an ad hoc focus group, and structured interviews. Classification and regression tree analysis was used to analyze survey responses from 343 employees (194 nonparticipants, 95 participants, and 54 engaged participants). A thematic analysis of focus group ( n = 7) and interview ( n = 5) narratives was also undertaken. In combination with high work control, high superior support was associated with an engaged participant profile. Job demand was the third important variable with low and very high levels associated with participation. With regard to high likelihood of future participation, among respondents with age older than 50, high predictability of occupational activities and control were identified as a significant factor, and among others, high superior support and control. The analysis of narratives revealed peer relations and flexible working hours to be positively linked to participation and general job stress was identified as having a bidirectional relationship. Employees stated that stress led them to take advantage of these programs as a source of relief and that their availability/participation has contributed to lowering their stress. These findings inform practitioners about the importance of addressing poor psychosocial factors as a participation barrier and having a holistic approach to employee well-being.

'I will never ever go back': patients' written narratives of health care communication.

PubMed

Denniston, Charlotte; Molloy, Elizabeth; Rees, Charlotte E

2018-07-01

Although communication with patients is essential to health care, education designed to develop patient-centred communication often ignores patients' voices. Patient stories may offer a means to explore patient experiences to inform patient-centred communication skills education design. Our research questions were: (i) What are the features of patients' health care communication narratives? (ii) What differences exist between patient narratives evaluated as positive and those evaluated as negative? (iii) How do patients narrate emotion in their narratives? This interpretivist research was underpinned by social constructionism. We employed a narrative approach to design an online questionnaire that was advertised to patients in the community. Analysis of the stories that were generated involved analysis of what was written (i.e. framework analysis) and of how it was written (i.e. attending to linguistic features). Participants shared 180 written narratives about previous health care professional (HCP) communication interactions. Narratives commonly included those of female patients seeking help for musculoskeletal or psychological concerns, which most frequently had occurred within the previous 6 months with male general practitioners in community settings. Framework analysis revealed four key themes: (i) patient actions during consultations; (ii) patient actions afterwards; (iii) lasting legacy, and (iv) interpersonal factors. Patients in narratives evaluated as positive actively engaged during and after interactions, had ongoing positive relationships with HCPs and felt valued in these relationships. Patients in narratives evaluated as negative were either passive or active during the interaction, but mostly failed to return to the HCP and felt devalued in their interaction. Further analysis of the linguistic features of select narratives revealed rich constructions of positive and negative emotions emphasising the lasting legacies of these interactions. Analysis of patient narratives provides a detailed way of exploring patients' experiences, emotions and behaviours during and after consultations. Educational implications include emphasising the importance of valuing the patient, and of seeking and acting on patient feedback to calibrate HCPs' patient-centred communication practices. © 2018 John Wiley & Sons Ltd and The Association for the Study of Medical Education.

Hello Sunday Morning: Alcohol, (non)consumption and selfhood.

PubMed

Pennay, Amy; MacLean, Sarah; Rankin, Georgia

2016-02-01

Hello Sunday Morning (HSM) is an online program that encourages people to commit to a period of non-drinking and blog about their experiences. The purpose of this paper is to explore how HSM members negotiated their periods of abstention, with a focus on how not drinking influenced their narratives of selfhood. Thematic analysis was undertaken of 2844 blog posts from 154 Victorians who signed up to HSM in 2013 or 2014. Analysis revealed three key narratives of selfhood offered by participants: (1) abstinence resulting in a disrupted sense of self, (2) non-consumption facilitating the development of a new healthy self, and (3) anti-consumption facilitating the development of a resistant self. Individuals construct and maintain their sense of self through consumption (or non-consumption) activities, and this occurs within the broader context of the relationship between selfhood, consumption and culture. HSM members developed narratives of self by drawing on a range of wider discursive structures concerning pleasure, healthism and resistance. The typologies of non-drinking selves identified in this paper could be disseminated through platforms such as HSM to support people who are new to non-drinking in choosing how they might construct and enact alternative selfhoods in contexts where alcohol consumption is deeply embedded. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

An exploratory study of the experience of fibromyalgia diagnosis in South Africa.

PubMed

Cooper, Silvie; Gilbert, Leah

2017-05-01

Within the conceptual framework of 'medically-ill-defined' conditions, this article focuses on the experiences of 'diagnosis' through a narrative analysis of fibromyalgia (a chronic musculoskeletal pain disorder) in South Africa. In-depth interviews were used to collect narratives from 15 participants. The findings show how the contested and confusing experience of fibromyalgia diagnosis can be understood, by viewing the interactions that patients have with their practitioners, families, peers and colleagues. The currency of fibromyalgia as a diagnosis and the inequalities present in the South African health care system characterise the experiences of symptom recognition, diagnosis and treatment. The analysis reveals how those living with fibromyalgia search for diagnosis, and struggle to maintain legitimacy for their experience in the complex constellation of porous symptoms that appear infrequently. The findings of this study confirm the existing evidence that shows fibromyalgia to be a challenging illness experience, which is attributed to the lack of clarity and legitimacy, and high contestation that surrounds the condition. Additionally, this study presents the ways that limited access to diagnosis and treatment for fibromyalgia in the South African context shapes this specific illness experience, and the value of using narrative approaches to gain insight into how people live with hidden and poorly understood conditions in this environment.

From application to implication in medical anthropology: political, historical and narrative interpretations of the world of sickness and health.

PubMed

Nunes, Mônica de Oliveira

2014-01-01

This article reviews some of the current writing on medical anthropology, and is guided by political orientation/implication in the choice of its study targets, its analysis and its construction of solutions for the problems investigated. Starting from the narratives of anthropologists, it goes on to show the historical and socio-political bases characteristic of the subject in their countries of origin or migration. Within a general overview of the three principal contemporary trends - critical medical anthropology, the anthropology of suffering and the anthropology of biopower - the focus is on theoretical and thematic choices to meet the demand for "politicization" of the anthropological debate in the field of health, on the basis of which an "implied" medical anthropology is advocated.

Historical mathematics in the French eighteenth century.

PubMed

Richards, Joan L

2006-12-01

At least since the seventeenth century, the strange combination of epistemological certainty and ontological power that characterizes mathematics has made it a major focus of philosophical, social, and cultural negotiation. In the eighteenth century, all of these factors were at play as mathematical thinkers struggled to assimilate and extend the analysis they had inherited from the seventeenth century. A combination of educational convictions and historical assumptions supported a humanistic mathematics essentially defined by its flexibility and breadth. This mathematics was an expression of l'esprit humain, which was unfolding in a progressive historical narrative. The French Revolution dramatically altered the historical and educational landscapes that had supported this eighteenth-century approach, and within thirty years Augustin Louis Cauchy had radically reconceptualized and restructured mathematics to be rigorous rather than narrative.

Illustrating Praxis: Comic Composition, Narrative Rhetoric, and Critical Multiliteracies

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Comer, Kathryn

2015-01-01

Thus far, pedagogical discussions about comics in the college classroom have focused primarily on "reading," with less attention paid to the complementary potential of "composing" comics. This essay advocates using narrative theory alongside comic studies to provide students and teachers with a flexible, transferable vocabulary…

Story Telling: Crafting Identities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McMahon, Mary; Watson, Mark

2013-01-01

Career guidance clients are seeking to craft new identities that better position them in their careers. The focus of the present article is on narrative career counselling's potential contribution in providing a meaningful and useful experience for career guidance clients. To illustrate the potential of narrative career counselling, the story…

Geography Teachers' Stories of Sustainability: An Introduction to Narrative Research

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brooks, Clare

2016-01-01

Geography teacher recruitment and retention is an important issue for the future of geography education. This Special Issue of "International Research in Geographical and Environmental Education" ("IRGEE") tackles this issue head on by focusing on geography teachers' narratives about their experiences of teaching geography, and…

Processes and content of narrative identity development in adolescence: gender and well-being.

PubMed

McLean, Kate C; Breen, Andrea V

2009-05-01

The present study examined narrative identity in adolescence (14-18 years) in terms of narrative content and processes of identity development. Age- and gender-related differences in narrative patterns in turning point memories and gender differences in the content and functions for sharing those memories were examined, as was the relationship between narrative patterns and self-esteem. The narrative patterns focused on were meaning-making (learning from past events) and emotionality of the narratives, specified as overall positive emotional tone and redemptive sequencing. Results showed an age-related increase in meaning-making but no gender differences in the degree of meaning-making. Results further showed that gender predicted self-esteem and that boys evidenced higher self-esteem. Emotionality also predicted self-esteem; this was especially true for redemption and for boys. In terms of telling functions, girls endorsed more relational reasons for telling memories than did boys. Results are discussed in terms of potential gendered and nongendered pathways for identity development in adolescence. Copyright 2009 APA, all rights reserved

"What Is Our Story?" Philip Morris's Changing Corporate Narrative.

PubMed

McDaniel, Patricia A; Malone, Ruth E

2015-10-01

We sought to learn how employees reacted to changes in the corporate narrative of Philip Morris Companies (PMC) in the late 1990s and early 2000s. We analyzed archival internal tobacco industry documents about PMC's creation of a new corporate story. In response to litigation and public opprobrium, PMC replaced its market success-oriented corporate narrative with a new one centered on responsibility. Although management sought to downplay inconsistencies between the old and new narratives, some employees reportedly had difficulty reconciling them, concerned that the responsibility focus might affect company profitability. However, others embraced the new narrative, suggesting radical ideas to prevent youth smoking. These ideas were not adopted. PMC's new narrative was unconvincing to many of its employees, who perceived it either as a threat to the company's continued profits or as incongruous with what they had previously been told. As it had done with the public, PMC misled its employees in explaining a narrative repositioning that would help the company continue business as usual. Moving toward a tobacco endgame will require ongoing discursive and symbolic efforts to disrupt this narrative.

The role of conviction and narrative in decision-making under radical uncertainty.

PubMed

Tuckett, David; Nikolic, Milena

2017-08-01

We propose conviction narrative theory (CNT) to broaden decision-making theory in order to better understand and analyse how subjectively means-end rational actors cope in contexts in which the traditional assumptions in decision-making models fail to hold. Conviction narratives enable actors to draw on their beliefs, causal models, and rules of thumb to identify opportunities worth acting on, to simulate the future outcome of their actions, and to feel sufficiently convinced to act. The framework focuses on how narrative and emotion combine to allow actors to deliberate and to select actions that they think will produce the outcomes they desire. It specifies connections between particular emotions and deliberative thought, hypothesising that approach and avoidance emotions evoked during narrative simulation play a crucial role. Two mental states, Divided and Integrated, in which narratives can be formed or updated, are introduced and used to explain some familiar problems that traditional models cannot.

The role of conviction and narrative in decision-making under radical uncertainty

PubMed Central

Tuckett, David; Nikolic, Milena

2017-01-01

We propose conviction narrative theory (CNT) to broaden decision-making theory in order to better understand and analyse how subjectively means–end rational actors cope in contexts in which the traditional assumptions in decision-making models fail to hold. Conviction narratives enable actors to draw on their beliefs, causal models, and rules of thumb to identify opportunities worth acting on, to simulate the future outcome of their actions, and to feel sufficiently convinced to act. The framework focuses on how narrative and emotion combine to allow actors to deliberate and to select actions that they think will produce the outcomes they desire. It specifies connections between particular emotions and deliberative thought, hypothesising that approach and avoidance emotions evoked during narrative simulation play a crucial role. Two mental states, Divided and Integrated, in which narratives can be formed or updated, are introduced and used to explain some familiar problems that traditional models cannot. PMID:28804217

Living in the Fragments of Dreams: Analysis of the Dual-Narrative Structure in Kenneth MacMillan's "Winter Dreams" from Narratological and Psychoanalytical Perspectives

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kodera, Ryota

2012-01-01

This essay investigates the ways dance narratives are constructed and aims to reconfirm the significance of dance narratives in the creation of meanings within dance practices. It draws on key concepts in narratology and psychoanalysis. These two critical perspectives are applied to the analysis of the narrative in Kenneth MacMillan's 1991 one-act…

Test and Measurement Expert Opinions: A Dialogue about Testing Students with Disabilities Out of Level in Large-Scale Assessments. Out-of-Level Testing Report.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Minnema, Jane; Thurlow, Martha; Bielinski, John

Two focus groups of test and measurement experts were held to explore the use of out-of-level testing for students with disabilities. The participants (n=17) included state and federal level assessment personnel, test company employees, and university professors. A content analysis of the narrative results indicated that there was no clear…

Bringing the Adult Learning Experience of Successful Weight Loss Maintenance into Focus: A Narrative Analysis with Implications for Educators and Clinicians

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stametz, Rebecca A.

2013-01-01

In light of the many social, medical, and political viewpoints on obesity, little is known of the weight loss maintenance experience and the impact on learning processes and outcomes among adults. The purpose of this study was two-fold: a) to explore the experience and meaning-making processes of individuals who have maintained a weight loss and…

Living through Exposure to Toxic Psychiatric Orthodoxies: Exploring Narratives of People with "Mental Health Problems" Who Are Looking for Employment on the Open Labour Market

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Roets, Griet; Kristiansen, Kristjana; Van Hove, Geert; Vanderplasschen, Wouter

2007-01-01

This article explores lived experiences and insights of five people with long-term "mental health problems", focusing on their search for employment in a disabling society. In our qualitative, inductive analysis we investigate why it seems almost impossible to attain a status as respected adult workers. We present five central findings: (1) losing…

Schizophrenia, narrative, and neurocognition: The utility of life-stories in understanding social problem-solving skills.

PubMed

Moe, Aubrey M; Breitborde, Nicholas J K; Bourassa, Kyle J; Gallagher, Colin J; Shakeel, Mohammed K; Docherty, Nancy M

2018-06-01

Schizophrenia researchers have focused on phenomenological aspects of the disorder to better understand its underlying nature. In particular, development of personal narratives-that is, the complexity with which people form, organize, and articulate their "life stories"-has recently been investigated in individuals with schizophrenia. However, less is known about how aspects of narrative relate to indicators of neurocognitive and social functioning. The objective of the present study was to investigate the association of linguistic complexity of life-story narratives to measures of cognitive and social problem-solving abilities among people with schizophrenia. Thirty-two individuals with a diagnosis of schizophrenia completed a research battery consisting of clinical interviews, a life-story narrative, neurocognitive testing, and a measure assessing multiple aspects of social problem solving. Narrative interviews were assessed for linguistic complexity using computerized technology. The results indicate differential relationships of linguistic complexity and neurocognition to domains of social problem-solving skills. More specifically, although neurocognition predicted how well one could both describe and enact a solution to a social problem, linguistic complexity alone was associated with accurately recognizing that a social problem had occurred. In addition, linguistic complexity appears to be a cognitive factor that is discernible from other broader measures of neurocognition. Linguistic complexity may be more relevant in understanding earlier steps of the social problem-solving process than more traditional, broad measures of cognition, and thus is relevant in conceptualizing treatment targets. These findings also support the relevance of developing narrative-focused psychotherapies. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

Intimate Partner Violence in Young Adulthood: Narratives of Persistence and Desistance*

PubMed Central

Giordano, Peggy C.; Johnson, Wendi L.; Manning, Wendy D.; Longmore, Monica A.; Minter, Mallory D.

2015-01-01

Prior research on patterns of intimate partner violence (IPV) has documented changes over time, but few studies have focused directly on IPV desistance processes. This analysis identifies unique features of IPV, providing a rationale for the focus on this form of behavior cessation. We develop a life-course perspective on social learning as a conceptual framework and draw on qualitative interviews (n = 89) elicited from a sample of young adults who participated in a larger longitudinal study (Toledo Adolescent Relationships Study). The respondents' backgrounds reflected a range of persistence and desistance from IPV perpetration. Our analyses revealed that relationship-based motivations and changes were central features of the narratives of successful desisters, whether articulated as a stand-alone theme or in tandem with other potential “hooks” for change. The analysis provides a counterpoint to individualistic views of desistance processes, highlighting ways in which social experiences foster attitude shifts and associated behavioral changes that respondents tied to this type of behavior change. The analyses of persisters and those for whom change seemed to be a work in progress provide points of contrast and highlight barriers that limit a respondent's desistance potential. We describe implications for theories of desistance as well as for IPV prevention and intervention efforts. PMID:26538680

Science vs conspiracy: collective narratives in the age of misinformation.

PubMed

Bessi, Alessandro; Coletto, Mauro; Davidescu, George Alexandru; Scala, Antonio; Caldarelli, Guido; Quattrociocchi, Walter

2015-01-01

The large availability of user provided contents on online social media facilitates people aggregation around shared beliefs, interests, worldviews and narratives. In spite of the enthusiastic rhetoric about the so called collective intelligence unsubstantiated rumors and conspiracy theories-e.g., chemtrails, reptilians or the Illuminati-are pervasive in online social networks (OSN). In this work we study, on a sample of 1.2 million of individuals, how information related to very distinct narratives-i.e. main stream scientific and conspiracy news-are consumed and shape communities on Facebook. Our results show that polarized communities emerge around distinct types of contents and usual consumers of conspiracy news result to be more focused and self-contained on their specific contents. To test potential biases induced by the continued exposure to unsubstantiated rumors on users' content selection, we conclude our analysis measuring how users respond to 4,709 troll information-i.e. parodistic and sarcastic imitation of conspiracy theories. We find that 77.92% of likes and 80.86% of comments are from users usually interacting with conspiracy stories.

The union of narrative and executive function: different but complementary

PubMed Central

Friend, Margaret; Bates, Raven Phoenix

2014-01-01

Oral narrative production develops dramatically from 3 to 5 years of age, and is a key factor in a child's ability to communicate about the world. Concomitant with this are developments in executive function (EF). For example, executive attention and behavioral inhibition show marked development beginning around 4 years of age. Both EF and oral narrative abilities have important implications for academic success, but the relationship between them is not well understood. The present paper utilizes a cross-lagged design to assess convergent and predictive relations between EF and narrative ability. As a collateral measure, we collected a Language Sample during 10 min of free play. Language Sample did not share significant variance with Narrative Production, thus general language growth from Wave 1 to Wave 2 cannot account for the predictive relations between EF and Narrative. Our findings suggest that although EF and Narrative ability appear independent at each Wave, they nevertheless support each other over developmental time. Specifically, the ability to maintain focus at 4 years supports subsequent narrative ability and narrative ability at 4 years supports subsequent facility and speed in learning and implementing new rules. PMID:24872811

Who speaks? Who looks? Who feels? Point of view in autobiographical narratives.

PubMed

Habermas, Tilmann

2006-04-01

In this paper, the author aims to substantiate Freud's claim that neurotic illness creates gaps in autobiographical narratives in terms of the narrator's stating and inducing perspectives. He sketches out the role of narrative perspective and the joint taking of a shared perspective by analyst and patient in psychoanalytic therapy. He introduces four ways of representing perspectives in narratives. Three degrees of narrative distortion are exemplified by three excerpts from life narratives and explored in terms of narrative perspective representation. The most comprehensive perspective representation is achieved in the first example by explicitly stating the present perspective of the narrator as well as the past perspective of the story's protagonist by use of mental verbs. In the second narrative, exclusive use of linguistic forms for inducing the protagonist's perspective both overwhelms the narrator and gives the listener an incomplete picture of what happened. Inconsistent motives, denial of responsibility and omission of detail render the third narrative even more difficult to follow. The author discusses the clinical significance of this exploratory analysis of perspectives in narratives in terms of claiming responsibility for one's past action and of level of defence mechanisms, and by highlighting the emotional impact on listeners, which the author suggests is the stronger the more perspectives are left out. He discusses analogies to countertransference. The analysis of narrative perspectives offers an approach for systematic research in psychoanalytic practice.

Story Re-Visions: Tales for the Future.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gray, Jacqueline W.

Over the years many different psychologists and psychoanalysts have found value in the concept of the self-narrative, or the "life story." Narrative thought demands an appreciation of the particulars of time and place and a focus on multidimensional understanding of events, people, emotion, and motivation. By using the life story or…

Grading the War Story

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Burdick, Melanie

2009-01-01

This article considers the emotional and psychological complexities of responding to personal narratives when the focus is war. The author teaches at a community college and she always begins her semester with a narrative assignment for the usual reasons: students write better when they write what they know; teachers should scaffold writing…

Developing Narrative Competence through Reading and Writing Metafictive Texts

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pantaleo, Sylvia

2010-01-01

The classroom-based research discussed in this article focuses on how elementary students' experiences with a collection of postmodern picturebooks developed their narrative competence. This article explores how 39 Grades 3 and 4 students' written and visual texts were affected by reading a particular selection of picturebooks. The students wrote…

Transforming Online Learning through Narrative and Student Agency

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lindgren, Robb; McDaniel, Rudy

2012-01-01

Efforts to improve online learning have focused primarily on the technology platform for delivering educational content and supporting student discourse. In this paper we describe an alternative approach that invokes two powerful forces behind human learning: narrative and agency. Each of these constructs and their potential impacts on learning is…

Narrative as a Teaching Strategy

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Butcher, Susan E.

2006-01-01

Research shows that those who are incarcerated, as a whole, have come from difficult past environments. This leads to having a different way of learning than most others who have had successful educational experiences. Because of this, my research project focused on exploring storytelling/narrative, as a teaching strategy, and how it influences…

Emotional Identification with Teacher Identities in Student Teachers' Narrative Interaction

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Karlsson, Marie

2013-01-01

The paper suggests that narrative interaction in student teacher peer groups is an important context for emotional identification with culturally available teacher identities. It addresses issues pointed out as problematic in research on teacher identity formation: focus on the individual and the underestimation of context. A positioning analysis…

Research Experiences of Undergraduate Students at a Comprehensive University

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tan, Emily B.

2007-01-01

Narrative inquiry was utilized to allow undergraduate students involved in an undergraduate research course to narrate their experiences in their research undertakings under the guidance of their respective mentors. A total of four focus groups representing the Bachelor of Arts and Letters, Bachelor of Commerce, Bachelor of Secondary Education,…

A story of change: The influence of narrative on African-Americans with diabetes

PubMed Central

Goddu, Anna P.; Raffel, Katie E.; Peek, Monica E.

2015-01-01

Objective To understand if narratives can be effective tools for diabetes empowerment, from the perspective of African-American participants in a program that improved diabetes self-efficacy and self-management. Methods In-depth interviews and focus groups were conducted with program graduates. Participants were asked to comment on the program's film, storytelling, and role-play, and whether those narratives had contributed to their diabetes behavior change. An iterative process of coding, analyzing, and summarizing transcripts was completed using the framework approach. Results African-American adults (n = 36) with diabetes reported that narratives positively influenced the diabetes behavior change they had experienced by improving their attitudes/beliefs while increasing their knowledge/skills. The social proliferation of narrative – discussing stories, rehearsing their messages with role-play, and building social support through storytelling – was reported as especially influential. Conclusion Utilizing narratives in group settings may facilitate health behavior change, particularly in minority communities with traditions of storytelling. Theoretical models explaining narrative's effect on behavior change should consider the social context of narratives. Practice implications Narratives may be promising tools to promote diabetes empowerment. Interventions using narratives may be more effective if they include group time to discuss and rehearse the stories presented, and if they foster an environment conducive to social support among participants. PMID:25986500

A story of change: The influence of narrative on African-Americans with diabetes.

PubMed

Goddu, Anna P; Raffel, Katie E; Peek, Monica E

2015-08-01

To understand if narratives can be effective tools for diabetes empowerment, from the perspective of African-American participants in a program that improved diabetes self-efficacy and self-management. In-depth interviews and focus groups were conducted with program graduates. Participants were asked to comment on the program's film, storytelling, and role-play, and whether those narratives had contributed to their diabetes behavior change. An iterative process of coding, analyzing, and summarizing transcripts was completed using the framework approach. African-American adults (n=36) with diabetes reported that narratives positively influenced the diabetes behavior change they had experienced by improving their attitudes/beliefs while increasing their knowledge/skills. The social proliferation of narrative - discussing stories, rehearsing their messages with role-play, and building social support through storytelling - was reported as especially influential. Utilizing narratives in group settings may facilitate health behavior change, particularly in minority communities with traditions of storytelling. Theoretical models explaining narrative's effect on behavior change should consider the social context of narratives. Narratives may be promising tools to promote diabetes empowerment. Interventions using narratives may be more effective if they include group time to discuss and rehearse the stories presented, and if they foster an environment conducive to social support among participants. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Academic and Government Partnerships to Address Diabetes in the USA: a Narrative Review.

PubMed

Yi, Stella S; Chamany, Shadi; Thorpe, Lorna

2017-09-01

Multi-sector partnerships are broadly considered to be of value for diabetes prevention and management. The purpose of this article is to summarize academic and government collaborations focused on diabetes prevention and management. Using a narrative review approach, we identified 17 articles describing 10 academic and government partnerships for diabetes management and surveillance. Challenges and gaps in the literature include complexity of diabetes management vis a vis current healthcare infrastructure; a paucity of racial/ethnic diversity in translational efforts; and the time/effort needed to maintain strong relationships across partner institutions. Academic and government partnerships are of value for diabetes prevention and management activities. Acknowledgment that the key priorities of government programming are often costs and feasibility is critical for collaborations to be successful. Future translational efforts of diabetes prevention and management programs should focus on the following: (1) expansion of partnerships between academia and local health departments; (2) increased utilization of implementation science for enhanced and efficient implementation and dissemination; and (3) harnessing of technological advances for data analysis, patient communication, and report generation.

Deciphering Rashomon: an approach to verbal autopsies of maternal deaths.

PubMed

Iyer, Aditi; Sen, Gita; Sreevathsa, Anuradha

2013-01-01

The paper discusses an approach to verbal autopsies that engages with the Rashomon phenomenon affecting ex post facto constructions of death and responds to the call for maternal safety. This method differs from other verbal autopsies in its approach to data collection and its framework of analysis. In our approach, data collection entails working with and triangulating multiple narratives, and minimising power inequalities in the investigation process. The framework of analysis focuses on the missed opportunities for death prevention as an alternative to (or deepening of) the Three Delays Model. This framework assesses the behavioural responses of health providers, as well as community and family members at each opportunity for death prevention and categorises them into four groups: non-actions, inadequate actions, inappropriate actions and unavoidably delayed actions. We demonstrate the application of this approach to show how verbal autopsies can delve beneath multiple narratives and rigorously identify health system, behavioural and cultural factors that contribute to avoidable maternal mortality.

The contribution of postural balance analysis in older adult fallers: A narrative review.

PubMed

Pizzigalli, L; Micheletti Cremasco, M; Mulasso, A; Rainoldi, A

2016-04-01

Falls are a serious health problem for older adults. Several studies have identified the decline of postural balance as one of the main risk factors for falls. Contrary to what may be believed, the capability of force platform measurements to predict falls remains uncertain. The focus of this narrative review is the identification of postural characteristics of older adults at risk of falling using both static and dynamic postural balance assessments. The literature analysis was conducted on Medline/PubMed. The search ended in May 2015. Centre of pressure (CoP) path length, CoP velocity and sway in medial lateral and anterior-posterior are the variables that distinguish older adult fallers from non-fallers. Recommendations to medical personnel on how to provide efficient balance training for older adults are offered, discussing the relevance and limitations of postural stability on static and dynamic board in falling risk prevention. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Institutional narratives in the discourse between oncology social workers and cancer patients' self-help organization.

PubMed

Kacen, Lea; Bakshy, Iris

2005-09-01

In this study, the authors examine a discourse between members of a cancer patients' self-help organization (CP-SHO) and oncological social workers (OSWs) on support groups for cancer patients. Eight OSWs and 8 CP-SHO volunteers served as the key research population. Using the interpretive-narrative approach to research, the authors apply a variety of data collection methods and a combination of data analysis methods: narrative analysis and discourse analysis. The findings point to the simultaneous existence of two institutional narratives for each organization, one internal and the other external. Discourse between the organizations takes place mainly at the external institutional narrative level, with each body maintaining the mistaken impression that the other's perception of reality is similar to its own (false consensus). In the meantime, the internal narratives that attest to the latent meaning of the discourse govern the interaction and prevent effective dialogue between the respective organizations.

Interpretive analysis of 85 systematic reviews suggests that narrative syntheses and meta‐analyses are incommensurate in argumentation

PubMed Central

O'Mara‐Eves, A.; Thomas, J.; Brunton, G.; Caird, J.; Petticrew, M.

2016-01-01

Using Toulmin's argumentation theory, we analysed the texts of systematic reviews in the area of workplace health promotion to explore differences in the modes of reasoning embedded in reports of narrative synthesis as compared with reports of meta‐analysis. We used framework synthesis, grounded theory and cross‐case analysis methods to analyse 85 systematic reviews addressing intervention effectiveness in workplace health promotion. Two core categories, or ‘modes of reasoning’, emerged to frame the contrast between narrative synthesis and meta‐analysis: practical–configurational reasoning in narrative synthesis (‘what is going on here? What picture emerges?’) and inferential–predictive reasoning in meta‐analysis (‘does it work, and how well? Will it work again?’). Modes of reasoning examined quality and consistency of the included evidence differently. Meta‐analyses clearly distinguished between warrant and claim, whereas narrative syntheses often presented joint warrant–claims. Narrative syntheses and meta‐analyses represent different modes of reasoning. Systematic reviewers are likely to be addressing research questions in different ways with each method. It is important to consider narrative synthesis in its own right as a method and to develop specific quality criteria and understandings of how it is carried out, not merely as a complement to, or second‐best option for, meta‐analysis. © 2016 The Authors. Research Synthesis Methods published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. PMID:27860329

Creating stories for learning about the neonatal care experience through the eyes of student nurses: An interpretive, narrative study.

PubMed

Petty, Julia

2017-01-01

Storytelling is an increasingly well recognised and valued platform to learn about the human experience within healthcare. Little is known however about how stories can enhance understanding in neonatal care, a specialised field offering rich opportunities for learning. This study focuses on the creation of stories based on the experiences of student nurses to inform teaching and learning strategies in the neonatal field. The study aimed to create stories from the narratives of student nurses working within the neonatal field and identify what key themes for learning emerged in order to develop a storytelling resource to share experiences with their peers. An interpretive, constructivist approach was used to collect, analyse and create stories from student nurse's experiences, in line with narrative inquiry. Six pre-registration children's nursing students were selected by purposive sampling. Interviews were undertaken within six weeks following placement completion in an agreed location. Narratives were obtained by semi-structured interviews. Narrative analysis and core story creation was undertaken to construct stories and key learning themes emerged which provided the pedagogical basis for subsequent digital resource development. Key themes emerged relating to the insight and observances of student nurses and the neonatal journey they had experienced, including the nature of neonatal care, experiences of the neonate and parents, the environment and their own learning transition. Preliminary peer evaluation of the storytelling resource revealed storytelling as an interesting and novel approach to teaching & learning, learning from ones' peers, preparation for practice and a valuable insight into a new specialist area. The study has value to teaching and learning by enabling an appreciation of how narrative can be used to portray the experiences of learners. Findings also support an approach to analysing narrative to create stories for learning and inform subsequent digital resource development. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Teaching Contested Narratives: Identity, Memory and Reconciliation in Peace Education and Beyond

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bekerman, Zvi; Zembylas, Michalinos

2012-01-01

In troubled societies narratives about the past tend to be partial and explain a conflict from narrow perspectives that justify the national self and condemn, exclude and devalue the 'enemy' and their narrative. Through a detailed analysis, Teaching Contested Narratives reveals the works of identity, historical narratives and memory as these are…

Quantifying narrative ability in autism spectrum disorder: a computational linguistic analysis of narrative coherence.

PubMed

Losh, Molly; Gordon, Peter C

2014-12-01

Autism is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by serious difficulties with the social use of language, along with impaired social functioning and ritualistic/repetitive behaviors (American Psychiatric Association in Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders: DSM-5, 5th edn. American Psychiatric Association, Arlington, 2013). While substantial heterogeneity exists in symptom expression, impairments in language discourse skills, including narrative (or storytelling), are universally observed in autism (Tager-Flusberg et al. in Handbook on autism and pervasive developmental disorders, 3rd edn. Wiley, New York, pp 335-364, 2005). This study applied a computational linguistic tool, Latent Semantic Analysis (LSA), to objectively characterize narrative performance in high-functioning individuals with autism and typically-developing controls, across two different narrative contexts that differ in the interpersonal and cognitive demands placed on the narrator. Results indicated that high-functioning individuals with autism produced narratives comparable in semantic content to those produced by controls when narrating from a picture book, but produced narratives diminished in semantic quality in a more demanding narrative recall task. This pattern is similar to that detected from analyses of hand-coded picture book narratives in prior research, and extends findings to an additional narrative context that proves particularly challenging for individuals with autism. Results are discussed in terms of the utility of LSA as a quantitative, objective, and efficient measure of narrative ability.

Narratives Reflecting the Lived Experiences of People with Brain Disorders: Common Psychosocial Difficulties and Determinants

PubMed Central

Hartley, Sally; McArthur, Maggie; Coenen, Michaela; Cabello, Maria; Covelli, Venusia; Roszczynska-Michta, Joanna; Pitkänen, Tuuli; Bickenbach, Jerome; Cieza, Alarcos

2014-01-01

Background People with brain disorders - defined as both, mental disorders and neurological disorders experience a wide range of psychosocial difficulties (PSDs) (e.g., concentrating, maintaining energy levels, and maintaining relationships). Research evidence is required to show that these PSDs are common across brain disorders. Objectives To explore and gain deeper understanding of the experiences of people with seven brain disorders (alcohol dependency, depression, epilepsy, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease, schizophrenia, stroke). It examines the common PSDs and their influencing factors. Methods Seventy seven qualitative studies identified in a systematic literature review and qualitative data derived from six focus groups are used to generate first-person narratives representing seven brain disorders. A theory-driven thematic analysis of these narratives identifies the PSDs and their influencing factors for comparison between the seven disorders. Results First-person narratives illustrate realities for people with brain disorders facilitating a deeper understanding of their every-day life experiences. Thematic analysis serves to highlight the commonalities, both of PSDs, such as loneliness, anger, uncertainty about the future and problems with work activities, and their determinants, such as work opportunities, trusting relationships and access to self-help groups. Conclusions The strength of the methodology and the narratives is that they provide the opportunity for the reader to empathise with people with brain disorders and facilitate deeper levels of understanding of the complexity of the relationship of PSDs, determinants and facilitators. The latter reflect positive aspects of the lives of people with brain disorders. The result that many PSDs and their influencing factors are common to people with different brain disorders opens up the door to the possibility of using cross-cutting interventions involving different sectors. This strengthens the message that ‘a great deal can be done’ to improve the lived experience of persons with brain disorders when medical interventions are exhausted. PMID:24805128

Racial Identity Development of Transracial Adoptees during College: A Narrative Inquiry

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Powell, Anne-Elizabeth C.

2017-01-01

This narrative inquiry study focused on the research question: "How do lived experiences during college contribute to racial identity formation of Black or biracial students who were adopted domestically by White parents?" The purpose of the study was to better understand the racial identity development of transracial adoptees (TRA)…

The Administration of Feminism in Education: Revisiting and Remembering Narratives of Gender Equity and Identity

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McLeod, Julie

2017-01-01

This article examines challenges in writing histories of feminist reforms in schooling and educational administration. The focus is gender equity reforms in Australian schools since the 1970s, looking at how those earlier interventions are now remembered, represented and forgotten, in policy memory and collective narratives. Such feminist…

Civic Narratives: Exploring the Civic Identity of Community College Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Walkuski, Christy Burke

2017-01-01

This narrative inquiry brings together a re-emerging interest in the civic mission of higher education and inquiry about individual civic identity development, with a lens focused on the currently underrepresented voices of community college students. The purpose of this study is to increase our understanding of the meaning that community college…

Narrative, Imaginary Play, Art, and Self: Intersecting Worlds

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ahn, Jiryung; Filipenko, Margot

2007-01-01

This study documented the ways in which the spontaneous narratives of a focus group of young children reflected the ways in which these children constructed meaning about their world and their place in it. Participants were six kindergartners who engaged in extended episodes of imaginary, dramatic play and produced complex descriptive narratives…

Is Narrative an Endangered Species in Schools'? Secondary Pupils' Understanding of "Storyknowing"

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Heinemeyer, Catherine; Durham, Sally

2017-01-01

This paper argues that narrative knowledge (or "storyknowing") is marginalized within the English school system, because it is misunderstood and often not recognized as knowledge. We track the changing status of storytelling through some key moments in recent educational history, particularly focusing on its gradual erosion during the…

The Transforming Power of Narrative in Teacher Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chan, Esther Yim-mei

2012-01-01

The focus of this study is to examine pre-service teachers' experiences of learning through narrative inquiry that gives insight into how teachers' development and knowledge construction can be improved. The article begins by inquiring into the learning culture in the Hong Kong context and explaining how the examination system affects knowledge…

Using Vignettes as Self-Reflexivity in Narrative Research of Problematised History Pedagogy

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hunter, Philippa

2012-01-01

This article focuses on the use of vignettes as an emergent dimension of narrative research writing. The author draws on doctoral research that problematised history curriculum and pedagogy with pre-service teachers in the context of secondary teacher education in New Zealand. Pedagogic crossings of history education sites, and negotiation of…

A Discourse-Centered Approach: Repetition in Cross-Cultural Settings.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yemenici, Alev

A study investigated how repetition was used in the telling of personal narratives to create emotional involvement on the part of listeners, to evaluate stories, to prevent listeners from asking questions and from losing the story's focus, and to justify narrating that particular story in a cross-cultural setting. It was assumed that narrators…

High School Students' Perceptions of Narrative Evaluations as Summative Assessment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bagley, Sylvia S.

2008-01-01

This study focuses on data collected at "Progressive Secondary School" in Southern California, a high school which uses narrative evaluations and other forms of alternative summative assessment on a school wide basis. Through a survey and personal interviews, students were asked to describe what they liked most and least about the use of…

Constructed Narratives: Situating Theatre for Young Audiences in the United States.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

van de Water, Manon

2000-01-01

Focuses on the historical discourse (a complex interaction of social, cultural, ideological, and esthetic forces) that constructed theatre for young audiences in the United States. Examines the real and potential impact of post modern and positivist theories in reexamining these traditional narratives, shedding light on how and why the field…

Young African American Boys Narrating Identities in Science

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kane, Justine M.

2016-01-01

The goal of this study is to bring the voices of African American boys front and center in science education research in an effort to strengthen our understandings of their experiences of school and science. Using an interpretivist perspective within a narrative inquiry approach, I focus on the student and science-student identities two African…

A Systematic Review of Narrative-Based Language Intervention with Children Who Have Language Impairment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Petersen, Douglas B.

2011-01-01

This systematic review focuses on research articles published since 1980 that assess outcomes of narrative-based language intervention for preschool and school-age children with language impairment. The author conducted a comprehensive search of electronic databases and hand searches of other sources for studies using all research designs except…

Reading Narratives of Childhood: The Worlds We Create for Young Readers.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Marshall, Elizabeth; Rogers, Theresa; Tyson, Cynthia; Enciso, Patricia; Jenkins, Christine; Brown, Jackie; Core, Elizabeth; Cordova, Carmen; Youngsteadt-Parish, Denise; Robinson, Dwan

1999-01-01

Offers brief descriptions of 16 children's books published between 1997 and 1999 (discussing them in tandem with landmark children's books), focusing on the wide range of narratives about the world and about childhood that adults create for children through children's literature. Discusses picture books, poetry in picture books, and books for…

How Students Navigate the Construction of Heritage Narratives

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Levy, Sara A.

2017-01-01

Using a multiple case study design, I examine how public high school students (n = 17) make sense of narratives about defining events with which they have specific heritage connections. Focusing on 3 groups of students (Hmong, Chinese, and Jewish) studying 3 heritage events (respectively, the Vietnam War, Modern China, and the Holocaust), this…

Quality as Critique: Promoting Critical Reflection among Youth in Structured Encounter Programs

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ross, Karen

2015-01-01

In this manuscript, I interrogate the concept of "quality" encounter programs for youth in conflict zones. I focus on two Israeli organizations implementing encounters for Jewish and Palestinian citizens, and draw upon narratives of former participants as articulated during life history narratives to illustrate divergent emphases in each…

Brainstorming transformative solutions - Sustainable Puerto Rico in 2080 - a focus on energy and food security

EPA Science Inventory

This narrative scenario depicts one of many possible futures for the island of Puerto Rico in which the goals of energy and food supply resilience have been met. Set in the year 2080, the narrative describes a series of hypothetical (but possible) events, a set of proactive gover...

Creating a Self: A Narrative and Holistic Perspective

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Beattie, Mary

2007-01-01

The paper presents insights into the creation and re-creation of a narrative from the perspective of two female students, Phillipa and Eva, at Corktown Community High School. Corktown is an alternative high school which focuses on the development of the whole person--creative, intellectual, social, emotional, aesthetic and physical. The school is…

Role of Humor in the Persuasiveness of Entertainment Narratives on Unprotected Sexual Behavior.

PubMed

Futerfas, Michelle L; Nan, Xiaoli

2017-04-01

Past research involving the persuasive impact of entertainment narratives on health attitudes and behavior has largely been limited to dramatic narratives. The current research focuses on humorous narratives related to unprotected sex. We conducted an experiment (N = 161) in which female viewers were exposed to a humorous story line about unprotected sex, an identical story line with humor edited out, or a story line unrelated to unprotected sex. Our findings suggested that humor increased perceived severity of unintended pregnancy, while having no effect on counterarguing. Also, the presence of humor reduced behavioral intentions to engage in unprotected sex. Implications of the findings for safe sex communication are discussed.

[Anthropology, ethnography, and narrative: intersecting paths in understanding the processes of health and sickness].

PubMed

Costa, Gabriela M C; Gualda, Dulce M R

2010-12-01

The article discusses anthropology, ethnographic method, and narrative as possible ways of coming to know subjects' experiences and the feelings they attribute to them. From an anthropological perspective, the sociocultural universe is taken as a point of reference in understanding the meaning of the processes of health and sickness, using a dense ethnographic description from an interpretivist analytical approach. In this context, narratives afford possible paths to understanding how subjective human experiences are shared and how behavior is organized, with a special focus on meaning, the process by which stories are produced, relations between narrator and other subjects, processes of knowledge, and the manifold ways in which experience can be captured.

"You Have to Adapt Because You Have No Other Choice": The Stories of Strength and Resilience of 208 Homeless Youth in New York City and Toronto

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kidd, Sean A.; Davidson, Larry

2007-01-01

Presented in this paper are the results of a qualitative analysis of the narratives of 208 homeless youth interviewed on streets and in agencies in New York City and Toronto. The interviews focused on the participants' stories about their struggles to survive and negotiate meaningful and healthy lives in coming to the streets, living on the…

Urban Early Adolescent Narratives on Sexuality: Accidental and Intentional Influences of Family, Peers, and the Media.

PubMed

Charmaraman, Linda; McKamey, Corinne

2011-01-01

In this paper, we examine the ways that early adolescents talked, interacted, and made references to events in their individual and collective lives during photography-based focus groups about sexuality and relationships. Twenty-three participants (10 boys and 13 girls) were recruited from three urban schools participating in a comprehensive sex education impact evaluation in the Northeast. We analyzed conversational narratives that were elicited in a group process while sharing photos of important people, contexts, and situations, showcasing participants' exploration of sexuality and relationships. Our analysis revealed four main themes: (a) direct and indirect family communication about sexuality, (b) accidental and intentional Internet usage, (c) shared and contested peer knowledge, and (d) school as a direct and indirect learning context. Implications and future directions for practice, research, and policy are explored.

Same-Sex Parenting: Identification of Social Representations in a Sample of Portuguese Professionals.

PubMed

Xavier, Paula; Alberto, Isabel; Mendes, Francisco

2017-11-14

Although international scientific research and the position of professional associations reiterate that the parents' sexual orientation is not a criterion of parenting quality, the social recognition of same-sex parenting remains difficult in Portugal. Given the importance of forensic issues in this field, this study aims to identify the representations of psychologists, social workers, lawyers/attorneys, and judges regarding same-sex parenting. The study involves five homogeneous focus groups with a total of 19 professionals. Content analysis reveals reservations regarding same-sex couples' access to parenting, in particular among lawyers/attorneys. There also emerged narratives that highlight specific competencies in these families and that argue that sexual orientation does not define the quality of parenting. Social narratives are more expressive than scientific knowledge in support of professional representations. These findings have critical implications for professional practice and formation.

Urban Early Adolescent Narratives on Sexuality: Accidental and Intentional Influences of Family, Peers, and the Media

PubMed Central

McKamey, Corinne

2012-01-01

In this paper, we examine the ways that early adolescents talked, interacted, and made references to events in their individual and collective lives during photography-based focus groups about sexuality and relationships. Twenty-three participants (10 boys and 13 girls) were recruited from three urban schools participating in a comprehensive sex education impact evaluation in the Northeast. We analyzed conversational narratives that were elicited in a group process while sharing photos of important people, contexts, and situations, showcasing participants’ exploration of sexuality and relationships. Our analysis revealed four main themes: (a) direct and indirect family communication about sexuality, (b) accidental and intentional Internet usage, (c) shared and contested peer knowledge, and (d) school as a direct and indirect learning context. Implications and future directions for practice, research, and policy are explored. PMID:22983141

Gender constructions of male sex offenders in Germany: narrative analysis from group psychotherapy.

PubMed

Moertl, Kathrin; Buchholz, Michael B; Lamott, Franziska

2010-02-01

This study was conducted to analyze how male sexual offenders construct mental images of masculinity and femininity to provide insight into therapeutic treatment for such patients. Thematerial examined in this studywas comprised of 21 videotaped prison group therapy sessions in which the participating sexual offenders talked about their crimes and biographies. Aqualitative data analysis softwarewas usedto apply a modified grounded theorymethodology to the transcribed sessions. The resulting categories can be understood as descriptions of how the imprisoned men constructed gender images, and were based on three narrative levels: the structure of narration, the narrative positions in the story, and the interaction between the narrator and the other participants. According to the categories describedin the narrative positions (the narrated self and the narrated significant male others), we constructed masculinity categorizations which corresponded to specific images of femininity (derived from the narrated significant female others).The constructionsprovided insight into the selfimage of the narrator, as well as the accountability and positioning of himself and the other in regard to perpetrator-victim constructions. The study further revealed whether the participants either accepted or rejected responsibility and guilt for their crimes; this is essential for psychotherapeutic process and treatment.

Analyzing women's roles through graphic representation of narratives.

PubMed

Hall, Joanne M

2003-08-01

A 1992 triangulated international nursing study of women's health was reported. The researchers used the perspectives of feminism and symbolic interactionism, specifically role theory. A narrative analysis was done to clarify the concept of role integration. The narrative analysis was reported in 1992, but graphic/visual techniques used in the team dialogue process of narrative analysis were not reported due to space limitations. These techniques have not been reported elsewhere and thus remain innovative. Specific steps in the method are outlined here in detail as an audit trail. The process would be useful to other qualitative researchers as an exemplar of one novel way that verbal data can be abstracted visually/graphically. Suggestions are included for aspects of narrative, in addition to roles, that could be depicted graphically in qualitative research.

“What Is Our Story?” Philip Morris’s Changing Corporate Narrative

PubMed Central

Malone, Ruth E.

2015-01-01

Objectives. We sought to learn how employees reacted to changes in the corporate narrative of Philip Morris Companies (PMC) in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Methods. We analyzed archival internal tobacco industry documents about PMC’s creation of a new corporate story. Results. In response to litigation and public opprobrium, PMC replaced its market success–oriented corporate narrative with a new one centered on responsibility. Although management sought to downplay inconsistencies between the old and new narratives, some employees reportedly had difficulty reconciling them, concerned that the responsibility focus might affect company profitability. However, others embraced the new narrative, suggesting radical ideas to prevent youth smoking. These ideas were not adopted. Conclusions. PMC’s new narrative was unconvincing to many of its employees, who perceived it either as a threat to the company’s continued profits or as incongruous with what they had previously been told. As it had done with the public, PMC misled its employees in explaining a narrative repositioning that would help the company continue business as usual. Moving toward a tobacco endgame will require ongoing discursive and symbolic efforts to disrupt this narrative. PMID:26270280

Understanding personal narratives: an approach to practice.

PubMed

Gaydos, H Lea

2005-02-01

This paper explores the need for and nature of personal narratives and their relevance to nursing practice. It proposes that the co-creative aesthetic process can be used to understand and co-create personal narratives through an emphasis on self-defining memories and metaphor. Many authors in nursing and other human sciences have recognized the need for and importance of personal narrative, its relationship to aesthetic knowing and its value in qualitative research and in practice. The role of memory and metaphor in the creation of meaning in personal narratives, however, has not been sufficiently explored in nursing literature. The nature of personal narrative is explored, focusing on the way meaning is created from self-defining memories using metaphor. Then, the importance of personal narratives in nursing practice is considered, followed by discussion about how meaning in personal narratives may be co-created between clients and nurses using an aesthetic process developed by the author. The co-creative aesthetic process is an example of nursing as art and can be used to co-create personal narratives in practice. The experience of co-creating a self story with a nurse can be healing, as the self story is heard by a caring person, memories are understood in new ways, and the self story is both confirmed and recreated.

Narrative in interprofessional education and practice: implications for professional identity, provider-patient communication and teamwork.

PubMed

Clark, Phillip G

2014-01-01

Health and social care professionals increasingly use narrative approaches to focus on the patient and to communicate with each other. Both effective interprofessional education (IPE) and practice (IPP) require recognizing the various values and voices of different professions, how they relate to the patient's life story, and how they interact with each other at the level of the healthcare team. This article analyzes and integrates the literature on narrative to explore: self-narrative as an expression of one's professional identity; the co-creation of the patient's narrative by the professional and the patient; and the interprofessional multi-vocal narrative discourse as co-constructed by members of the healthcare team. Using a narrative approach to thinking about professional identity, provider-patient communication, and interprofessional teamwork expands our thinking about both IPE and IPP by providing new insights into the nature of professional practice based on relationships to oneself, the patient, and others on the team. How professionals define themselves, gather and present information from the patient, and communicate as members of a clinical team all have important dimensions that can be revealed by a narrative approach. Implications and conclusions for the further development of the narrative approach in IPE and IPP are offered.

Narrative pedagogy and simulation: future directions for nursing education.

PubMed

Walsh, Mike

2011-05-01

Narrative pedagogy has been developed over the last decade in nursing as a means of complementing a conventional content and competency driven pedagogy. It focuses attention on the human experience of health care by deriving shared meanings from interpretation of stories. This allows students to explore the different perspectives of those involved. The emotional experiences of participants can be understood, conventional wisdom challenged and new knowledge emerge as students work together to construct their learning. Individual stories are embedded within the narrative and teachers have successfully used literature and film as narratives to help them explore the meaning of health care with students. Modern technology has opened up a new range of electronic narratives such as virtual simulation. These are considered and rejected as devices for a health care narrative due to their dehumanized and unrealistic nature. However it is argued that a multimedia online simulation of a typical neighbourhood can achieve the goal of providing a suitable narrative. Human actors replace avatars and real world settings replace gaming environments as the stories of people in this community are related and used to support narrative pedagogy. An example of such a narrative developed jointly in the UK and Canada is discussed. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Identity development in cultural context: The role of deviating from master narratives.

PubMed

McLean, Kate C; Lilgendahl, Jennifer P; Fordham, Chelsea; Alpert, Elizabeth; Marsden, Emma; Szymanowski, Kathryn; McAdams, Dan P

2017-08-18

The great majority of research on identity and personality development has focused on individual processes of development, to the relative neglect of the cultural context of development. We employ a recently articulated framework for the examination of identity development in context, centered on the construct of master narratives, or culturally shared stories. Across four studies, we asked emerging and midlife adults (N = 512) to narrate personal experiences of deviations from these master narratives. Across three quantitative studies, we show that (a) those who elaborated their deviation experiences were more likely to be in structurally marginalized positions in society (e.g., ethnic or sexual minorities); (b) those who elaborated an empowering alternative to the master narrative were more likely to be engaged in identity processes; and (c) master narratives maintain their rigidity by the frequency of their use. In study 4, using qualitative analyses, we illustrate the rigidity of master narratives, as well as the degree to which they take shape in social and group experiences. These studies emphasize the importance of cultural context in considering personality and identity development. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

The effects of narrative and message framing on engagement and eating intention among a sample of adult Hispanics.

PubMed

Wirtz, John G; Kulpavaropas, Supathida

2014-01-01

To test the effect of narrative messages and gain- and loss-framed messages on persuasive outcomes with a sample of Hispanic adults. A 2 (message type: narrative, non-narrative) × 2 (message frame: gain-framed, loss-framed) between subjects posttest only. Data were collected at 2 outdoor festivals in West Texas. Participants were a convenience sample of 72 Hispanic adults (mean age, 40.6 years). Main outcome measures were message engagement, message relevance, attitude toward message, healthy eating intention, and physical activity intention. Data analysis included analysis of variance and multivariate analysis of variance. There was no significant difference between narrative and non-narrative messages. Gain-framed messages were rated more positively, whereas loss-framed messages were considered more engaging and also produced higher intentions to eat healthy and to become physically active. The interaction between message type and message framing was not significant. Loss-framed messages produced the unanticipated effect of higher message engagement and higher intention. This finding suggests that messages emphasizing losses associated with unhealthy eating and lack of physical activity may be more effective when targeting Hispanic adults than messages emphasizing potential gains. The lack of difference between narrative and non-narrative messages suggests there is no disadvantage to using narratives, but also no advantage. Copyright © 2014 Society for Nutrition Education and Behavior. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Interpretive analysis of 85 systematic reviews suggests that narrative syntheses and meta-analyses are incommensurate in argumentation.

PubMed

Melendez-Torres, G J; O'Mara-Eves, A; Thomas, J; Brunton, G; Caird, J; Petticrew, M

2017-03-01

Using Toulmin's argumentation theory, we analysed the texts of systematic reviews in the area of workplace health promotion to explore differences in the modes of reasoning embedded in reports of narrative synthesis as compared with reports of meta-analysis. We used framework synthesis, grounded theory and cross-case analysis methods to analyse 85 systematic reviews addressing intervention effectiveness in workplace health promotion. Two core categories, or 'modes of reasoning', emerged to frame the contrast between narrative synthesis and meta-analysis: practical-configurational reasoning in narrative synthesis ('what is going on here? What picture emerges?') and inferential-predictive reasoning in meta-analysis ('does it work, and how well? Will it work again?'). Modes of reasoning examined quality and consistency of the included evidence differently. Meta-analyses clearly distinguished between warrant and claim, whereas narrative syntheses often presented joint warrant-claims. Narrative syntheses and meta-analyses represent different modes of reasoning. Systematic reviewers are likely to be addressing research questions in different ways with each method. It is important to consider narrative synthesis in its own right as a method and to develop specific quality criteria and understandings of how it is carried out, not merely as a complement to, or second-best option for, meta-analysis. © 2016 The Authors. Research Synthesis Methods published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. © 2016 The Authors. Research Synthesis Methods published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Good sex/bad sex: the individualised focus of US HIV prevention policy in sub-Saharan Africa, 1995-2005.

PubMed

Esacove, Anne W

2013-01-01

The expanding reliance on the health sciences to address social problems is well documented, as are the effects of the social construction of public (health) problems on 'target' populations, intervention design and broader social systems. Less attention has been given in the literature to the cultural meanings that configure public health efforts themselves. This study demonstrates how the cultural understandings of sex and sexuality that inform US human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) prevention policy in sub-Saharan Africa shape policy recommendations. Based on an analysis of 119 US policy documents, a relatively stable and highly gendered narrative of sexual risk was found across the Clinton and (G.W.) Bush administrations. This narrative locates HIV risk in (what is constructed to be) the inevitable clash between women's sexuality and men's sexuality, and delineates HIV risk by the form of relationship in which sex occurs. The two narratives diverge at this point, offering different definitions of 'bad' sex and 'good' sex. This divergence helps to explain the different prevention foci of the administrations - condoms during the Clinton era and abstinence-outside-of-marriage during the Bush administration. In both cases, the sexual risk narrative points to individual targeted prevention strategies, even as the policy identifies structural factors as driving global HIV epidemics. © 2012 The Author. Sociology of Health & Illness © 2012 Foundation for the Sociology of Health & Illness/Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

"People Are Messy": Complex Narratives of Supervising New Professionals in Student Affairs

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Davis, Tiffany J.; Cooper, Diane L.

2017-01-01

This study explored how supervisors in student affairs narrate their experiences of supervising new professionals. Utilizing narrative inquiry methodology, data were obtained through in-depth interviews of 13 supervisors and analyzed using thematic and narrative analysis methods. Implications for graduate preparation programs, professional…

Is Trauma Memory Special? Trauma Narrative Fragmentation in PTSD: Effects of Treatment and Response.

PubMed

Bedard-Gilligan, Michele; Zoellner, Lori A; Feeny, Norah C

2017-03-01

Seminal theories posit that fragmented trauma memories are critical to posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD; van der Kolk & Fisler, 1995; Brewin, 2014) and that elaboration of the trauma narrative is necessary for recovery (e.g., Foa, Huppert, & Cahill, 2006). According to fragmentation theories, trauma narrative changes, particularly for those receiving trauma-focused treatment, should accompany symptom reduction. Trauma and control narratives in 77 men and women with chronic PTSD were examined pre- and post-treatment, comparing prolonged exposure (PE) and sertraline. Utilizing self-report, rater coding, and objective coding of narrative content, fragmentation was compared across narrative types (trauma, negative, positive) by treatment modality and response, controlling for potential confounds. Although sensory components increased with PE ( d = 0.23 - 0.44), there were no consistent differences in fragmentation from pre- to post-treatment between PE and sertraline or treatment responders and non-responders. Contrary to theories, changes in fragmentation may not be a crucial mechanism underlying PTSD therapeutic recovery.

Appreciating the political ethnography of master narratives and counterstories

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Moore, Philip

2011-12-01

Here I write an appreciation of Settlage's account of experiences with preservice teachers in the United States. Focusing on his use of notions of narrative and counterstories I explore the politics of experience in education looking at how he uses narrative and story, the politics entailed in the polyvocal evidence he presents and the significance of the ethnographic context for his account. After a discussion of these three significant conceptual insights I conclude with a return to his account and his somewhat diffident reflections about the project he reports on.

Narrative methods in quality improvement research

PubMed Central

Greenhalgh, T; Russell, J; Swinglehurst, D

2005-01-01



 This paper reviews and critiques the different approaches to the use of narrative in quality improvement research. The defining characteristics of narrative are chronology (unfolding over time); emplotment (the literary juxtaposing of actions and events in an implicitly causal sequence); trouble (that is, harm or the risk of harm); and embeddedness (the personal story nests within a particular social, historical and organisational context). Stories are about purposeful action unfolding in the face of trouble and, as such, have much to offer quality improvement researchers. But the quality improvement report (a story about efforts to implement change), which is common, must be distinguished carefully from narrative based quality improvement research (focused systematic enquiry that uses narrative methods to generate new knowledge), which is currently none. We distinguish four approaches to the use of narrative in quality improvement research—narrative interview; naturalistic story gathering; organisational case study; and collective sense-making—and offer a rationale, describe how data can be collected and analysed, and discuss the strengths and limitations of each using examples from the quality improvement literature. Narrative research raises epistemological questions about the nature of narrative truth (characterised by sense-making and emotional impact rather than scientific objectivity), which has implications for how rigour should be defined (and how it might be achieved) in this type of research. We offer some provisional guidance for distinguishing high quality narrative research in a quality improvement setting from other forms of narrative account such as report, anecdote, and journalism. PMID:16326792

Personal identity narratives of therapeutic songwriting participants following Spinal Cord Injury: A case series analysis.

PubMed

Roddy, Chantal; Rickard, Nikki; Tamplin, Jeanette; Baker, Felicity Anne

2018-07-01

Spinal Cord Injury (SCI) patients face unique identity challenges associated with physical limitations, higher comorbid depression, increased suicidality and reduced subjective well-being. Post-injury identity is often unaddressed in subacute rehabilitation environments where critical physical and functional rehabilitation goals are prioritized. Therapeutic songwriting has demonstrated prior efficacy in promoting healthy adjustment and as a means of expression for post-injury narratives. The current study sought to examine the identity narratives of therapeutic songwriting participants. Case-series analysis of the individual identity trajectories of eight individuals. Subacute rehabilitation facility, Victoria, Australia. Eight individuals with an SCI; 7 males and 1 female. Six-week therapeutic songwriting intervention facilitated by a music therapist to promote identity rehabilitation. Identity, subjective well-being and distress, emotional state. Three participants demonstrated positive trajectories and a further three showed negative trajectories; remaining participants were ambiguous in their response. Injury severity differentiated those with positive trajectories from those with negative trajectories, with greater injury severity apparent for those showing negative trends. Self-concept also improved more in those with positive trajectories. Core demographic variables did not however meaningfully predict the direction of change in core identity or wellbeing indices. Identity-focused songwriting holds promise as a means of promoting healthy identity reintegration. Further research on benefits for those with less severe spinal injuries is warranted.

Toward a Narrative Pedagogy for Interactive Learning Environments

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hazel, Paul

2008-01-01

The use of narrative within interactive learning environments (ILEs) is widespread. Reviewing recent research in the fields of ethnography, cognitive psychology, neurobiology, discourse analysis, and education, this paper proposes a rationale for the use of narrative in ILEs. Starting with a description of the origin of narrative in the brain, the…

"The Top Priority Is a Healthy Baby": Narratives of Health, Disability, and Abortion in Online Pregnancy Forum Discussions in the US and China.

PubMed

Li, Grace; Chandrasekharan, Subhashini; Allyse, Megan

2017-02-01

The introduction of cell-free DNA prenatal genetic screening has rekindled discussion of ethical and social questions surrounding prenatal testing, perceptions of disability, and abortion. The growing use of prenatal genetic screening presents a unique opportunity to assess decision-making around new methods of prenatal testing; especially as there is little available research comparing individual and cultural differences that affect a pregnant woman's decision-making on prenatal testing. We performed a content analysis of online pregnancy forums in the United States and Mainland China. Content from January 2012 to December 2013 was identified through search methodologies and refined to remove duplication. China-based content was translated by a native Mandarin speaker. We used qualitative analysis methods to identify common themes in the dataset. There were 333 English responses and 519 Mandarin responses. Three main themese were identified in the data: decision making factors, attitude towards the pregnancy, and attitudes towards abortion. Women's narratives reflected how broader social forces can have an impact on intimate personal decision-making. Women in the Mandarin dataset evoked stronger narratives of community and/or family decision-making in pregnancy and were more accepting of the possibility of abortion in the event of a finding of fetal abnormality. Narrative in the English dataset more frequently evoked ideas of unconditional love, regardless of fetal diagnosis, but also acknowledged much stronger support services for individuals with disability and less awareness of stigma. These results highlight the necessity of awareness around how broader cultural and social factors can consciously or unconsciously impact women's decisions and highlight potential focus areas for future counseling efforts.

"Sounds like something a white man should be doing": Academic identity in African American female engineering students

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stitt, Rashunda LaRuth

This study exposed the way African American female engineering students constructed their academic identities by focusing on their lived experiences. Participants included nine engineering students at Mid-South University (pseudonym) who identified as African American females. Participants were required to sit for one semi-structured academic life history interview that focused on their academic experiences from early childhood to present. This study employed two levels of theory in order to obtain a comprehensive view of participants' experiences. Black feminist theory, which accounts for the intersectionality of participants' race and gender, served as the macro level theory and academic identity, which accounts for the individual's sense of identity within an academic context, served as the mid-level theory. I engaged in thematic analysis, narrative analysis, and creative analytic practice in order to highlight similarities between participants' stories, differences between participants' experiences, and to make this research accessible to individuals outside of academia. As a result, the following three themes emerged to highlight the similarities between participants: (a) just because you struggle, does not mean you should quit; (b) engineering is something you cannot do alone; and (c) I can be creative and do math and science? That's cool! Narrative analysis exposed the academic identity statuses of participants to be either identity achieved, identity moratorium, identity foreclosed or identity diffused. The final piece of analysis involved creating a play that highlights the experiences of an African American girl's pursuit of her engineering degree. Additionally, the final chapter provides conclusions, implications, suggestions for future research, and limitations of the current study.

Linking Developmental Themes to Theories in the Autobiographical Narratives of Life-Span Development Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mayo, Joseph A.

2017-01-01

Prior research findings point to the efficacy of using autobiographical life-story narration as a learning tool in undergraduate classes. The current study seeks to add to the existing literature on this topic by performing a qualitative analysis across events recorded in students' autobiographical narratives. The purpose of this analysis is to…

Transfiguration: A Narrative Analysis of Male-to-Female Transsexual

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kaufmann, Jodi

2007-01-01

In the West, "transsexual" emerged as a narrative position (Prosser, 1998). In order to begin to understand the complex relations between the discursive formation and the dangerous lived experience of male-to-female transsexuals, in this narrative analysis, which is a part of a larger study, the author examines how male-to-female transsexual is…

Exploring the Utility of Narrative Analysis in Diagnostic Decision Making: Picture-Bound Reference, Elaboration, and Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Thorne, John C.; Coggins, Truman E.; Olson, Heather Carmichael; Astley, Susan J.

2007-01-01

Purpose: To evaluate classification accuracy and clinical feasibility of a narrative analysis tool for identifying children with a fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD). Method: Picture-elicited narratives generated by 16 age-matched pairs of school-aged children (FASD vs. typical development [TD]) were coded for semantic elaboration and…

Children with Specific Language Impairment: An Investigation of Their Narratives and Memory

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dodwell, Kristy; Bavin, Edith L.

2008-01-01

Background: Narratives have been used by a number of researchers to investigate the language of children with specific language impairment (SLI). While a number of explanations for SLI have been proposed, there is now mounting evidence that children with SLI have limited memory resources. Phonological memory has been the focus of the research on…

Enriching Careers and Lives: Introducing a Positive, Holistic, and Narrative Career Counseling Method that Bridges Theory and Practice

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zikic, Jelena; Franklin, Mark

2010-01-01

CareerCycles (CC) career counseling framework and method of practice integrates and builds on aspects of positive psychology. Through its holistic and narrative approach, the CC method seeks to collaboratively identify and understand clients' career and life stories. It focuses on their strengths, desires, preferences, assets, future…

Narrative Discourse in Adults with High-Functioning Autism or Asperger Syndrome

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Colle, Livia; Baron-Cohen, Simon; Wheelwright, Sally; van der Lely, Heather K. J.

2008-01-01

We report a study comparing the narrative abilities of 12 adults with high-functioning autism (HFA) or Asperger Syndrome (AS) versus 12 matched controls. The study focuses on the use of referential expressions (temporal expressions and anaphoric pronouns) during a story-telling task. The aim was to assess pragmatics skills in people with HFA/AS in…

Online Instruction as Innovation in an Educational Leadership Program: Possibilities and Challenges

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Owens, Michael A.

2012-01-01

This case was developed for use in a course in educational leadership or organizational theory with a focus on change in educational organizations. In this case narrative, data are presented relating to a proposed restructuring of an educational leadership program. Students should analyze the narrative to look for information that helps them…

Teaching for Life? Midlife Narratives from Female Classroom Teachers Who Considered Leaving the Profession

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cooper, Helen; Mackenzie Davey, Kate

2011-01-01

Career decision-making research has focused primarily on occupation change as a discrete event and emphasised occupational mobility. Not all of those who consider changing occupation do so though, and this study explored the narrative accounts of nine female teachers who had considered leaving the profession, but remained teaching at midlife.…

Living in/between Two Worlds: Narratives of Latina Cultural Brokers in Higher Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lando, Jennifer Rose

2015-01-01

The purpose of this narrative study was to explore how Latina cultural brokers understand their role in translating and interpreting complex, adult situations for their families, called cultural brokering, and how that background shapes their collegiate experiences. While much of the higher education literature in recent years has focused on the…

Children's Attachment-Related Narratives Following US Gulf Coast Hurricanes: Linkages with Understanding and Teacher Stress

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Page, Timothy; Buchanan, Teresa K.; Verbovaya, Olga

2016-01-01

The central focus of this study was the perceptions of emotional security among 64 elementary school-aged children exposed to the hurricanes that affected the US Gulf Coast in 2005. Specifically, we examined the representational qualities of attachment, exploration, and caregiving as assessed with a narrative story-stem task in relation to…

Positive Psychology in Cross-Cultural Narratives: Mexican Students Discover Themselves While Learning Chinese

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Oxford, Rebecca L.; Cuéllar, Lourdes

2014-01-01

Using the principles of positive psychology and the tools of narrative research, this article focuses on the psychology of five language learners who crossed cultural and linguistic borders. All five were university students learning Chinese in Mexico, and two of them also studied Chinese in China. The grounded theory approach was used to analyze…

A Chronological Perspective on Suicide--The Last Days of Life

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Orbach, I.; Gilboa-Schechtman, E.; Ofek, H.; Lubin, G.; Mark, M.; Bodner, E.; Cohen, D.; King, R.

2007-01-01

A combined psychological autopsy and narrative approach was used to study the completed suicides of 67 Israeli soldiers. Three issues were addressed. First, the authors examined the typology of the life narratives of suicide completed during active army duty. Second, focusing on the last 3 weeks of the soldiers' lives, they sought to examine their…

Diverse Narrative Structures in Contemporary Picturebooks: Opportunities for Children's Meaning-Making

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pantaleo, Sylvia; Sipe, Lawrence R.

2012-01-01

In this article, the authors situate their discussion of diverse narrative structures in the context of oral storytelling practices and postmodern picturebooks. They focus on three contemporary picturebooks: "Don't Read This Book!" (Lewis, 2009), "Abe Lincoln Crosses a Creek: A Tall Thin Tale" (Hopkins, 2008), and "The Stinky Cheese Man and Other…

J. G. Herder, the Origin of Language, and the Possibility of Transcultural Narratives

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pan, David

2004-01-01

Herder's ideas on cultural plurality in language offer an explanation for how narrative might bridge cultural boundaries. In his "Essay on the Origin of Language", Herder focuses on language as the specifically human trait that distinguishes humanity from all other species on the one hand and the creator of human differences and diversity of…

Deconstructing Immigrant Girls' Identities through the Production of Visual Narratives in a Catalan Urban Primary School

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rifa-Valls, Montserrat

2009-01-01

In this article, the research findings of a deconstructive visual ethnography focused on the production of immigrant girls' identities will be analysed. This collaborative research project involved experimentation with a dialogic curriculum aimed at creating diverse identity narratives with immigrant girls at an urban primary school in Barcelona.…

Teacher-Child Relationships Narrated by Parents of Children with Difficulties in Self-Regulation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rautamies, Erja; Poikonen, Pirjo-Liisa; Vähäsantanen, Katja; Laakso, Marja-Leena

2016-01-01

This study addresses the relationships between teachers and children (four to six years old) with difficulties in self-regulation from the parent's point of view. Narratives were constructed in 21 interviews with parents of children who have difficulties in self-regulation. The study focused on two questions: (i) What kinds of teacher-child…

Chinese Students' Great Expectations: Prospective Pre-School Teachers on the Move

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Thogersen, Stig

2012-01-01

The article focuses on Chinese students' hopes and expectations before leaving to study abroad. The national political environment for their decision to go abroad is shaped by an official narrative of China's transition to a more creative and innovative economy. Students draw on this narrative to interpret their own educational histories and prior…

The Taped Monologue as Narrative Technique for Reflective Practice

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ford, Keith

2016-01-01

In this article, I describe how an EFL teacher engaged in a process of reflective practice. As she looked back on her teaching career, she explored the critical incidents, principles, and practices that have informed her present teaching identity. I focus on how a taped monologue narrative technique was used, and on the rationale, practice, and…

Research, Ideology, and the Brown Decision: Counter-Narratives to the Historical and Contemporary Representation of Black Schooling

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Morris, Jerome

2008-01-01

Background/Context: Most narratives of Brown v. Board of Education primarily focus on integrated schooling as the ultimate objective in Black people's quest for quality schooling. Rather than uniformly assuming integration as Black people's ideological model, the push by Black people for quality schooling instead should be viewed within the…

The Evaluation of a Personal Narrative Language Intervention for School-Age Children with Down Syndrome

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Finestack, Lizbeth; O'Brien, Katy H.; Hyppa-Martin, Jolene; Lyrek, Kristen A.

2017-01-01

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the feasibility of an intervention focused on improving personal narrative skills of school-age children with Down syndrome (DS) using an approach involving visual supports. Four females with DS, ages 10 through 15 years, participated in this multiple baseline across participants single-subject…

Narrative Inquiry as Pedagogy in Education: The Extraordinary Potential of Living, Telling, Retelling, and Reliving Stories of Experience

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Huber, Janice; Caine, Vera; Huber, Marilyn; Steeves, Pam

2013-01-01

As they wrote this article attentive to the focus of this volume of "Review of Research in Education" on "extraordinary pedagogies for working within school settings serving nondominant students" (C. Faltis & J. Abedi, 2011, personal communication), the authors held close understandings of ways in which narrative inquiry…

Age and ageism: inhabiting the lives of healthy older adults through video narratives.

PubMed

Walker, Charles A; Newcomb, Patty; Cagle, Carolyn

2005-06-01

When applied humanities is used as a framework, the educational innovation described in this article provides a more balanced view of aging than occurs in most nursing programs. Five video narratives and focused discussion questions, intended to mitigate the "otherness" of old age, are described. Rationales and sample student responses are provided.

Teacher Technology Narratives: Native Hawaiian Views on Education and Change

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yong, D. Lilinoe; Hoffman, Ellen S.

2014-01-01

Narrative inquiry is a method by which "silenced voices" may be heard. In this study, eight Native Hawaiian teachers share their experiences of the Hawaiian Language Immersion Program (HLIP), or Papahana Kaiapuni, within the Hawai'i public school system. The teachers describe change over time in HLIP with a focus on technology and…

Educators: How Embodied Consciousness Highlighted the Importance of Their Bodies in Their Teaching Practice in HPE

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McMahon, Jennifer A.; Huntly, Helen E

2013-01-01

This paper reports on narrative research that focuses on two tertiary Health and Physical Education (HPE) educators' bodies. In particular, it explores how their lived encounters impacted upon their everyday teaching practice. Narrative accounts are used to present their lived and living bodies in this research. Findings suggest that they were…

Seeing through The Bell Jar: investigating linguistic patterns of psychological disorder.

PubMed

Hunt, Daniel; Carter, Ronald

2012-03-01

As a means of conveying difficult personal experiences, illness narratives and their analysis have the potential to increase awareness of patients' lives and circumstances. Becoming sensitised to the linguistic texture of narrative offers readers a means of increasing narrative understanding. Using the fictional narrative of The Bell Jar, this paper outlines a novel method for exploring the language of illness narratives. Corpus stylistics provides new insights into narrative texture and demonstrates the importance of recurrent linguistic features in shaping meaning. The paper concludes by proposing the application of a similar methodology to non-fictional illness narratives in therapeutic contexts.

Learning from Stories: Narrative Interviewing in Cross-cultural Research

PubMed Central

Mattingly, Cheryl; Lawlor, Mary

2010-01-01

This paper argues for the importance of eliciting stories when trying to understand the point of view and personal experience of one's informants. It also outlines one approach to eliciting and analyzing narrative data as part of a complex and multi-faceted ethnographic study. The paper draws upon ethnographic research among African-American families who have children with serious illnesses or disabilities. However, it is not a report of research findings per se. Rather, it is primarily a conceptual paper that addresses narrative as a research method. Features that distinguish a story from other sorts of discourse are sketched and current discussions in the occupational therapy and social science literature concerning the importance of narrative are examined. The heart of the paper focuses on a single narrative interview and examines what we learn about the client and family caregiver perspective through stories. PMID:21399739

The reconstruction of narrative identity during mental health recovery: a complex adaptive systems perspective.

PubMed

Kerr, Douglas J R; Crowe, Trevor P; Oades, Lindsay G

2013-06-01

1) to understand the reconstruction of narrative identity during mental health recovery using a complex adaptive systems perspective, 2) to address the need for alternative approaches that embrace the complexities of health care. A narrative review of published literature was conducted. A complex adaptive systems perspective offers a framework and language that can assist individuals to make sense of their experiences and reconstruct their narratives during an often erratic and uncertain life transition. It is a novel research direction focused on a critical area of recovery and addresses the need for alternative approaches that embrace the complexities of health care. A complexity research approach to narrative identity reconstruction is valuable. It is an accessible model for addressing the complexities of recovery and may underpin the development of simple, practical recovery coaching tools. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2013 APA, all rights reserved).

Core story creation: analysing narratives to construct stories for learning.

PubMed

Petty, Julia; Jarvis, Joy; Thomas, Rebecca

2018-03-16

Educational research uses narrative enquiry to gain and interpret people's experiences. Narrative analysis is used to organise and make sense of acquired narrative. 'Core story creation' is a way of managing raw data obtained from narrative interviews to construct stories for learning. To explain how core story creation can be used to construct stories from raw narratives obtained by interviewing parents about their neonatal experiences and then use these stories to educate learners. Core story creation involves reconfiguration of raw narratives. Reconfiguration includes listening to and rereading transcribed narratives, identifying elements of 'emplotment' and reordering these to form a constructed story. Thematic analysis is then performed on the story to draw out learning themes informed by the participants. Core story creation using emplotment is a strategy of narrative reconfiguration that produces stories which can be used to develop resources relating to person-centred education about the patient experience. Stories constructed from raw narratives in the context of constructivism can provide a medium or an 'end product' for use in learning resource development. This can then contribute to educating students or health professionals about patients' experiences. ©2018 RCN Publishing Company Ltd. All rights reserved. Not to be copied, transmitted or recorded in any way, in whole or part, without prior permission of the publishers.

The presentation of "pro-anorexia" in online group interactions.

PubMed

Gavin, Jeff; Rodham, Karen; Poyer, Helen

2008-03-01

Although pro-anorexia online support forums and the narratives that occur within them are increasingly the focus of research, none, to date, focuses closely on issues of identity within this online context. Our aim in conducting this study was to examine the presentation of pro-anorexia via an interpretive phenomenological analysis of postings to a pro-anorexia ("pro-ana") online discussion forum. Analysis indicates that pro-anorexic identities are normalized and strengthened through the normalization of participants' pro-ana thoughts and behaviors, and the group bond created through sharing a secret identity. This process renders participants less likely to reveal their pro-ana identity to friends and family in the real world. The implications of our findings are discussed in relation to the theory of identity demarginalization.

The Nevada Family: Political Crisis Leadership and Resilience Narratives in the Silver State

DTIC Science & Technology

2017-12-01

incidents. The analysis in the case studies focuses primarily on the actions of political leaders. Through the actions of political leaders during...which are all applied to and examined through case studies from recent crises within the state of Nevada. These incidents are both man-made and natural...disasters, and they occur over long and short time periods. These case studies allow for the actions and decisions of political leaders during

Comparing the Persuasiveness of Narrative and Statistical Evidence Using Meta-Analysis.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Allen, Mike; Preiss, Raymond W.

1997-01-01

Compares the persuasiveness of using statistical versus narrative evidence (case studies or examples) across 15 investigations. Indicates that when comparing messages, statistical evidence is more persuasive than narrative evidence. (PA)

Sensitivity of Narrative Organization Measures Using Narrative Retells Produced by Young School-Age Children

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Heilmann, John; Miller, Jon F.; Nockerts, Ann

2010-01-01

Analysis of children's productions of oral narratives provides a rich description of children's oral language skills. However, measures of narrative organization can be directly affected by both developmental and task-based performance constraints which can make a measure insensitive and inappropriate for a particular population and/or sampling…

Narratives and Accounts: "Post-Crisis" Narration in Annual Company Reports

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Winchester, Jules; Williams, Simon

2014-01-01

This paper aims to provide Business English and EAP practitioners with a rationale for including the analysis of narrative elements in business addresses in their language teaching in order to encourage critical thinking in learners. By studying these elements, and the rhetorical function of the narrative in particular, students can become more…

"Love Him and Everything Else Will Fall into Place": An Analysis of Narratives of African-American Fathers of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hannon, Michael Damon

2013-01-01

This exploratory qualitative dissertation analyzed the narratives of six African-American fathers of children with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs). Contributors were identified via snowball sampling and data were collected using in-depth interviewing and analyzed using analysis of narratives. Findings are presented via individual case…

Living and doing with chronic pain: narratives of pain program participants.

PubMed

Van Huet, Helen; Innes, Ev; Whiteford, Gail

2009-01-01

This study aimed to explore factors which predicated successful long-term pain management for people who had attended a cognitive-behavioural-based pain management program (PMP) in regional Australia. This study used qualitative methods based on analysis of narratives. Fifteen people (11 women and four men), who attended the PMP in 2002 and 2003, agreed to participate in two in-depth interviews with a narrative focus in 2005. Their ages ranged from 30-65 years. Interview transcripts were analysed thematically. Themes that emerged from the interviews were the meanings and beliefs participants had attributed to their pain at the time of the program and after program completion (i.e. being ready to do the program and acceptance or non-acceptance of the long term nature of their pain). It also identified the strategies that some participants used and continued to apply in their daily lives (i.e. using pacing strategies and re-engaging in valued routines and tasks). The findings suggested that the ability to adopt positive meaning attributes and use a variety of strategies was related to those participants who were successful in their ongoing pain management. The importance of these factors should be considered for those attending chronic pain programs.

Holistic nurses' stories of personal healing.

PubMed

Smith, Marlaine C; Zahourek, Rothlyn; Hines, Mary Enzman; Engebretson, Joan; Wardell, Diane Wind

2013-09-01

The purpose of this study was to uncover the nature, experiences, and meaning of personal healing for holistic nurses through their narrative accounts. The study employed a qualitative descriptive design with methods of narrative and story inquiry. Participants were nurse attendees at an American Holistic Nurses' Association conference who volunteered for the study. They were invited to share a story about healing self or another. Twenty-five stories were collected; seven were about personal healing, and these are the focus of this analysis. Data were analyzed using a hybrid approach from narrative and story inquiry methods. Eleven themes were clustered under three story segments. The themes within the Call to the Healing Encounter are the following: recognition of the need to resolve a personal or health crisis, knowledge of or engagement in self-care practices, and reliance on intuitive knowing. Themes under the Experience of Healing are the following: connections; profound sensations, perceptions, and events; awareness of the reciprocal nature of healing; inner resolution: forgiveness, awakening, and acceptance; use of multiple holistic approaches; and witnessing manifestations of healing. The themes for Insights are the following: gratitude and appreciation and ongoing journey. A metastory synthesizing the themes is presented, and findings are related to existing literature on healing.

Conducting a narrative analysis.

PubMed

Emden, C

1998-07-01

This paper describes the process of narrative analysis as undertaken within a nursing study on scholars and scholarship. If follows an earlier paper titled: Theoretical perspectives on narrative inquiry that described the influencing ideas of Bruner (1987) and Roof (1994) upon the same study. Analysis procedures are described here in sufficient detail for other researchers wishing to implement a similar approach to do so. The process as described has two main components: (A) strategies of 'core story creation' and 'employment'; and (B) issues and dilemmas of narrative analysis, especially relating to rigour. The ideas of Polkinghorne (1988), Mishler (1986), and Labov (in Mishler 1986a) are introduced in so far as they impinge upon the analysis process. These relate especially to the development of key terms, and to the analysis strategies of core story creation and employment. Outcomes of the study in question are termed 'Signposting the lived-world of scholarship'.

Narrative Skill in Children with Early Unilateral Brain Injury: A Possible Limit to Functional Plasticity

PubMed Central

Demir, Özlem Ece; Levine, Susan C.; Goldin-Meadow, Susan

2009-01-01

Children with pre- or perinatal brain injury (PL) exhibit marked plasticity for language learning. Previous work mostly focused on the emergence of earlier developing skills, such as vocabulary and syntax. Here we ask whether this plasticity for earlier developing aspects of language extends to more complex, later-developing language functions by examining the narrative production of children with PL. Using an elicitation technique that involves asking children to create stories de novo in response to a story stem, we collected narratives from 11 children with PL and 20 typically-developing (TD) children. Narratives were analyzed for length, diversity of the vocabulary used, use of complex syntax, complexity of the macro-level narrative structure and use of narrative evaluation. Children’s language performance on vocabulary and syntax tasks outside of the narrative context was also measured. Findings show that children with PL produced shorter stories, used less diverse vocabulary, produced structurally less complex stories at the macro-level, and made fewer inferences regarding the cognitive states of the story characters. These differences in the narrative task emerged even though children with PL did not differ from TD children on vocabulary and syntax tasks outside of the narrative context. Thus, findings suggest that there may be limitations to the plasticity for language functions displayed by children with PL, and that these limitations may be most apparent in complex, decontextualized language tasks such as narrative production. PMID:20590727

The Value of Patient Narratives in the Assessment of Older Patients Presenting with Falls

PubMed Central

Wong, Carolyn; Hogan, David B.

2013-01-01

Background & Purpose Falls are a common and serious health problem experienced by older persons. The perception and interpretation of the fall experience can influence the long-term consequences of the event. In this pilot study, we explored whether there would be additional value in obtaining a patient narrative as part of the assessment of an older person who had fallen. Methods We conducted narrative interviews on a convenience sample of five older patients referred to the Calgary Fall Prevention Clinic (CFPC). Phenomena from the narratives were generated using original audio recordings. A focus group of four CFPC health professionals discussed similarities and differences between the narratives and the CFPC assessments conducted on these subjects without access to the narratives. Results Patient narratives revealed additional information about the person’s emotional response to their falls and overall health status, their strengths that could be utilized in implementing a care plan, and what they had done personally to prevent further falls. Conclusions Including patient narratives within standard fall-risk assessments could aid in understanding the emotional impact of falls on older patients and how they might respond to interventions. A challenge would be incorporating this within the time restraints of routine clinical practice. PMID:23737928

Finding Spirits in Spirituality: What are We Measuring in Spirituality and Health Research?

PubMed

Laird, Lance D; Curtis, Cara E; Morgan, Jonathan R

2017-02-01

What are we asking when we ask about spirituality? When research subjects check survey boxes for "religiosity" and "spirituality" measures on health surveys, those of us who use them often assume that these responses indicate a relationship with-or reaction against-normative, conventional, Protestant-shaped religious practice and experience. We present a qualitative interview study of 13 low-income mothers with a history of depression, analyzing their descriptions of spiritual and religious coping practices. On the basis of a focused analysis of four mother's narratives, we argue that conventional survey answers may frequently hide more than they reveal about people's cultural, religious, and idiosyncratic experiences with ghosts, spirits, magic, and haunting presences that are relevant, sometimes integral, to illness and healing. We demonstrate that listening to participants' narratives challenges researchers' unconsciously normative assumptions and ought to help us reshape our understanding of the ways spirituality and religion influence health in a hyperdiverse society.

Re-interpreting: Narratives of childhood language brokering over time.

PubMed

Orellana, Marjorie Faulstich; Phoenix, Ann

2017-05-01

This article probes how childhood experiences are actively taken into adult lives and thus challenges the unwitting and unintentional reproduction of an adult-child binary in childhood studies. We do this by analyzing interviews with one adult daughter of immigrants from Mexico to the United States at four points in time (ages 19, 26, 27, and 33). Using narrative analysis to examine the mutability of memory, we consider how Eva oriented herself to her childhood story, what was salient and invisible in each recount, the values she associated with the practice, and the meanings she took from her experiences. We show how Eva re-interpreted her experiences as an immigrant child language broker in relation to unfolding life events, showing her childhood to be very much alive in her adult life. Language brokering serves as one way in which to examine the interpenetration of childhood into adulthood, rather than being the focus per se.

PTSD blogs.

PubMed

Ramanathan, Vaidehi

2015-01-01

This paper addresses issues around the automatic repetition of particular memories in the narratives / blog accounts of individuals with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Based on a long-term project that examines how people with various body-related conditions and ailments write or speak about their bodies, the focus of this paper is on 80 blog accounts wherein individuals with PTSD write both about living with the condition and about their steps towards healing themselves. The paper pays special attention to how the act of repeated blogging counters the paralyzing repetition in their heads, leading them to re-cognize particular distressing life-events and thus creating alternate episodic structures (Gee 1992). In particular, the article addresses: What insights about repetition and memory are we able to glean from PTSD pathographies, and in what ways does current scholarship in narrative analysis, applied sociolinguistics, and psychology permit a more complex understanding of the condition?

Re-interpreting: Narratives of childhood language brokering over time

PubMed Central

Orellana, Marjorie Faulstich; Phoenix, Ann

2016-01-01

This article probes how childhood experiences are actively taken into adult lives and thus challenges the unwitting and unintentional reproduction of an adult–child binary in childhood studies. We do this by analyzing interviews with one adult daughter of immigrants from Mexico to the United States at four points in time (ages 19, 26, 27, and 33). Using narrative analysis to examine the mutability of memory, we consider how Eva oriented herself to her childhood story, what was salient and invisible in each recount, the values she associated with the practice, and the meanings she took from her experiences. We show how Eva re-interpreted her experiences as an immigrant child language broker in relation to unfolding life events, showing her childhood to be very much alive in her adult life. Language brokering serves as one way in which to examine the interpenetration of childhood into adulthood, rather than being the focus per se. PMID:28503031

Pornographic lives.

PubMed

Jensen, R

1995-03-01

This article examines the connection between pornography and violence against women through interviews with men about pornography use. It emphasizes the value of narrative accounts as important sources of information over experimental laboratory research. The narratives described in this article give specific examples of how pornography can 1) be an important factor in shaping a male-dominant view of sexuality; 2) contribute to a user's difficulty in separating sexual fantasy and reality; 3) be used to initiate victims and break down their resistance to sexual activity; and 4) provide a training manual for abusers. The subjects in this study were divided into two groups: 11 men who responded to a classified ad that asked for male interview subjects and 13 residents of the Alpha Human Services sex offender treatment program. The interviews documented in this article focus on cases where there is a clear link between pornography use and abuse. Analysis of the interviews provides support for the feminist anti-pornography critique.

The self as capital in the narrative economy: how biographical testimonies move activism in the Global South.

PubMed

Burchardt, Marian

2016-05-01

This article analyses and theorises the practice of biographical storytelling of HIV-positive AIDS activists in South Africa. Combining research in illness narratives, studies of emotions in social activism and analysis of global health institutions in Africa, I explore how biographical self-narrations are deployed to facilitate access to resources and knowledge and thus acquire material and symbolic value. I illustrate my argument through the analysis of the case of an AIDS activist who became a professional biographical storyteller. Based on the analysis which I claim to represent wider dynamics in human-rights-based health activism in the Global South, I propose the concept of narrative economies by which I mean the set of exchange relationships within which biographical self-narrations circulate and produce social value for individuals and organisations. © 2015 Foundation for the Sociology of Health & Illness.

Internal State Language in the Storybook Narratives of Children with and without Autism Spectrum Disorder: Investigating Relations to Theory of Mind Abilities

PubMed Central

Siller, Michael; Swanson, Meghan R.; Serlin, Gayle; George, Ann

2014-01-01

The current study examines narratives elicited using a wordless picture book, focusing on language used to describe the characters’ thoughts and emotions (i.e., internal state language, ISL). The sample includes 21 children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and 24 typically developing controls, matched on children's gender, IQ, as well as receptive and expressive vocabulary. This research had three major findings. First, despite equivalent performance on standardized language assessments, the volume of children's narratives (i.e., the number of utterances and words, the range of unique verbs and adjectives) was lower in children with ASD than in typically developing controls. Second, after controlling for narrative volume, the narratives of children with ASD were less likely to reference the characters’ emotions than was the case for typically developing controls. Finally, our results revealed a specific association between children's use of emotion terms and their performance on a battery of experimental tasks evaluating children's Theory of Mind abilities. Implications for our understanding of narrative deficits in ASD as well as interventions that use narrative as a context for improving social comprehension are discussed. PMID:24748899

Internal State Language in the Storybook Narratives of Children with and without Autism Spectrum Disorder: Investigating Relations to Theory of Mind Abilities.

PubMed

Siller, Michael; Swanson, Meghan R; Serlin, Gayle; George, Ann

2014-05-01

The current study examines narratives elicited using a wordless picture book, focusing on language used to describe the characters' thoughts and emotions (i.e., internal state language, ISL). The sample includes 21 children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and 24 typically developing controls, matched on children's gender, IQ, as well as receptive and expressive vocabulary. This research had three major findings. First, despite equivalent performance on standardized language assessments, the volume of children's narratives (i.e., the number of utterances and words, the range of unique verbs and adjectives) was lower in children with ASD than in typically developing controls. Second, after controlling for narrative volume, the narratives of children with ASD were less likely to reference the characters' emotions than was the case for typically developing controls. Finally, our results revealed a specific association between children's use of emotion terms and their performance on a battery of experimental tasks evaluating children's Theory of Mind abilities. Implications for our understanding of narrative deficits in ASD as well as interventions that use narrative as a context for improving social comprehension are discussed.

Fictional Narratives as Didactical Tools: Using Frank McCourt's "Teacher Man" in Pre-Service Teacher Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mottart, Andre; Vanhooren, Steven; Rutten, Kris; Soetaert, Ronald

2009-01-01

In this article we describe a teaching project that focuses on the introduction of fictional narratives as basis for critical reflection about major issues in the teaching profession. Our main aim is to help pre-service teachers to make appropriate decisions at particular moments of interaction in their classroom. From a theoretical perspective we…

Visions of America: Personal Narratives from the Promised Land. A Multicultural Anthology of Autobiography and Essay.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brown, Wesley, Ed.; Ling, Amy, Ed.

This anthology of personal narratives and excerpts from memoirs and autobiographies is seen as a companion to the earlier anthology, "Imagining America: Stories from the Promised Land." While focusing on nonfiction, this book continues the exploration of emigration to and migration within the United States in the 20th century. However, the scope…

Narrating Surroundings and Suppression: The Role of School in Soviet Childhood Memories

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nugin, Raili; Jõesalu, Kirsti

2016-01-01

The article explores how people born in Estonia in the 1970s contextualize their memories about their Soviet childhood in the context of school. Focusing on small group of people who grew up in the Soviet Estonia, we argue that in biographical narratives, school is treated as the representative of the Soviet regime. Nostalgic reminiscences from…

Narratives from Within: Black Women and Schooling in the Canadian Context

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Neeganagwedgin, Erica

2013-01-01

This paper focuses on the educational experiences and narratives of women of African ancestry in Canada, and is based on a number of women who were interviewed over a two-month period. The literature review examines the ways in which today's experiences of formal education, which were shared by the women, are shaped and circumscribed by much…

How Does Mindfulness Training Change the Narratives of Young People Identified as Having Behavioural Difficulties? An Exploratory Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ardern, Catherine

2016-01-01

Previous research investigating the use of Mindfulness as an intervention has generally taken a quantitative approach, focusing on outcomes rather than processes. The purpose of this research was to develop an understanding of how and why Mindfulness training might influence young people. The study explored the changes in narratives that occur in…

The (Untold) Drama of the Turning Page: The Role of Page Breaks in Understanding Picture Books

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jacobs, Katrina Emily Bartow

2016-01-01

While scholars have recognized the importance of page breaks in both the construction and comprehension of narrative within picture books, there has previously been limited research that focused directly on how children discuss and make sense of these spaces in the text. Yet, because of their nature as dramatic gaps in the narrative, page breaks…

Narrative Development among Language-Minority Children: The Role of Bilingual versus Monolingual Preschool Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schwartz, Mila; Shaul, Yehudit

2013-01-01

The development of script schema, as a source of narrative knowledge, is an essential stage in this knowledge construction. This study focused on the role of bilingual versus monolingual preschool education in the development of script schema knowledge in Russian (L1) and Hebrew (L2) among Russian/Hebrew-speaking children in Israel. The preschool…

Beyond Post-Racial Narratives: Barack Obama and the (Re)shaping of Racial Memory in US Schools and Society

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Smith, William L.; Brown, Anthony L.

2014-01-01

Drawing from the work of "cultural memory" and "racial formation theory" (Omi and Winant 1994) we explore the ascension of Barack Obama as an illustration of how "race" is understood and remembered. This article focuses on the public media discourse of the 2012 Obama re-election to illustrate how the narrative morphed…

A Schoolmarm All My Life: Personal Narratives from Frontier Utah.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kinkead, Joyce, Ed.

This book presents edited versions of the personal narratives of 24 Mormon women who taught school in frontier Utah. Drawn primarily from the archives of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, the accounts detail the women's lives as Mormons, as pioneers, and as teachers and have been edited to focus on the education of women,…

"Better to Be a Pessimist": A Narrative Inquiry into Mathematics Teachers' Experience of the Transition to the Common Core

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Martinie, Sherri L.; Kim, Jeong-Hee; Abernathy, Deborah

2016-01-01

The Common Core State Standards (CCSS) are a focus of state education policy today influencing curriculum implementation and assessment in public schools. The purpose of this narrative inquiry is to understand how high school mathematics teachers experience the transition period. Based on interviews with mathematics teachers in a high school in…

As Luck Would Have It: Thomas Hardy's "Bildungsroman" on Leading a Human Life

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Laverty, Megan Jane

2014-01-01

In this essay, I demonstrate the value of the Bildungsroman for philosophy of education on the grounds that these narratives raise and explore educational questions. I focus on a short story in the Bildungsroman tradition, Thomas Hardy's "A Mere Interlude". This story describes the maturation of its heroine by narrating a series of…

"Tell Me a Story": The Use of Narrative as a Learning Tool for Natural Selection

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Prins, Renate; Avraamidou, Lucy; Goedhart, Martin

2017-01-01

Grounded within literature pointing to the value of narrative in communicating scientific information, the purpose of this study was to examine the use of stories as a tool for teaching about natural selection in the context of school science. The study utilizes a mixed method, case study approach which focuses on the design, implementation, and…

Mental States and Activities in Danish Narratives: Children with Autism and Children with Language Impairment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Engberg-Pedersen, Elisabeth; Christensen, Rikke Vang

2017-01-01

This study focuses on the relationship between content elements and mental-state language in narratives from twenty-seven children with autism (ASD), twelve children with language impairment (LI), and thirty typically developing children (TD). The groups did not differ on chronological age (10;6-14;0) and non-verbal cognitive skills, and the…

"If Carmen Can Analyze Shakespeare, Everybody Can": Positions, Conflicts, and Negotiations in the Narratives of Latina Pre-Service Teachers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kayi-Aydar, Hayriye

2018-01-01

This study, focusing on the life stories of three pre-service Latina teachers in the United States, explored how they positioned themselves as learners of English and teachers of Spanish in their oral narratives, and how their past experience as minority students shaped their current professional identity negotiations as language teachers.…

Understanding the Learning Experiences of Postgraduate Latin American Students in a UK Context: A Narrative Approach

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

James, Gwyneth

2013-01-01

Researching the learning experiences of postgraduate students requires a different type of qualitative research to enable access to areas of their lives which may well remain hidden with more conventional methods of research. Narrative inquiry as both method and methodology allows such access. In this article, I focus on the use, appropriateness,…

Women Faculty of Color in the White Classroom: Narratives on the Pedagogical Implications of Teacher Diversity.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Vargas, Lucila, Ed.

This book compiles narratives by women professors of color who examine their classroom experiences in predominantly white U.S. campuses, focusing on the impact of their social positions upon their classroom practices and teaching-learning selves. The 19 papers are (1) "Introduction" (Lucila Vargas); (2) "Why Are We Still So Few and…

A Narrative Inquiry about Values in a Finnish Preschool: The Case of Traffic Lights

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Juutinen, Jaana; Viljamaa, Elina

2016-01-01

This research explored how values are communicated in everyday life at preschool. This narrative inquiry focused on how values are conveyed through the use of a material artefact, a chart with traffic lights, as a communication and pedagogical tool. Twenty children aged 3-4 years in one Finnish preschool were involved in the initial data…

Mind What Teachers Say: Kindergarten Teachers' Use of Mental State Language during Picture Story Narration

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Misailidi, Plousia; Papoudi, Despina; Brouzos, Andreas

2013-01-01

The study focuses on the mental state language kindergarten teachers use when narrating picture stories. The aims were to examine (a) individual differences in the frequency with which kindergarten teachers use mental state terms, (b) the types of mental state terms (e.g., emotion, desire, belief terms) teachers use most frequently, and (c) the…

Factors influencing return to work: a narrative study of women treated for breast cancer.

PubMed

Johnsson, A; Fornander, T; Rutqvist, L E; Olsson, M

2010-05-01

The purpose of this qualitative study was to identify factors contributing to a successful return to the labour market after treatment for breast cancer from the women's own perspective. The study is based on 16 narratives - open-ended, in-depth interviews - about women's experiences and thoughts from the period after breast cancer surgery when they focused on their return to work. The women were recruited from participants of a multicentre trial, which allowed comparisons across a range of adjuvant therapies. The narratives of women who worked full time at a cut-off point of 1 year after surgery are analysed separately from the narratives of women still sick-listed at that point of time. The findings show that while all the women strove to belong to the labour market, the study also reveals changes in women's perceptions of the value of employment. The quality of social support received from employers and coworkers differed between women who returned to work and those still sick-listed 1 year after breast cancer treatment. A need to design interventions focusing on the work arena of women treated for breast cancer is pointed out.

Fast-food, everyday life and health: A qualitative study of 'chicken shops' in East London.

PubMed

Thompson, Claire; Ponsford, Ruth; Lewis, Daniel; Cummins, Steven

2018-05-26

The higher prevalence of fast food outlets in deprived areas has been associated with the production and maintenance of geographical inequalities in diet. In the UK one type of fast food outlet - the 'chicken shop' - has been the focus of intense public health and media interest. Despite ongoing concerns and initiatives around regulating these establishments, the 'chicken shop' is both a commercially successful and ubiquitous feature of disadvantaged urban neighbourhoods. However, little is known about how they are perceived by local residents. We report data from a qualitative study of neighbourhood perceptions in a low SES urban setting. Narrative family interviews, go-along interviews and school video focus group workshops with 66 residents of East London were conducted over two waves. The topic of chicken shops was a prolific theme and a narrative analysis of these accounts revealed that local perceptions of chicken shops are complex and contradictory. Chicken shops were depicted as both potentially damaging for the health of local residents and, at the same time, as valued community spaces. This contradiction was discursively addressed in narrative via a series of rhetorical rebuttals that negated their potential to damage health on the grounds of concepts such as trust, choice, balance, food hygiene and compensatory physical activity. In some instances, chicken shops were described as 'healthy' and patronising them constructed as part of a healthy lifestyle. Chicken shops are embedded in the social fabric of neighbourhoods. Successful strategies to improve diet therefore requires context-sensitive environmental interventions. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Experts' opinions on the management of medically unexplained symptoms in primary care. A qualitative analysis of narrative reviews and scientific editorials.

PubMed

Heijmans, Mieke; Olde Hartman, Tim C; van Weel-Baumgarten, Evelyn; Dowrick, Christopher; Lucassen, Peter L B J; van Weel, Chris

2011-08-01

The feasibility as well as the suitability of several therapies for medically unexplained symptoms (MUS) in primary care applied by the family physician (FP) appeared to be low. FPs need effective and acceptable strategies to manage these functionally impaired patients. To review important and effective elements in the treatment of patients with MUS in primary care according to experts in MUS research. We performed a systematic search of narrative reviews and scientific editorials in Medline and PsycINFO and triangulated our findings by conducting a focus group with MUS experts. We included 7 scientific editorials and 23 narrative reviews. According to MUS experts, the most important elements in the treatment of MUS are creating a safe therapeutic environment, generic interventions (such as motivational interviewing, giving tangible explanations, reassurance and regularly scheduled appointments) and specific interventions (such as cognitive approaches and pharmacotherapy). Furthermore, MUS experts indicate that a multi-component approach in which these three important elements are combined are most helpful for patients with MUS. In contrast to most specific interventions, opinions of MUS experts regarding generic interventions and creating a safe therapeutic relationship seem to be more based on theory and experience than on quantitative research. MUS experts highlight the importance of generic interventions and doctor-patient communication and relationship. However, studies showing the effectiveness of these elements in the management of MUS in primary care is still scarce. Research as well as medical practice should focus more on these non-specific aspects of the medical consultation.

Do Medical Students' Narrative Representations of "The Good Doctor" Change Over Time? Comparing Humanism Essays From a National Contest in 1999 and 2013.

PubMed

Rutberg, Pooja C; King, Brandy; Gaufberg, Elizabeth; Brett-MacLean, Pamela; Dinardo, Perry; Frankel, Richard M

2017-04-01

To explore medical students' conceptions of "the good doctor" at two points in time separated by 14 years. The authors conducted qualitative analysis of narrative-based essays. Following a constant comparative method, an emergent relational coding scheme was developed which the authors used to characterize 110 essays submitted to the Arnold P. Gold Foundation Humanism in Medicine Essay Contest in 1999 (n = 50) and 2013 (n = 60) in response to the prompt, "Who is the good doctor?" The authors identified five relational themes as guiding the day-to-day work and lives of physicians: doctor-patient, doctor-self, doctor-learner, doctor-colleague, and doctor-system/society/profession. The authors noted a highly similar distribution of primary and secondary relational themes for essays from 1999 and 2013. The majority of the essays emphasized the centrality of the doctor-patient relationship. Student essays focused little on teamwork, systems innovation, or technology use-all important developments in contemporary medicine. Medical students' narrative reflections are increasingly used as rich sources of information about the lived experience of medical education. The findings reported here suggest that medical students understand the "good doctor" as a relational being, with an enduring emphasis on the doctor-patient relationship. Medical education would benefit from including an emphasis on the relational aspects of medicine. Future research should focus on relational learning as a pedagogical approach that may support the formation of caring, effective physicians embedded in a complex array of relationships within clinical, community, and larger societal contexts.

Looking Back to Move Forward: First-Year Medical Students' Meta-Reflections on Their Narrative Portfolio Writings.

PubMed

Cunningham, Hetty; Taylor, Delphine; Desai, Urmi A; Quiah, Samuel C; Kaplan, Benjamin; Fei, Lorraine; Catallozzi, Marina; Richards, Boyd; Balmer, Dorene F; Charon, Rita

2018-06-01

The day-to-day rigors of medical education often preclude learners from gaining a longitudinal perspective on who they are becoming. Furthermore, the current focus on competencies, coupled with concerning rates of trainee burnout and a decline in empathy, have fueled the search for pedagogic tools to foster students' reflective capacity. In response, many scholars have looked to the tradition of narrative medicine to foster "reflective spaces" wherein holistic professional identity construction can be supported. This article focuses on the rationale, content, and early analysis of the reflective space created by the narrative medicine-centered portfolio at the Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons. In January 2015, the authors investigated learning outcomes derived from students' "Signature Reflections," end-of-semester meta-reflections on their previous portfolio work. The authors analyzed the Signature Reflections of 97 (of 132) first-year medical students using a constant comparative process. This iterative approach allowed researchers to identify themes within students' writings and interpret the data. The authors identified two overarching interpretive themes-recognition and grappling-and six subthemes. Recognition included comments about self-awareness and empathy. Grappling encompassed the subthemes of internal change, dichotomies, wonder and questioning, and anxiety. Based on the authors' analyses, the Signature Reflection seems to provide a structured framework that encourages students' reflective capacity and the construction of holistic professional identity. Other medical educators may adopt meta-reflection, within the reflective space of a writing portfolio, to encourage students' acquisition of a longitudinal perspective on who they are becoming and how they are constructing their professional identity.

Making sense of condoms: social representations in young people's HIV-related narratives from six African countries.

PubMed

Winskell, Kate; Obyerodhyambo, Oby; Stephenson, Rob

2011-03-01

Condoms are an essential component of comprehensive efforts to control the HIV epidemic, both for those who know their status and for those who do not. Although young people account for almost half of all new HIV infections, reported condom use among them remains low in many sub-Saharan African countries. In order to inform education and communication efforts to increase condom use, we examined social representations of condoms among young people aged 10-24 in six African countries/regions with diverse HIV prevalence rates: Swaziland, Namibia, Kenya, South-East Nigeria, Burkina Faso, and Senegal. We used a unique data source, namely 11,354 creative ideas contributed from these countries to a continent-wide scriptwriting contest, held from 1(st) February to 15(th) April 2005, on the theme of HIV/AIDS. We stratified each country sample by the sex, age (10-14, 15-19, 20-24), and urban/rural location of the author and randomly selected up to 10 narratives for each of the 12 resulting strata, netting a total sample of 586 texts for the six countries. We analyzed the narratives qualitatively using thematic data analysis and narrative-based methodologies. Differences were observed across settings in the prominence accorded to condoms, the assessment of their effectiveness, and certain barriers to and facilitators of their use. Moralization emerged as a key impediment to positive representations of condoms, while humour was an appealing means to normalize them. The social representations in the narratives identify communication needs in and across settings and provide youth-focused ideas and perspectives to inform future intervention efforts. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Doctors and patients in pain: Conflict and collaboration in opioid prescription in primary care.

PubMed

Esquibel, Angela Y; Borkan, Jeffrey

2014-12-01

Use of chronic opioid therapy (COT) for chronic noncancer pain has dramatically increased in the United States. Patients seek compassionate care and relief while physicians struggle to manage patients' pain effectively without doing harm. This study explores the narratives of chronic noncancer pain patients receiving chronic opioid therapy and those of their physicians to better understand the effects of COT on the doctor-patient relationship. A mixed method study was conducted that included in-depth interviews and qualitative analysis of 21 paired patients with chronic pain and their physicians in the following groups: patients, physicians, and patient-physician pairs. Findings revealed that patients' narratives focus on suffering from chronic pain, with emphasis on the role of opioid therapy for pain relief, and physicians' narratives describe the challenges of treating patients with chronic pain on COT. Results elucidate the perceptions of ideal vs difficult patients and show that divergent patterns surrounding the consequences, utility, and goals of COT can negatively affect the doctor-patient relationship. The use of paired interviews through a narrative lens in this exploratory study offers a novel and informative approach for clinical practice and research. The findings have significant implications for improving doctor-patient communication and health outcomes by encouraging shared decision making and goal-directed health care encounters for physicians and patients with chronic pain on COT. This study found patterns of understanding pain, opioid pain medications, and the doctor-patient relationship for patients with chronic pain and their physicians using a narrative lens. Thematic findings in this exploratory study, which include a portrayal of collaborative vs conflictual relationships, suggest areas of future intervention and investigation. Copyright © 2014 International Association for the Study of Pain. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Reorganising hospitals to implement a patient-centered model of care: Effects on clinical practice and professional relationships in the Italian NHS.

PubMed

Liberati, Elisa Giulia; Gorli, Mara; Scaratti, Giuseppe

2015-01-01

The purpose of this paper is to understand how the introduction of a patient-centered model (PCM) in Italian hospitals affects the pre-existent configuration of clinical work and interacts with established intra/inter-professional relationships. Qualitative multi-phase study based on three main sources: health policy analysis, an exploratory interview study with senior managers of eight Italian hospitals implementing the PCM, and an in-depth case study that involved managerial and clinical staff of one Italian hospital implementing the PCM. The introduction of the PCM challenges clinical work and professional relationships, but such challenges are interpreted differently by the organisational actors involved, thus giving rise to two different "narratives of change". The "political narrative" (the views conveyed by formal policies and senior managers) focuses on the power shifts and conflict between nurses and doctors, while the "workplace narrative" (the experiences of frontline clinicians) emphasises the problems linked to the disruption of previous discipline-based inter-professional groups. Medical disciplines, rather than professional groupings, are the main source of identification of doctors and nurses, and represent a crucial aspect of clinicians' professional identity. Although the need for collaboration among medical disciplines is acknowledged, creating multi-disciplinary groups in practice requires the sustaining of new aggregators and binding forces. This study suggests further acknowledgment of the inherent complexity of the political and workplace narratives of change rather than interpreting them as the signal of irreconcilable perspectives between managers and clinicians. By addressing the specific issues regarding which the political and workplace narratives clash, relationship of trust may be developed through which problems can be identified, mutually acknowledged, articulated, and solved.

Making sense of condoms: social representations in young people’s HIV-related narratives from six African countries

PubMed Central

Winskell, Kate; Obyerodhyambo, Oby; Stephenson, Rob

2011-01-01

Condoms are an essential component of comprehensive efforts to control the HIV epidemic, both for those who know their status and for those who do not. Although young people account for almost half of all new HIV infections, reported condom use among them remains low in many sub-Saharan African countries. In order to inform education and communication efforts to increase condom use, we examined social representations of condoms among young people aged 10–24 in six African countries/regions with diverse HIV prevalence rates: Swaziland, Namibia, Kenya, South-East Nigeria, Burkina Faso, and Senegal. We used a unique data source, namely 11,354 creative ideas contributed from these countries to a continent-wide scriptwriting contest, held from 1st February to 15th April 2005, on the theme of HIV/AIDS. We stratified each country sample by the sex, age (10–14, 15–19, 20–24), and urban/rural location of the author and randomly selected up to 10 narratives for each of the 12 resulting strata, netting a total sample of 586 texts for the six countries. We analyzed the narratives qualitatively using thematic data analysis and narrative-based methodologies. Differences were observed across settings in the prominence accorded to condoms, the assessment of their effectiveness, and certain barriers to and facilitators of their use. Moralization emerged as a key impediment to positive representations of condoms, while humour was an appealing means to normalize them. The social representations in the narratives identify communication needs in and across settings and provide youth-focused ideas and perspectives to inform future intervention efforts. PMID:21388731

Criminal Narrative Experience: Relating Emotions to Offence Narrative Roles During Crime Commission.

PubMed

Ioannou, Maria; Canter, David; Youngs, Donna

2017-10-01

A neglected area of research within criminality has been that of the experience of the offence for the offender. The present study investigates the emotions and narrative roles that are experienced by an offender while committing a broad range of crimes and proposes a model of criminal narrative experience (CNE). Hypotheses were derived from the circumplex of emotions, Frye, narrative theory, and its link with investigative psychology. The analysis was based on 120 cases. Convicted for a variety of crimes, incarcerated criminals were interviewed and the data were subjected to smallest space analysis (SSA). Four themes of CNE were identified: Elated Hero, Calm Professional, Distressed Revenger, and Depressed Victim in line with the recent theoretical framework posited for narrative offence roles. The theoretical implications for understanding crime on the basis of the CNE as well as practical implications are discussed.

"Invisible During My Own Crisis": Responses of LGBT People of Color to the Orlando Shooting.

PubMed

Ramirez, Johanna L; Gonzalez, Kirsten A; Galupo, M Paz

2018-01-01

On June 12, 2016, the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida was the target of one of the country's deadliest mass shootings. Pulse, a gay nightclub, was hosting a Latin Pride Night the evening of the tragedy, which resulted in the death of 49 victims and 53 casualties, over 90% of whom were lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) Latinx people, specifically. The present research investigates the narrative responses from LGBT people of color (LGBT-POC) following the tragedy. Results included an analysis of 94 participant narrative responses. Results were collected online from a sample of LGBT-POC with varying sexual, gender, and racial identities. Thematic analysis revealed four major themes: (1) Violence is Not New for LGBT-POC; (2) Personal Identification with Victims; (3) Lack of Intersectionality in Others' Responses to Orlando; and (4) Acknowledgment of Intersectionality across LGBT-POC. Discussion focuses on describing the ways in which LGBT-POC responded to the shooting regarding their multiple minority identities. Implications of this research reinforce the need for continued intersectional research with LGBT-POC.

Mobile health solutions for the aging population: A systematic narrative analysis.

PubMed

Kruse, Clemens Scott; Mileski, Michael; Moreno, Joshua

2017-05-01

Introduction The ubiquitous nature of mobile technology coupled with the acceptance of mobile health (mHealth) among the elderly offers an opportunity to augment the existing medical workforce in long-term care. The objective of this review and narrative analysis is to identify and analyse facilitators and barriers to adoption of mHealth for the elderly. Methods Studies over the last year were identified in multiple database indices, and three reviewers examined abstracts ( k = 0.82) and analysed articles for themes which were tallied in affinity diagrams to identify frequency of occurrence in the literature (n = 36). Results The three facilitators mentioned most often were independence (18%), understanding (13%), and visibility (13%). The three barriers mentioned most often were complexity (21%), limited by users (12%) and ineffective (12%). Discussion and conclusions The reviewers concluded that the work done so far illustrates that mHealth enables a perception of independence. Future research should focus on the barriers of complexity of technology and improving existing medical literacy in order to facilitate further adoption.

'I am not a tragedy. I am full of hope': communication impairment narratives in newspapers.

PubMed

O Malley-Keighran, Mary-Pat; Coleman, Mary

2014-01-01

Individual attitudes and more general attitudes in society can negatively influence the functioning of people with communication disorders according to the World Health Organisation's (WHO) International Classification of Functioning, Disability, and Health (ICF) (2002). Personal narratives have been recommended as the best means to convey and understand a person's life experience and have been investigated extensively. Investigations of personal narratives of communication impairment in mass media continue to be relatively rare in the literature. Published narratives can enrich understandings of clients' experiences by elucidating available representations of lived experiences of communication impairment. To answer the following research questions: What types of personal narratives of communication impairments are currently being disseminated in Irish newspapers? How are experiences of communication impairments represented in these narratives? The study was qualitative, deploying inductive analysis and drawing on Frank's (1995) typology of illness narratives to analyse narratives that were published in two Irish national newspapers over a 12-month period. The results illustrate the under-representation of communication impairments in Irish newspapers as ten out of 51 narratives in the corpus pertained to conditions that may have associated communication impairments. None of the narratives related the lived experience of a person with communication impairment in depth. A combination of quest and chaos narrative types was identified in six out of the ten narratives. Three out of the ten narratives featured a combination of chaos and restitution narrative types. One narrative was identified as being entirely a quest narrative. Three narratives contained elements of restitution. Inductive analysis revealed six main themes in the data (two for each narrative type) with one sub-theme identified for each main theme. The six main themes are: positive stances, re-evaluation of life, despair, fear, hope and support of others. The under-representation of the lived experience of people with communication impairments in Irish national newspapers may be seen as contributing to a general lack of understanding and awareness of communication impairments. This under-representation, coupled with a lack of awareness, may potentially affect the ability of people with communication impairments to re-engage with and reintegrate into their communities. © 2013 Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists.

Informal learning from error in hospitals: what do we learn, how do we learn and how can informal learning be enhanced? A narrative review.

PubMed

de Feijter, Jeantine M; de Grave, Willem S; Koopmans, Richard P; Scherpbier, Albert J J A

2013-10-01

Learning from error is not just an individual endeavour. Organisations also learn from error. Hospitals provide many learning opportunities, which can be formal or informal. Informal learning from error in hospitals has not been researched in much depth so this narrative review focuses on five learning opportunities: morbidity and mortality conferences, incident reporting systems, patient claims and complaints, chart review and prospective risk analysis. For each of them we describe: (1) what can be learnt, categorised according to the seven CanMEDS competencies; (2) how it is possible to learn from them, analysed against a model of informal and incidental learning; and (3) how this learning can be enhanced. All CanMEDS competencies could be enhanced, but there was a particular focus on the roles of medical expert and manager. Informal learning occurred mostly through reflection and action and was often linked to the learning of others. Most important to enhance informal learning from these learning opportunities was the realisation of a climate of collaboration and trust. Possible new directions for future research on informal learning from error in hospitals might focus on ways to measure informal learning and the balance between formal and informal learning. Finally, 12 recommendations about how hospitals could enhance informal learning within their organisation are given.

Framing Effects in Narrative and Non-Narrative Risk Messages.

PubMed

Steinhardt, Joseph; Shapiro, Michael A

2015-08-01

Narrative messages are increasingly popular in health and risk campaigns, yet gain/loss framing effects have never been tested with such messages. Three experiments examined framing in narrative messages. Experiment 1 found that only the character's decision, not framing, influenced judgments about characters in a narrative derived from a prospect theory context. Experiment 2 found that a framing effect that occurred when presented in a decision format did not occur when the same situation was presented as a narrative. Using a different story/decision context, Experiment 3 found no significant difference in preference for surgery over radiation therapy in a narrative presentation compared to a non-narrative presentation. The results suggest that health and risk campaigns cannot assume that framing effects will be the same in narrative messages and non-narrative messages. Potential reasons for these differences and suggestions for future research are discussed. © 2015 Society for Risk Analysis.

Narratives of aging in intimate partner violence: the double lens of violence and old age.

PubMed

Band-Winterstein, Tova

2012-12-01

With the increase in life expectancy, couples living in intimate partner violence are aging together. The aim of this article is to explore the constructions of aging in intimate partner violence as narratives of couplehood or narratives of old age. Thirty individual in-depth interviews with 15 older Israeli couples were tape-recorded, transcribed verbatim and analyzed using a narrative approach. Three main domains emerged from the data: health issue narratives, loneliness narratives and relationships with adult offspring narratives. Each of the narratives that emerged from the data analysis consists of a narrative of old age constructing IPV and a narrative of IPV constructing old age. Conflictual couplehood dynamics, such as intimate partner violence in old age, is not one-dimensional, but is diverse and complex and this should be taken into consideration. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Cancer Survivorship in the Age of YouTube and Social Media: A Narrative Analysis

PubMed Central

Hunt, Yvonne; Folkers, Anna

2011-01-01

Background As evidenced by the increasing popularity of YouTube (www.youtube.com), personal narratives shared through social media are an area of rapid development in communication among cancer survivors. Identifying the thematic and linguistic characteristics of YouTube cancer stories can provide a better understanding of this naturally occurring communication channel and inform social media communication efforts aiming to use personal stories to reach individuals with serious illnesses. Objective The objective of our study was to provide an in-depth description of authentic personal cancer stories. Through a linguistically based narrative analysis of YouTube stories, the analysis explicates the common attributes of these narratives. Methods Informed by narrative theories, we conducted an iterative, bottom-up analysis of 35 YouTube videos identified by the search terms “cancer survivor” and “cancer stories”. A list of shared thematic and linguistic characteristics was identified and analyzed. Results A subnarrative on the cancer diagnosis was present in 86% (30/35) of the stories under analysis. These diagnostic narratives were characterized by dramatic tension, emotional engagement, markers of the loss of agency or control, depersonalized reference to the medical personnel, and the unexpectedness of a cancer diagnosis. The analysis highlights the themes of story authenticity and emotional engagement in this online communication medium. Conclusions Internet advances have enabled new and efficient exchange of personal stories, including the sharing of personal cancer experience among cancer survivors and their caregivers. The analytic results of this descriptive study point to the common characteristics of authentic cancer survivorship stories online. Furthermore, the results of this descriptive study may inform development of narrative-based communication, particularly in maintaining authenticity and emotional engagement. PMID:21247864

Cancer survivorship in the age of YouTube and social media: a narrative analysis.

PubMed

Chou, Wen-Ying Sylvia; Hunt, Yvonne; Folkers, Anna; Augustson, Erik

2011-01-17

As evidenced by the increasing popularity of YouTube (www.youtube.com), personal narratives shared through social media are an area of rapid development in communication among cancer survivors. Identifying the thematic and linguistic characteristics of YouTube cancer stories can provide a better understanding of this naturally occurring communication channel and inform social media communication efforts aiming to use personal stories to reach individuals with serious illnesses. The objective of our study was to provide an in-depth description of authentic personal cancer stories. Through a linguistically based narrative analysis of YouTube stories, the analysis explicates the common attributes of these narratives. Informed by narrative theories, we conducted an iterative, bottom-up analysis of 35 YouTube videos identified by the search terms "cancer survivor" and "cancer stories". A list of shared thematic and linguistic characteristics was identified and analyzed. A subnarrative on the cancer diagnosis was present in 86% (30/35) of the stories under analysis. These diagnostic narratives were characterized by dramatic tension, emotional engagement, markers of the loss of agency or control, depersonalized reference to the medical personnel, and the unexpectedness of a cancer diagnosis. The analysis highlights the themes of story authenticity and emotional engagement in this online communication medium. Internet advances have enabled new and efficient exchange of personal stories, including the sharing of personal cancer experience among cancer survivors and their caregivers. The analytic results of this descriptive study point to the common characteristics of authentic cancer survivorship stories online. Furthermore, the results of this descriptive study may inform development of narrative-based communication, particularly in maintaining authenticity and emotional engagement.

Narrative insight in psychosis: The relationship with spiritual and religious explanatory frameworks.

PubMed

Marriott, Michael R; Thompson, Andrew R; Cockshutt, Graham; Rowse, Georgina

2018-03-25

When considering psychosis, the concept of narrative insight has been offered as an alternative to clinical insight in determining individuals' responses to their difficulties, as it allows for a more holistic and person-centred framework to be embraced within professional practice. This study aims to explore the validity of the narrative insight construct within a group of people who have experienced psychosis. Inductive qualitative methods were used to explore how eight participants utilized spiritual or religious explanatory frameworks for their experiences of psychosis and to consider these in relation to the construct of narrative insight. Semi-structured interviews were undertaken with individuals who identified themselves as interested in spiritual or religious ideas and whose self-reported experiences which were identified as akin to psychosis by experienced academic clinicians. Transcriptions from these interviews were subject to interpretative phenomenological analysis within a broader research question; a selection of themes and data from the resultant phenomenological structure are explored here for their relevance to narrative insight. Participants discussed spiritual and biological explanations for their experiences and were able to hold alternative potential explanations alongside each other. They were reflective regarding the origins of their explanations and would describe a process of testing and proof in relation to them. These findings suggest that the narrative insight construct has the potential to be a valid approach to understanding experiences of psychosis, and challenge the dominance of the clinical insight construct within clinical practice. Clinicians should value the explanatory framework for experiences which are provided by individuals experiencing psychosis, and encourage them to develop a framework which is coherent to their own world view rather than predominantly pursuing a biomedical explanation. Assessments of psychosis should be adapted to include an understanding of the cohesiveness of the individual's explanatory framework and personal value to them, with a reduced focus on their acceptance of biomedical models of 'illness'. Care and care research for individuals experiencing psychosis should consider the value of narrative insight within future developments. © 2018 The Authors. Psychology and Psychotherapy: Theory, Research and Practice published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of British Psychological Society.

Health level seven interoperability strategy: big data, incrementally structured.

PubMed

Dolin, R H; Rogers, B; Jaffe, C

2015-01-01

Describe how the HL7 Clinical Document Architecture (CDA), a foundational standard in US Meaningful Use, contributes to a "big data, incrementally structured" interoperability strategy, whereby data structured incrementally gets large amounts of data flowing faster. We present cases showing how this approach is leveraged for big data analysis. To support the assertion that semi-structured narrative in CDA format can be a useful adjunct in an overall big data analytic approach, we present two case studies. The first assesses an organization's ability to generate clinical quality reports using coded data alone vs. coded data supplemented by CDA narrative. The second leverages CDA to construct a network model for referral management, from which additional observations can be gleaned. The first case shows that coded data supplemented by CDA narrative resulted in significant variances in calculated performance scores. In the second case, we found that the constructed network model enables the identification of differences in patient characteristics among different referral work flows. The CDA approach goes after data indirectly, by focusing first on the flow of narrative, which is then incrementally structured. A quantitative assessment of whether this approach will lead to a greater flow of data and ultimately a greater flow of structured data vs. other approaches is planned as a future exercise. Along with growing adoption of CDA, we are now seeing the big data community explore the standard, particularly given its potential to supply analytic en- gines with volumes of data previously not possible.

Moving Perspectives on Patient Competence: A Naturalistic Case Study in Psychiatry.

PubMed

Ruissen, A M; Abma, T A; Van Balkom, A J L M; Meynen, G; Widdershoven, G A M

2016-03-01

Patient competence, defined as the ability to reason, appreciate, understand, and express a choice is rarely discussed in patients with obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), and coercive measures are seldom used. Nevertheless, a psychiatrist of psychologist may doubt whether OCD patients who refuse treatment understand their disease and the consequences of not being treated, which could result in tension between respecting the patient's autonomy and beneficence. The purpose of this article is to develop a notion of competence that is grounded in clinical practice and corresponds with the experiences of patients with obsessions and/or compulsions. We present a naturalistic case study giving both the patient's and the therapist's perspective based on in-depth interviews and a narrative analysis. The case study shows that competence is not merely an assessment by a therapist, but also a co-constructed reality shaped by the experiences and stories of patient and therapist. The patient, a medical student, initially told her story in a restitution narrative, focusing on cognitive rationality. Reconstructing the history of her disease, her story changed into a quest narrative where there was room for emotions, values and moral learning. This fitted well with the therapist's approach, who used motivational interventions with a view to appealing to the patient's responsibility to deal with her condition. We conclude that in practice both the patient and therapist used a quest narrative, approaching competence as the potential for practical reasoning to incorporate values and emotions.

Metaphorical expressions used in Swedish news media narratives to portray the shortage of nurses and their working conditions.

PubMed

Blomberg, Helena; Stier, Jonas

2016-02-01

The aim of the study is to uncover and reveal how nurses as a profession and their working conditions are dramatized and portrayed in Swedish media narratives about the shortage of nurses. The media is an arena where stakeholders can air their views of the healthcare sector in general and the situation for nurses in particular. The focus in this study is the debate in Sweden on the shortage of nurses. Qualitative discursive study. A discourse analysis of media narratives about nurses and their working conditions published in several Swedish newspapers from 2009-2014. 1779 articles were included in the study. A selection (113 articles) of these articles was further analysed using a qualitative discursive psychological approach. Nurses are portrayed as being good, concerned about and critical of healthcare managers and politicians for not taking action. The accused actors justify their actions by partially accepting or displacing responsibility. The shortage of nurses is framed as a social problem - a threat to patients' safety. Seven different types of metaphorical expression frame the problem as inevitable, beyond control, abstract, an individual and collegial problem and nurses as replaceable. In addition, nurses and patients are dehumanized and no-one is held responsible. This study analyses the role of the media in emphasizing the seriousness or obscurity of the problem and possible solutions to it. Alternative narratives are needed to re-frame the nursing shortage and to find sustainable solutions. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Portrait of a "Teach for All" (TFA) Teacher: Media Narratives of the Universal TFA Teacher in 12 Countries

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gautreaux, Michelle; Delgado, Sandra

2016-01-01

This article employs narrative analysis to examine how the media in 12 different countries characterize the "Teach for All" (TFA) teacher. Examining mass media narratives in these 12 countries illustrates that there are some remarkable commonalities in the narratives and character portraits co-constructed and propagated by the media. At…

A narrative analysis of helplessness in depression.

PubMed

Vanheule, Stijn; Hauser, Stuart T

2008-12-01

The transcripts of semistructured clinical interviews with forty psychiatrically hospitalized adolescents were subjected to narrative analysis in an effort to map the logic of their explanations as they spontaneously talked about helplessness experiences, and to determine how helplessness is embedded in broader story lines. Three types of narrative composition were discerned, and are discussed by means of excerpts from the interviews. In a first and predominant type of narrative, a disturbing confrontation with another is pivotal: the other's intentions are obscure; this frightens the narrator, who does not know what to do. Helplessness arises as a direct result of not knowing how to manage the "unbearable riddle" of the other's intentions. In the second, more marginal type of narrative, helplessness is embedded in an account of emptiness and boredom. The protagonist relates enduring experiences of emptiness due to loss and the suffering consequent on it. In the third, also more marginal type of narrative, helplessness is framed in a context of failure: the protagonist adheres to strict standards, feels he or she has fallen short, and concludes that he or she is a failure. Only the first type of narrative is significantly related to the psychiatric diagnoses of mood disorder and major depression.

Narrative palliative care: a method for building empathy.

PubMed

Stanley, Patricia; Hurst, Marsha

2011-01-01

We make meaning of illness, suffering, and death through narrative, by telling a story. In this article, the authors explore narrative and palliative care: how, at the end of life, narratives of patients, caregivers, and clinicians serve to connect to those still living, and how through each telling and listening, we honor and validate the experience of suffering. A discussion of narrative competence and the skills of attention, representation, and affiliation is followed by an outline of the format for a narrative medicine workshop and a detailed analysis of an experiential exercise in close reading and reflective writing.

Storytelling, statistics and hereditary thought: the narrative support of early statistics.

PubMed

López-Beltrán, Carlos

2006-03-01

This paper's main contention is that some basically methodological developments in science which are apparently distant and unrelated can be seen as part of a sequential story. Focusing on general inferential and epistemological matters, the paper links occurrences separated by both in time and space, by formal and representational issues rather than social or disciplinary links. It focuses on a few limited aspects of several cognitive practices in medical and biological contexts separated by geography, disciplines and decades, but connected by long term transdisciplinary representational and inferential structures and constraints. The paper intends to show a given set of knowledge claims based on organizing statistically empirical data can be seen to have been underpinned by a previous, more familiar, and probably more natural, narrative handling of similar evidence. To achieve that this paper moves from medicine in France in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century to the second half of the nineteenth century in England among gentleman naturalists, following its subject: the shift from narrative depiction of hereditary transmission of physical peculiarities to posterior statistical articulations of the same phenomena. Some early defenders of heredity as an important (if not the most important) causal presence in the understanding of life adopted singular narratives, in the form of case stories from medical and natural history traditions, to flesh out a special kind of causality peculiar to heredity. This work tries to reconstruct historically the rationale that drove the use of such narratives. It then shows that when this rationale was methodologically challenged, its basic narrative and probabilistic underpinings were transferred to the statistical quantificational tools that took their place.

Revisiting biographical disruption: exploring individual embodied illness experience in people with terminal cancer.

PubMed

Reeve, Joanne; Lloyd-Williams, Mari; Payne, Sheila; Dowrick, Christopher

2010-03-01

Biographical accounts of illness offer useful insights into the social and adaptive processes of living with chronic illness. Yet there are concerns that the underlying theoretical assumptions of a reflexive self seeking to maintain meaning may not reflect the lived experience of individuals. A narrative emphasis may neglect the importance of emotional/felt experiences; while an analytical focus on disruptive processes may not adequately reflect the totality of actual events. In this study, we explored how well biographical theory supports understanding of individual lived experience. Narratives from 19 individuals identified from General Practice lists with a terminal diagnosis of cancer were analysed using the holistic-form approach described by Lieblich. Participants described an ongoing process of living their life, 'managing' disruptive events and maintaining an overall sense of well-being (narrative form = biographical flow). For a minority, continuity was lost when people's capacity to continue living their everyday lives was overwhelmed (narrative form = fracture). The identified emphasis was on individual creative capacity in the face of terminal illness, highlighting the importance of embodied experience in understanding outcome and need. Maintaining continuity was draining: exhaustion precipitated fracture and thus need for external help to restore continuity. By focusing on feelings associated with overall narrative form, rather than individual disruptive events, we highlight the context in which disruptive events are experienced, and individual perceptions of their relative importance. We conclude that combining narrative and emotion offers new insights into the value of understanding of biographical accounts of illness in the context of individual creative capacity. We discuss the possibilities for new approaches to clinical assessment and management of need.

Peer Interaction Does Not Always Improve Children’s Mental State Talk Production in Oral Narratives. A Study in 6- to 10-Year-Old Italian Children

PubMed Central

Pinto, Giuliana; Tarchi, Christian; Bigozzi, Lucia

2016-01-01

Joint narratives are a mean through which children develop and practice their Theory of Mind (ToM), thus they represent an ideal means to explore children’s use and development of mental state talk. However, creating a learning environment for storytelling based on peer interaction, does not necessarily mean that students will automatically exploit it by engaging in productive collaboration, thus it is important to explore under what conditions peer interaction promotes children’s ToM. This study extends our understanding of social aspects of ToM, focusing on the effect of joint narratives on school-age children’s mental state talk. Fifty-six Italian primary school children participated in the study (19 females and 37 males). Children created a story in two different experimental conditions (individually and with a partner randomly assigned). Each story told by the children, as well as their dialogs were recorded and transcribed. Transcriptions of narratives were coded in terms of text quality and mental state talk, whereas transcriptions of dialogs were coded in terms of quality of interaction. The results from this study confirmed that peer interaction does not always improve children’s mental state talk performances in oral narratives, but certain conditions need to be satisfied. Peer interaction was more effective on mental state talk with lower individual levels and productive interactions, particularly in terms of capacity to regulate the interactions. When children were able to focus on the interaction, as well as the product, they were also exposed to each other’s reasoning behind their viewpoint. This level of intersubjectivity, in turn, allowed them to take more in consideration the contribution of mental states to the narrative. PMID:27826283

Trapped in a Moral Order: Moral Identity, Positioning and Reflexivity in Stories of Confrontation among Latin American Teenage School Girls in Madrid

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Patiño-Santos, Adriana

2016-01-01

This paper focuses on the forms of reflexivity that emerge in the conversational narratives of Latin American teenage school girls co-produced during sociolinguistic interviews, in a multicultural school in the centre of Madrid. The narratives about confrontation at school portray the girls' actions and ways of making sense of such behaviours, in…

Coordinated Inservice Activities for Health Occupations Teachers in Central Pennsylvania. Final Report. Health Occupations, Monograph Number 6. Vocational-Industrial Education Research Report. Volume 15, Number 16.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hole, F. Marvin

This report contains a twenty-one page narrative of a project which provided inservice education to health occupations teachers in Central Pennsylvania through four summer workshops as well as the workshop materials. The narrative describes the workshops, which focused on dental assisting activities for health assistant teachers, improvement of…

"I Don't Want to Be an Almost Engineer": Women's Voices of Persistence in Undergraduate Engineering Degrees

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yates, Heather N.

2012-01-01

This narrative qualitative study focused on the experiences of four women pursuing undergraduate engineering degrees and how the experiences affect their self-efficacy and in turn persistence in the degree. The use of narrative methodologies allowed the addition of the voice of the women engineering students to the study providing a more robust…

Informal Learning from Error in Hospitals: What Do We Learn, How Do We Learn and How Can Informal Learning Be Enhanced? A Narrative Review

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

de Feijter, Jeantine M.; de Grave, Willem S.; Koopmans, Richard P.; Scherpbier, Albert J. J. A.

2013-01-01

Learning from error is not just an individual endeavour. Organisations also learn from error. Hospitals provide many learning opportunities, which can be formal or informal. Informal learning from error in hospitals has not been researched in much depth so this narrative review focuses on five learning opportunities: morbidity and mortality…

The Contribution of Mixed Methods Research to the Field of Childhood Trauma: A Narrative Review Focused on Data Integration

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Boeije, Hennie; Slagt, Meike; van Wesel, Floryt

2013-01-01

In mixed methods research (MMR), integrating the quantitative and the qualitative components of a study is assumed to result in additional knowledge (or "yield"). This narrative review examines the extent to which MMR is used in the field of childhood trauma and provides directions for improving mixed methods studies in this field. A…

Cultural Narratives of Academic Leadership at the Dawn of the 21st Century

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Langland, Elizabeth

2012-01-01

In this article, the author focuses on what's being written about "leadership" at this moment--from the late 90s through the first decade of the 21st century. These narratives have a short shelf life, an appropriate metaphor because, like goods in a produce market, they spoil relatively quickly. And each appears to offer a definitive assessment of…

Hip Hop Culture's OGs: A Narrative Inquiry into the Intersection of Hip Hop Culture, Black Males and Their Schooling Experiences

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Buchanan, Ian P.

2013-01-01

Using a critical race lens, this narrative study employs a focus group design to explore the intersections between black males, hip hop culture and schooling experiences. To provide a sociocultural grounding, this study first reviews the research literature around hip hop culture.s sociocultural development and its impact as a culture force that…

Politician-Turned-Doctoral Student's Narrative Identity at an Australian University: A Case Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nomnian, Singhanat

2017-01-01

This study aims to explore the narrative identity of a politician-turned-doctoral student at an Australian university with a particular focus on his academic and social encounters based on his English resources and experiences of learning and living in Australia. This case study is unique in the way that very few Thai politicians would end their…

Understanding Values in a Large Health Care Organization through Work-Life Narratives of High-Performing Employees

PubMed Central

Karnieli-Miller, Orit; Taylor, Amanda C.; Inui, Thomas S.; Ivy, Steven S.; Frankel, Richard M.

2011-01-01

Objective— To understand high-performing frontline employees’ values as reflected in their narratives of day-to-day interactions in a large health care organization. Methods— A total of 150 employees representing various roles within the organization were interviewed and asked to share work-life narratives (WLNs) about value-affirming situations (i.e. situations in which they believed their actions to be fully aligned with their values) and value-challenging situations (i.e. when their actions or the actions of others were not consistent with their values), using methods based on appreciative inquiry. Results— The analysis revealed 10 broad values. Most of the value-affirming WLNs were about the story-teller and team providing care for the patient/family. Half of the value-challenging WLNs were about the story-teller or a patient and barriers created by the organization, supervisor, or physician. Almost half of these focused on “treating others with disrespect/respect”. Only 15% of the value-challenging WLNs contained a resolution reached by the participants, often leaving them describing unresolved and frequently negative feelings. Conclusions— Appreciative inquiry and thematic analysis methods were found to be an effective tool for understanding the important and sometimes competing role personal and institutional values play in day-to-day work. There is remarkable potential in using WLNs as a way to surface and reinforce shared values and, perhaps more importantly, respectfully to identify and discuss conflicting personal and professional values. PMID:23908820

The Construction of Physics as a Quintessentially Masculine Subject: Young People's Perceptions of Gender Issues in Access to Physics.

PubMed

Francis, Becky; Archer, Louise; Moote, Julie; DeWitt, Jen; MacLeod, Emily; Yeomans, Lucy

2017-01-01

The present article investigates explanations for gendered trends in Physics and Engineering access, reporting findings from a large-scale study funded by the UK Economic and Social Research Council and drawing primarily on data from interviews with 132 15-16 year-old adolescents and their parents. Survey results in our study and elsewhere show strong gender disparities in anticipated pursuit of Physics after completion of compulsory education. In order to explore the constructions of gender and Physics underlying these trends, we focus on qualitative interview data, applying Foucaultian analysis of discourse to investigate gendered narratives underpinning adolescents' and their parents' articulations. This analysis reveals three key discourses at work on the topic of women's access to Physics: (a) equality of opportunity, (b) continued gender discrimination in and around Physics, and (c) Physics as quintessentially masculine. We additionally identify five distinct narratives supporting the discourse of physics as masculine. These various discourses and narratives are interrogated, and their implications explored. We conclude that it is only by disrupting prevalent constructions of the Physical sciences as a masculine and "hard" domain will we increase the presence of women in the sector. Working with young people to analyse and deconstruct the discursive assumptions made in relation to gender and Physics, as well as further work to increase accessibility and broaden representation in Physics, may be fruitful ways to challenge these longstanding associations between Physics and masculinity.

Asilomar moments: formative framings in recombinant DNA and solar climate engineering research.

PubMed

Schäfer, Stefan; Low, Sean

2014-12-28

We examine the claim that in governance for solar climate engineering research, and especially field tests, there is no need for external governance beyond existing mechanisms such as peer review and environmental impact assessments that aim to assess technically defined risks to the physical environment. By drawing on the historical debate on recombinant DNA research, we show that defining risks is not a technical question but a complex process of narrative formation. Governance emerges from within, and as a response to, narratives of what is at stake in a debate. In applying this finding to the case of climate engineering, we find that the emerging narrative differs starkly from the narrative that gave meaning to rDNA technology during its formative period, with important implications for governance. While the narrative of rDNA technology was closed down to narrowly focus on technical risks, that of climate engineering continues to open up and includes social, political and ethical issues. This suggests that, in order to be legitimate, governance must take into account this broad perception of what constitutes the relevant issues and risks of climate engineering, requiring governance that goes beyond existing mechanisms that focus on technical risks. Even small-scale field tests with negligible impacts on the physical environment warrant additional governance as they raise broader concerns that go beyond the immediate impacts of individual experiments. © 2014 The Author(s) Published by the Royal Society. All rights reserved.

Evaluating Mediated Perception of Narrative Health Messages: The Perception of Narrative Performance Scale

PubMed Central

Lee, Jeong Kyu; Hecht, Michael L.; Miller-Day, Michelle; Elek, Elvira

2011-01-01

Narrative media health messages have proven effective in preventing adolescents’ substance use but as yet few measures exist to assess perceptions of them. Without such a measure it is difficult to evaluate the role these messages play in health promotion or to differentiate them from other message forms. In response to this need, a study was conducted to evaluate the Perception of Narrative Performance Scale that assesses perceptions of narrative health messages. A sample of 1185 fifth graders in public schools at Phoenix, Arizona completed a questionnaire rating of two videos presenting narrative substance use prevention messages. Confirmatory factor analyses were computed to identify the factor structure of the scale. Consistent with prior studies, results suggest a 3 factor structure for the Perception of Narrative Performance Scale: interest, realism, and identification (with characters). In addition, a path analysis was performed to test the predictive power of the scale. The analysis shows that the scale proves useful in predicting intent to use substances. Finally, practical implications and limitations are discussed. PMID:21822459

Narratives About Mental Illnesses in China: The Voices of Generation Y.

PubMed

Tang, Lu; Bie, Bijie

2016-01-01

This study explores the cultured understanding of mental health and mental illnesses among members of Generation Y in China through a narrative approach. Five prominent narratives are identified through the analysis of stories about mental illnesses collected through semistructured interviews with college students. These five narratives feature the tragic genius, the psychotic criminal, the fragile victim, the antisocial recluse, and the homosexual. These narratives are gendered, in that women are the primary protagonists in the narrative about the fragile victim, while men are featured prominently in the narratives about the tragic genius, the psychotic criminal, and the antisocial recluse. Our study demonstrates that these narratives are based on, and will further reinforce, highly cultural-specific stereotypes and biases about mental illnesses in China. Theoretical and practical implications of this study are discussed.

Safety planning in focus groups of Malawian women living with HIV: helping each other deal with violence and abuse.

PubMed

Mkandawire-Valhmu, Lucy; Stevens, Patricia E; Kako, Peninnah M; Dressel, Anne

2013-11-01

In this critical ethnography, 72 HIV-infected women in Southern Malawi participated in 12 focus groups discussing the impact of HIV and violence. Our analysis, informed by a postcolonial feminist perspective, revealed women's capacity to collectively engage in safety planning. We present our findings about women's experiences based on narratives detailing how women collectively strategized safety planning efforts to mitigate the impact of violence. This study helps to fill a gap in the literature on the intersection between HIV and violence in women's lives. Strategies discussed by the women could form a basis for safety planning interventions for women in similar circumstances.

A Comparison of Human Narrative Coding of Redemption and Automated Linguistic Analysis for Understanding Life Stories.

PubMed

Weston, Sara J; Cox, Keith S; Condon, David M; Jackson, Joshua J

2016-10-01

The majority of life narrative research is performed using trained human coders. In contrast, automated linguistic analysis is oft employed in the study of verbal behaviors. These two methodological approaches are directly compared to determine the utility of automated linguistic analysis for the study of life narratives. In a study of in-person interviews (N = 158) and a second study of life stories collected online (N = 242), redemption scores are compared to the output of the Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count (Pennebaker, Francis & Booth, 2001). Additionally, patterns of language are found using exploratory principal components analysis. In both studies, redemption scores are modestly correlated with some LIWC categories and unassociated with the components. Patterns of language do not replicate across samples, indicating that the structure of language does not extend to a broader population. Redemption scores and linguistic components are independent predictors of life satisfaction up to 3 years later. These studies converge on the finding that human-coded redemption and automated linguistic analysis are complementary and nonredundant methods of analyzing life narratives, and considerations for the study of life narratives are discussed. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Narratives, choices, alienation, and identity: learning from an elementary science teacher

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Upadhyay, Bhaskar

2009-09-01

As we contemplate on teacher identity research, there is a need to place a teacher's narratives or story-lines at the center of that work. In this forum, in response to the insightful commentary from Stephen Ritchie and Maria Iñez Mafra Goulart and Eduardo Soares, I place a greater emphasis on understanding Daisy's narratives from an existing social identity framework. Narratives tell us intricate and complex actions that a teacher has taken both personally and professionally. Additionally, narratives help us see implicit nature of identity explicitly. Therefore, a greater focus has to be placed on interactions and utterances of a teacher to make sense of who they are and what they do as expressed by their own words (identity and action). Finally, I join with Ritchie and Goulart and Soares to advocate that identity research needs to include participants as co-researchers and co-authors as identities are very personal and complex to be fully understood by the outsiders (researchers).

Metonymic objects, cultural practices and narrative repair: Sri Lankan responses to the Indian Ocean tsunami.

PubMed

Cassim, Shemana; Stolte, Ottilie; Hodgetts, Darrin

2015-07-01

The 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami resulted in a tragic loss of life and immense suffering. This article explores the ways in which a group of people from Sri Lanka worked to address the disruption to their life narratives caused by the loss of loved ones. We go beyond a focus on 'talk' in narrative research in health psychology to explore the importance of material objects in sustaining continued bonds with the deceased. This article provides an alternative to the tendency in mainstream psychology to pathologise grief and highlights the importance of culturally patterned responses to disaster. © The Author(s) 2013.

“We’d Be Free”: Narratives of Life Without Homophobia, Racism, or Sexism

PubMed Central

Ouellette, Suzanne C.; Haile, Rahwa; McFarlane, Tracy A.

2013-01-01

Stigma and social inequality deprive disadvantaged social groups of a sense of social well-being. Stress researchers have focused on prejudice-related events and conditions but have not described more intangible stressors experienced by sexual minorities. We use narrative methods to examine how sexual minorities experience stigma and social inequality as we focus on the more intangible stressors that are both pervasive and difficult to measure. Three themes emerged in the narratives of our ethnically diverse sample of 57 adult sexual minority women and men: (a) stigma deprived them of access to critical possibilities and opportunities; (b) stigma deprives them of safety and acceptance; and (c) despite this, the experience of stigma is also related to the adoption of a positive and collective orientation towards their stigmatized identities. Recognizing these stressors and related resilience can direct policy makers toward interventions that go even beyond eliminating prejudice by including goals to strengthen minority communities. PMID:24009487

Role of Narrative Perspective and Modality in the Persuasiveness of Public Service Advertisements Promoting HPV Vaccination.

PubMed

Nan, Xiaoli; Futerfas, Michelle; Ma, Zexin

2017-03-01

In the context of public service advertisements promoting human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination, the current research examines 1) the relative persuasiveness of narrative vs. non-narrative messages and 2) the influence of narrative perspective (first- vs. third-person) and modality (text-based vs. audio-based) on message effectiveness. Results of a controlled experiment (N = 121) suggested that both a non-narrative message and a first-person narrative message led to greater perceived risk of getting HPV than a third-person narrative message. There was no difference in risk perception between the non-narrative and first-person narrative conditions. These findings were confined to the text-based condition, however. When the messages were audio-based, no differential message effects were detected. The analysis also provided partial evidence for an indirect effect of narrative perspective on intentions to vaccinate against HPV through HPV risk perception. Theoretical and practical implications of the findings are discussed.

Multimodal Narrative Inquiry: Six Teacher Candidates Respond

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Morawski, Cynthia M.; Rottmann, Jennifer

2016-01-01

In this paper we present findings of a study on the implementation of a multimodal teacher narrative inquiry component, theoretically grounded by Rosenblatt's theory of transaction analysis, methodologically supported by action research and practically enacted by narrative inquiry and multimodal learning. In particular, the component offered…

Qualitative thematic analysis of the phenomenology of near-death experiences.

PubMed

Cassol, Helena; Pétré, Benoît; Degrange, Sophie; Martial, Charlotte; Charland-Verville, Vanessa; Lallier, François; Bragard, Isabelle; Guillaume, Michèle; Laureys, Steven

2018-01-01

Near-death experiences (NDEs) refer to profound psychological events that can have an important impact on the experiencers' (NDErs) lives. Previous studies have shown that NDEs memories are phenomenologically rich. In the present study, we therefore aimed to extract the common themes (referred to as "features" in the NDE literature) reported by NDErs by analyzing all the concepts stored in the narratives of their experiences. A qualitative thematic analysis has been carried out on 34 cardiac arrest survivors' NDE narratives. Our results shed the light on the structure of the narratives by identifying 10 "time-bounded" themes which refer to isolated events encountered during the NDE and 1 "transversal" theme which characterizes the whole narrative and generally appears as a retrospective comment of self-reflection on the experience. The division of narratives into themes provides us with detailed information about the vocabulary used by NDErs to describe their experience. This established thematic method enables a rigorous description of the phenomenon, ensuring the inclusion of all self-reported manifestations of themes in narratives.

Attractive Flicker--Guiding Attention in Dynamic Narrative Visualizations.

PubMed

Waldner, Manuela; Le Muzic, Mathieu; Bernhard, Matthias; Purgathofer, Werner; Viola, Ivan

2014-12-01

Focus+context techniques provide visual guidance in visualizations by giving strong visual prominence to elements of interest while the context is suppressed. However, finding a visual feature to enhance for the focus to pop out from its context in a large dynamic scene, while leading to minimal visual deformation and subjective disturbance, is challenging. This paper proposes Attractive Flicker, a novel technique for visual guidance in dynamic narrative visualizations. We first show that flicker is a strong visual attractor in the entire visual field, without distorting, suppressing, or adding any scene elements. The novel aspect of our Attractive Flicker technique is that it consists of two signal stages: The first "orientation stage" is a short but intensive flicker stimulus to attract the attention to elements of interest. Subsequently, the intensive flicker is reduced to a minimally disturbing luminance oscillation ("engagement stage") as visual support to keep track of the focus elements. To find a good trade-off between attraction effectiveness and subjective annoyance caused by flicker, we conducted two perceptual studies to find suitable signal parameters. We showcase Attractive Flicker with the parameters obtained from the perceptual statistics in a study of molecular interactions. With Attractive Flicker, users were able to easily follow the narrative of the visualization on a large display, while the flickering of focus elements was not disturbing when observing the context.

Death narratives and cervical cancer: Impact of character death on narrative processing and HPV vaccination.

PubMed

Krakow, Melinda; Yale, Robert N; Perez Torres, Debora; Christy, Katheryn; Jensen, Jakob D

2017-12-01

Narratives hold promise as an effective public health message strategy for health behavior change, yet research on what types of narratives are most persuasive is still in the formative stage. Narrative persuasion research has identified 2 promising features of such messages that could influence behavior: whether characters live or die, and whether characters encounter key barriers. This study investigated the effects of these 2 narrative message features on young women's HPV vaccination intentions and examined mediating psychological processes of narrative persuasion in the context of cervical cancer messages. We manipulated these 2 features in a narrative HPV vaccine intervention targeted to a national sample of U.S. women 18-26 who had not initiated the vaccine (N = 247). Participants were randomized in a 2 × 2 between-subjects experiment. Compared to death narratives, survival narratives increased narrative believability and self-efficacy while lowering perceived barriers to vaccination. As features interacted, survival narratives featuring social barriers led to greater narrative transportation (absorption into the story) than other combinations. Moderated mediation analysis tested 10 theoretically derived mediators; transportation and risk severity mediated the narrative-intention relationship. Findings provide evidence for key psychological postulates of narrative persuasion theory. Results inform practical application for the construction of effective narrative message content in cervical cancer prevention campaigns for young women. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

From Mind to Context, from Accuracy to Meaning. Exploring the Grammar of Remembering as a Socially Situated Act.

PubMed

Brescó de Luna, Ignacio

2016-06-01

This paper begins by addressing the so-called memory crisis, a crisis which, since the 90s, has problematized the traditional manner in which memory is studied and understood. Special attention is paid to the changing role attributed to accuracy and meaning when remembering the past. In light of this crisis, I comment on Smorti and Fioretti's paper (2015), focusing on the point that they make regarding how autobiographical narratives affect and change autobiographical memories. Complementing that view, according to which memories are transformed when they are externalized through a communicative act by means of narratives, this paper focuses on a more narrative and situated approach to memory, shifting from mind to social settings, from accuracy to meaning. Building on that approach, I briefly discuss the notion of event as a narrative construction. Finally, drawing on Burke's pentad model (1969), I put forward a framework for studying remembering as a situated activity. The pentad of elements are addressed as follows: 1) Agency, or the mediational means for the construction of past events; 2) Act, or remembering as a reconstructive activity; 3) Scene, or the social dynamics of remembering; 4) Agent, or subjective positionings when reconstructing the past; and 5) Purpose, or uses of the past in relation to the future.

Telling a (good?) counterstory of aging: natural bodybuilding meets the narrative of decline.

PubMed

Phoenix, Cassandra; Smith, Brett

2011-09-01

In Western society, the narrative of decline dominates the aging process. We know very little about the complexities of how people resist this narrative. The purpose of this article is to understand how a group of mature natural bodybuilders resisted the narrative of decline. In-depth life story interviews were conducted with 13 natural bodybuilders aged between 50 and 73 years. Verbatim transcripts were produced and the data analyzed using a structural narrative analysis. A dialogical analysis was also utilized. The participants' experiences did not fit with stereotypical assumptions about decline and deterioration in older age. They all told counterstories to "natural" aging, yet what differed was how the participants' counterstories resisted the narrative of decline and the level of resistance that they provided. We advance knowledge in the fields of aging and narrative inquiry by revealing the multidimensionality of resistance. We demonstrated how participants storied resistance in different ways and the important implications this had for the way aging was understood and acted upon-by themselves and potentially by others. In addition to advancing theoretical knowledge, in this article, we also significantly contribute to understandings of the potential of narrative for changing human lives and behavior across the life course in more positive and nuanced ways.

Historical imagination, narrative learning and nursing practice: graduate nursing students' reader-responses to a nurse's storytelling from the past.

PubMed

Wood, Pamela J

2014-09-01

Storytelling and narrative are widely used in nurse education and the value of narrative-based curricula, such as those governed by narrative pedagogy, is well recognised. Storytelling stimulates students' imagination, a central feature of narrative learning. One form of story and imagination yet to be fully considered by educators is the historical story and historical imagination. The use of historical storytelling creates a temporal dissonance between the story and reader that stimulates readers' imagination and response, and enables them to gain rich insights which can be applied to the present. Reader-response theory can support educators when using narrative and storytelling. This article presents an analysis of graduate nursing students' reader-responses to a nurse's story from the past. This narrative learning group used their historical imagination in responding to the story and prompted and challenged each other in their interpretation and in translating their responses to their current nursing practice. The article discusses this analysis within the context of reader-response theory and its potential application to narrative-based learning in nurse education. Historical stories stimulate historical imagination and offer a different frame of reference for students' development of textual competence and for applying insights to the present. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Impact of audio narrated animation on students' understanding and learning environment based on gender

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nasrudin, Ajeng Ratih; Setiawan, Wawan; Sanjaya, Yayan

2017-05-01

This study is titled the impact of audio narrated animation on students' understanding in learning humanrespiratory system based on gender. This study was conducted in eight grade of junior high school. This study aims to investigate the difference of students' understanding and learning environment at boys and girls classes in learning human respiratory system using audio narrated animation. Research method that is used is quasy experiment with matching pre-test post-test comparison group design. The procedures of study are: (1) preliminary study and learning habituation using audio narrated animation; (2) implementation of learning using audio narrated animation and taking data; (3) analysis and discussion. The result of analysis shows that there is significant difference on students' understanding and learning environment at boys and girls classes in learning human respiratory system using audio narrated animation, both in general and specifically in achieving learning indicators. The discussion related to the impact of audio narrated animation, gender characteristics, and constructivist learning environment. It can be concluded that there is significant difference of students' understanding at boys and girls classes in learning human respiratory system using audio narrated animation. Additionally, based on interpretation of students' respond, there is the difference increment of agreement level in learning environment.

Depression as a moderator of STAIR Narrative Therapy for women with post-traumatic stress disorder related to childhood abuse.

PubMed

Cloitre, Marylene; Garvert, Donn W; Weiss, Brandon J

2017-01-01

Background : Depression among those who have experienced childhood abuse is associated with earlier onset, more persistent and severe symptoms, more frequent relapse, and poorer treatment outcomes across a variety of psychiatric disorders. In addition, individuals with a history of childhood abuse are more likely to develop post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) co-occurring with depression. Objective : This study evaluated whether severity of depression moderated the outcome in a PTSD treatment for childhood abuse survivors. Specifically, we assessed whether individuals with significant depression obtained better outcomes when provided with a two-module treatment which included a skills training component with behavioral activation interventions, Skills Training in Affective and Interpersonal Regulation (STAIR) followed by a trauma-focused component, Narrative Therapy, as compared to two control conditions where one component (STAIR or Narrative Therapy) was replaced with Supportive Counseling. Method : Participants were 104 women with PTSD related to childhood abuse. Participants were randomized into three conditions: (1) STAIR plus Narrative Therapy (SNT), (2) STAIR plus Supportive Counseling (SSC), and (3) Supportive Counseling plus Narrative Therapy (SCNT). Clinician-Administered PTSD Scale for DSM-IV (CAPS-IV) PTSD symptom severity was assessed at pre-treatment, post-treatment, and 3 and 6 month follow-up. Results : Participants with severe depression showed superior PTSD symptom reduction following SNT, while those in the other two conditions experienced a loss of improvement after treatment ended. A similar finding was obtained among those with moderate depression, while among those with low levels of depression, outcomes did not differ across the three treatment conditions. Conclusions : Childhood abuse survivors with severe depression obtained superior outcomes in a treatment that combined skills training with trauma-focused work. Skills packages which contain behavioral activation interventions in combination with trauma-focused work may be particularly beneficial for patients with childhood abuse and severe depression.

A Narrative Analysis of a Teacher Educator's Professional Learning Journey

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Vanassche, Eline; Kelchtermans, Geert

2016-01-01

This article reports on a narrative analysis of one teacher educator's learning journey in a two-year professional development project. Professional development is conceived of as the complex learning processes resulting from the meaningful interactions between the individual teacher educator and his/her working context. Our analysis indicates…

The limits of narrative: provocations for the medical humanities.

PubMed

Woods, Angela

2011-12-01

This paper aims to (re)ignite debate about the role of narrative in the medical humanities. It begins with a critical review of the ways in which narrative has been mobilised by humanities and social science scholars to understand the experience of health and illness. I highlight seven dangers or blind spots in the dominant medical humanities approach to narrative, including the frequently unexamined assumption that all human beings are 'naturally narrative'. I then explore this assumption further through an analysis of philosopher Galen Strawson's influential article 'Against Narrativity'. Strawson rejects the descriptive claim that "human beings typically see or live or experience their lives as a narrative" and the normative claim that "a richly Narrative outlook is essential to a well-lived life, to true or full personhood". His work has been taken up across a range of disciplines, but its implications in the context of health and illness have not yet been sufficiently discussed. This article argues that 'Against Narrativity' can and should stimulate robust debate within the medical humanities regarding the limits of narrative, and concludes by discussing a range of possibilities for venturing 'beyond narrative'.

Evidence of stimulus correlated empathy modes--Group ICA of fMRI data.

PubMed

Vemuri, Kavita; Surampudi, Bapi Raju

2015-03-01

The analysis of the cognitive processes in response to a narrative as presented in a movie provides an insight into momentary reaction to a single depicted action like a facial expression and an aggregate processing of the entire sequence of events. In this study we report results from fMRI data analyzed by group independent component analysis (ICA) method from a free viewing experiment using a diverse set of movie clips--an animation, a Hollywood and an Indian Hindi movie. The fMRI data were collected from 15 college students as they viewed 5-8 min clips from three movies. The movie clips were rated for depiction of emotional expressions, the emotion as per the narrative and the viewer's own empathy response. The neural correlates attributed to cognitive, motor and emotional empathy were the focus of the study. The methodology of using long duration stimuli in free viewing mode combined with ICA analysis has the potential to tease out spatially distributed but temporally coherent brain activity as demonstrated in this study. The independent components obtained from group ICA method isolated spatial maps with activations which can be safely ascribed to stimulus processing. We found that the activity in the areas attributable to cognitive and motor empathy was comparable for all the three stimuli while certain critical areas for emotional empathy were not noticed for the animation movie. These findings lead to interesting questions on possible differential emotion response in viewer(s) for computer generated actors compared to actors in live-action movies and the role of narrative and exposure to different genre of movies on racial, ethnic and cultural differences in empathy response. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Multidirectional War Narratives in History Textbooks

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

van der Vlies, Tina

2016-01-01

This article aims to contribute to the field of textbook research by exploring a new approach in textbook analysis. Inspired by Michael Rothberg's concept of multidirectional memory, this article examines multidirectional narratives in history textbooks: narratives that combine different histories, places and times in a productive way. They…

What Do Medical Students Perceive as Meaningful in the Psychiatry Clerkship Learning Environment? A Content Analysis of Critical Incident Narratives.

PubMed

Gathright, Molly M; Thrush, Carol; Guise, J Benjamin; Krain, Lewis; Clardy, James

2016-04-01

In order to better understand the professional development of medical students during their psychiatry clerkship, this study identifies common themes and characteristics of students' critical incident narratives which are designed to capture a recount of clerkship experiences they perceived as meaningful. A total of 205 narratives submitted by psychiatry clerkship students in 2010-2011 were subjected to a thematic analysis using a methodological approach and adaptation of categories derived from prior similar research. Descriptive content analysis was also carried out to assess the valence of the narrative content, characters involved, and whether there was evidence that the experience changed students' perspectives in some way. Narratives contained a variety of positive (19%) and negative content (24%) and many contained a hybrid of both (57%). The most common theme (29%) concerned issues of respect and disrespect in patient, clinical, and coworker interactions. In general, the majority (68%) of students' meaningful experience narratives reflected a change in their perspective (e.g., I learned that...). Narratives containing positive and hybrid content were associated with a change in students' perspective (χ(2) = 10.61, df = 2, p < 0.005). Medical students are keenly aware of the learning environment. Positive and hybrid critical incident narratives were associated with a stated change in their beliefs, attitudes, or behaviors due to the experience. Understanding the events that are meaningful to students can also provide rich feedback to medical educators regarding the ways in which students perceive clinical learning environments and how to best foster their professional development.

Enabling Analysis of Big, Thick, Long, and Wide Data: Data Management for the Analysis of a Large Longitudinal and Cross-National Narrative Data Set.

PubMed

Winskell, Kate; Singleton, Robyn; Sabben, Gaelle

2018-03-01

Distinctive longitudinal narrative data, collected during a critical 18-year period in the history of the HIV epidemic, offer a unique opportunity to examine how young Africans are making sense of evolving developments in HIV prevention and treatment. More than 200,000 young people from across sub-Saharan Africa took part in HIV-themed scriptwriting contests held at eight discrete time points between 1997 and 2014, creating more than 75,000 narratives. This article describes the data reduction and management strategies developed for our cross-national and longitudinal study of these qualitative data. The study aims to inform HIV communication practice by identifying cultural meanings and contextual factors that inform sexual behaviors and social practices, and also to help increase understanding of processes of sociocultural change. We describe our sampling strategies and our triangulating methodologies, combining in-depth narrative analysis, thematic qualitative analysis, and quantitative analysis, which are designed to enable systematic comparison without sacrificing ethnographic richness.

A recipe for mealtime resilience for families living with dementia.

PubMed

Wong, Fiona; Keller, Heather H; Schindel Martin, Lori; Sutherland, Olga

2015-09-01

To date, research delving into the narratives of persons living with dementia is limited. Taking part in usual mealtime activities such as preparing food can sustain the identity of persons living with dementia. Yet if capacity for mealtime activities changes, this can put a strain or demand on the family, which must adjust and adapt to these changes. The aim of this study was to develop an in-depth story of resilience in one family living with dementia that was experiencing mealtime changes. Thematic narrative analysis following the elements of Clandinin and Connelly's (2000) 3D narrative inquiry space was used. One family's dementia journey was highlighted using the metaphor of a baking recipe to reflect their story of resilience. Developing positive strategies and continuing to learn and adapt were the two approaches used by this resilient family. Reminiscing, incorporating humour, having hope and optimism, and establishing social support were specific strategies. This family continued to learn and adapt by focusing on their positive gains and personal growth, accumulating life experiences, and balancing past pleasures while adapting to the new normal. Future work needs to further conceptualise resilience and how it can be supported in families living with dementia. © 2014 Nordic College of Caring Science.

Using a Historical Lens to Envision the Next Generation of Genomic Translation Research.

PubMed

McBride, Colleen M; Abrams, Leah R; Koehly, Laura M

2015-01-01

The past 20 years have witnessed successive and exponential advances in genomic discovery and technology, with a broad scientific imperative pushing for continual advancements. The most consistent critique of these advances is that they have vastly outpaced translation of new knowledge into improvements in public health and medicine. We employ a historical and epistemological analysis to characterize how prevailing scientific meta-narratives have shaped the pace and priorities of research applying genomics to health promotion. We use four 'pivotal events' - the genetic characterization of Down syndrome, the launch of the Human Genome Research Project, the discovery of BRCA1, and the emergence of direct-to- consumer genetic testing - to illustrate how these scientific meta-narratives have inhibited genomic translation research. The notion that discovery should precede translation research has over-focused translation research on the latest genetic testing platform. The idea that genetic-related research has an exceptional potential for public harm has encouraged research on worst case scenarios. The perceived competition between genetics and social determinants of health has discouraged a unified research agenda to move genomic translation forward. We make a case for creating new scientific meta-narratives in which discovery and translation research agendas are envisioned as an interdependent enterprise. © 2015 S. Karger AG, Basel.

Holistic nurses' stories of healing of another.

PubMed

Enzman Hines, Mary; Wardell, Diane Wind; Engebretson, Joan; Zahourek, Rothlyn; Smith, Marlaine C

2015-03-01

The purpose of this study was to uncover the essence and meaning of healing through narrative accounts of holistic nurses, using a qualitative, descriptive design integrating narrative and story inquiry. Twenty-five stories were collected. Seven stories revealed personal healing and have been published in a prior article. Eighteen stories, the focus of this analysis, revealed healing of another. A hybrid method blending narrative and story guided the overall process for the study. Nine themes emerged describing healing of another within three story segments: The Call to Healing, The Experience of Healing, and Insights. The theme within The Call to the Healing Encounter was Drawn by Compassion to the Vulnerability and/or Suffering of Another. Five themes describe the Experience of Healing: Connection: Cocreating Relationships; Taking Risks and Dealing With Skeptical Colleagues; Use of Modalities and Actions as Tools in Developing Self as an Instrument of Healing; Profound, Ineffable Events; and Using Metaphor and Rituals to Describe Healing. Three themes describe Insights: Mutual Transformation, Change, and Reciprocity; Gratitude for the Healing Encounter; and Leaving a Legacy. The metastory, a reconstructed story created by the researchers, was the final phase of research synthesizing and demonstrating themes of healing of another. Results were compared to existing healing literature. © The Author(s) 2014.

Will it never end? The narratives of incest victims on the termination of sexual abuse.

PubMed

Lorentzen, Erlend; Nilsen, Håvard; Traeen, Bente

2008-01-01

The aim of this study is to investigate how child sexual abuse is terminated. This study attempts to gain insight into how people exposed to incest narrate the termination of the incest relationship. Seven women and one man were recruited from the Incest Support Centre and from snowballing for a 1-2-hour-long in-depth interview using a narrative approach. The subjects' narratives varied according to how they perceived their own role in the termination process, their relationship with the offender, and how well they remembered the stage of termination. A common feature of the narratives was that the feeling of being a victim lasted after the abuse stopped. In this respect, the lack of support from family, friends, and healthcare personnel and the psychological power exercised by the offender were important issues in the narratives. It is suggested that the termination process is affected by the victims' ability to regulate influence and mentalization. Furthermore, a transfer of cultural meanings from the social environment to the individual must have taken place. Future research should focus on the significance of the termination process in terms of psychological functioning and the construction of self and identity.

Hearing voices: re/presenting the findings of narrative research into patient experience as poems.

PubMed

Stenhouse, R

2014-06-01

The study aimed to understand the experience of being a patient on an acute psychiatric inpatient ward. A further aim was to open up spaces for the voices of participants to be heard. Contemporary government policy places patient experience at the centre of healthcare policy and service development. Despite this, those who occupy marginalized discourses struggle to be heard within the dominant discourse of health care. A qualitative approach was used, and narrative was conceptualized as representing experience. Sociolinguistic theories informed the development of the analytic framework treating meaning as contextual and arising from both content and structure of narratives. Concepts of representation, voice and authorship were problematized. Thirteen people who had been inpatients on an acute psychiatric inpatient ward participated. Narrative data were gathered using unstructured interviews. The data were analysed holistically using a method that attended to both the structure and content of the narrative. The product of these holistic narratives was the development of a poem representing each participant's experience. This paper focuses on the development of these poems as a method of decentring the authorial voice and opening up spaces for the voices of the participants to be heard. © 2013 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Hope against hope: exploring the hopes and challenges of rural female caregivers of persons with advanced cancer

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Background This paper focuses on the qualitative component of a study evaluating a hope intervention, entitled Living with Hope Program (LWHP), designed to foster hope in female caregivers of family members living with advanced cancer. The purpose of this research is to share, in the form of a story, the experiences of rural female caregivers caring for family members with advanced cancer, focusing on what fosters their hope. Hope is a psychosocial and spiritual resource that has been found to help family caregivers live through difficult transitions and challenges. Methods Twenty-three participants from rural Western Canada completed daily journal entries documenting their hopes and challenges. Cortazzi’s (2001) method of narrative analysis was used to analyze the data, which was then transcribed into a narrative entitled ‘hope against hope.’ Results The journal entries highlighted: the caregivers’ hopes and what fostered their hope; the various challenges of caregiving; self-care strategies, and; their emotional journey. Hope was integrated throughout their entire experience, and ‘hope against hope’ describes how hope persists even when there is no hope for a cure. Conclusions This research contributes to the assessment of caregiver interventions that impact hope and quality of life, while illustrating the value of a narrative approach to both research and practice. Journaling may be particularly valuable for rural caregivers who are isolated, and may lack direct professional and peer support. There is an opportunity for health professionals and other providers to foster a relationship of trust with family caregivers, in which their story can be told openly and where practitioners pay closer attention to the psychosocial needs of caregivers. PMID:24341372

Media portrayal of elite athletes with disability - a systematic review.

PubMed

Rees, Leanne; Robinson, Priscilla; Shields, Nora

2017-11-10

The media plays an important role in shaping society's beliefs about disability and sport. The aim of this systematic review is to identify how elite athletes with disability are portrayed in the media. Six electronic databases were searched from 2001 to March 2017 for quantitative or qualitative content analysis of media coverage of elite athletes with disability: SportsDiscus, CINAHL, PsychInfo, Medline 1996-, Embase, and Proquest. Quality assessment and data extraction were performed by two independent assessors. Seventeen moderate quality articles were included. Six themes emerged from the data such as frequency of articles and photos about elite athletes with disability; athlete gender; athlete nationality; disability; athleticism; and Olympic Games versus Paralympic Games. Our results show that elite athletes with disability are less visible in the media than their nondisabled counterparts; female athletes received less coverage than male; the media favored domestic athletes and certain types of disability; and, although there was a focus on athleticism, this was underpinned by a "supercrip" narrative and a medicalised description of disability. Although there has been a positive shift in the narrative around elite athletes with disability in media, relative absence and differing portrayal is present. Considering the power of media shaping society's perceptions of disability, further investigation is warranted. Implications for Rehabilitation Media has a role in how elite athletes with disability are portrayed and consequently perceived by the public. Elite athletes with disability rarely feature in media. Images of disability are minimized, and certain types of disabilities are favored. An athletic narrative is emerging; however, a medicalised description of athletes remains, shifting the focus from athleticism. "Supercrip" and "Superhuman" terms are commonly used, but may negatively impact the broader disability community.

Living into the story: agency and coherence in a longitudinal study of narrative identity development and mental health over the course of psychotherapy.

PubMed

Adler, Jonathan M

2012-02-01

Narrative identity is the internalized, evolving story of the self that each person crafts to provide his or her life with a sense of purpose and unity. A proliferation of empirical research studies focused on narrative identity have explored its relationship with psychological well-being. The present study is the first prospective, multiwave longitudinal investigation to examine short-term personality change via an emphasis on narrative identity as it relates to mental health. Forty-seven adults wrote rich personal narratives prior to beginning psychotherapy and after every session over 12 assessment points while concurrently completing a measure of mental health. Narratives were coded for the themes of agency and coherence, which capture the dual aims of narrative identity: purpose and unity. By applying in-depth thematic coding to the stories of participants, the present study produced 47 case studies of intraindividual personality development and mental health. By employing multilevel modeling with the entire set of nearly 600 narratives, the present study also identified robust trends of individual differences in narrative changes as they related to improvements in mental health. Results indicated that, across participants, the theme of agency, but not coherence, increased over the course of time. In addition, increases in agency were related to improvements in participants' mental health. Finally, lagged growth curve models revealed that changes in the theme of agency occurred prior to the associated improvements in mental health. This finding remained consistent across a variety of individual-difference variables including demographics, personality traits, and ego development.

Design of an extensive information representation scheme for clinical narratives.

PubMed

Deléger, Louise; Campillos, Leonardo; Ligozat, Anne-Laure; Névéol, Aurélie

2017-09-11

Knowledge representation frameworks are essential to the understanding of complex biomedical processes, and to the analysis of biomedical texts that describe them. Combined with natural language processing (NLP), they have the potential to contribute to retrospective studies by unlocking important phenotyping information contained in the narrative content of electronic health records (EHRs). This work aims to develop an extensive information representation scheme for clinical information contained in EHR narratives, and to support secondary use of EHR narrative data to answer clinical questions. We review recent work that proposed information representation schemes and applied them to the analysis of clinical narratives. We then propose a unifying scheme that supports the extraction of information to address a large variety of clinical questions. We devised a new information representation scheme for clinical narratives that comprises 13 entities, 11 attributes and 37 relations. The associated annotation guidelines can be used to consistently apply the scheme to clinical narratives and are https://cabernet.limsi.fr/annotation_guide_for_the_merlot_french_clinical_corpus-Sept2016.pdf . The information scheme includes many elements of the major schemes described in the clinical natural language processing literature, as well as a uniquely detailed set of relations.

Storying the Student Teaching Experience: Trying on Teaching Personae

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Davis, Janine S.

2013-01-01

This article uses a narrative analysis approach to explore the stories of student teachers' experiences developing a teaching persona during student teaching. In keeping with the narrative format, the researcher presents the participants' stories in a first-person narrative. The participants had similar experiences in the realm of developing their…

The Use of Narrative Paradigm Theory in Assessing Audience Value Conflict in Image Advertising.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stutts, Nancy B.; Barker, Randolph T.

1999-01-01

Presents an analysis of image advertisement developed from Narrative Paradigm Theory. Suggests that the nature of postmodern culture makes image advertising an appropriate external communication strategy for generating stake holder loyalty. Suggests that Narrative Paradigm Theory can identify potential sources of audience conflict by illuminating…

Structure of Children's Narratives.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Menig-Peterson, Carole L.; McCabe, Allyssa

This analysis of the structure of children's narratives deals with material gathered from 96 children, aged 3 1/2 to 9 1/2 years, in conversations about events in which they were personally involved. Elements of the narratives and the structural relationship of these elements are examined. Three elements are discerned: (1) chronological…

Role of immersion (transportation) in health video games

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Recent empirical studies have shown that narratives can serve as powerful tools for health behavior change. According to theory, the more a narrative immerses or transports a person into a story world, the more consistent their beliefs and behaviors should be with the narrative. As the first analysi...

From Story to Analysis: Reflection and Uptake in the Literacy Narrative Assignment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Alexander, Kara Poe

2015-01-01

The literacy narrative assignment is popular with composition instructors because of the reflection it encourages in students. Previously, scholars have claimed that students demonstrate reflection in literacy narratives when they critique dominant ideologies. Largely absent, however, is research on what other elements might indicate reflection…

Narrative Construction of Professional Teacher Identity of Teachers with Dyslexia

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Burns, Eila; Bell, Sheena

2011-01-01

This paper considers the development of teachers' professional identity in the context of educators that have diverse backgrounds. We elucidate how teachers with dyslexia working in tertiary education use narrative resources to construct and negotiate their professional teacher identities. The analysis of narrative interviews, interpreted within…

The Paradox of Poverty Narratives: Educators Struggling with Children Left Behind

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gerstl-Pepin, Cynthia I.

2006-01-01

This article utilizes narrative policy analysis to examine social justice narratives embedded within No Child Left Behind with respect to economic inequities. It juxtaposes national educational policy dialogues against the stories of educators working within an elementary school that serves a high-poverty community. The qualitative research…

Intimacy, identity and relationship in the accounts of Chinese immigrants to Canada: the contribution of narrative analysis.

PubMed

Sinding, Christina; Zhou, Yanqiu Rachel

2017-06-01

In this paper we use narrative analysis to consider how the discursive resources that come with living 'in between' countries and cultures unfold in personal stories. We do this by presenting a close analysis of two transcripts drawn from a study about the vulnerability to HIV faced by Chinese immigrants to Canada. Our goal is to illustrate the application of narrative analysis and highlight the contributions it can make to conceptualising how transnationalism becomes consequential in accounts of intimate life. In narrative terms, transnationalism lends each life situation dual or multiple interpretive frameworks. Migrants from China to Canada situate their personal stories in relation to social and cultural norms and features of both nations. Yet, as our analysis makes apparent, 'Canada' and 'China' do not carry singular or consistent meanings in migrants' stories. Attention to the role of stories in self-making allows us to better understand why transnational contexts appear as they do in narrative accounts, and responds to calls for more accurate mappings of the interface between transnationalism and the subject. Attention to how stories are 'put together' shows that transnational discursive resources are assembled in ways that bolster, and also undermine, entitlements to safe and equitable intimate relationships.

Leading the development of nursing within a Nursing Development Unit: the perspectives of leadership by the team leader and a professor of nursing.

PubMed

Graham, Iain

2003-08-01

Leadership within nursing is receiving unprecedented focus and development. This reflective narrative explores the nature of leadership, termed scholarly leadership, by an academic and a clinical leader of a Nursing Development Unit. The narrative explores the characteristics of such leadership and highlights how it empowered a nursing team to further reach its potential. Two areas, patient-centered care and the characteristics of practice, are focused upon to highlight the leadership style that the clinical leader adopted. The paper concludes by suggesting what structural and systems changes need to be put in place in order to bring about change.

A narrative analysis positioning HIV relative to personal (sexual) relationship challenges in an agony aunt column in the Western Cape, South Africa - Aunty Mona's "love advice".

PubMed

Viljoen, Lario; Thorne, Marguerite; Thomas, Angelique; Bond, Virginia; Hoddinott, Graeme

2016-01-01

HIV prevalence and incidence in South Africa remain high, making HIV a part of everyday life. Community narratives on HIV treatment and prevention are important and influence official and unofficial health messaging and community perceptions and understandings of HIV. We explore how contributors and the columnist of an agony aunt column position HIV relative to choices made about love, partnership, and sex over three years. We analysed all columns of an agony aunt series (Antie Mona) published between December 2012 and November 2015. The column is published in a South African, Afrikaans-language newspaper "Son", prioritising sensationalist news items. Trends were identified through narrative analysis. Data were managed in ATLAS.ti and inductive, iterative coding conducted. It was found that letters to the agony aunt rarely refer to HIV directly (less than 7%). Euphemisms such as diseases of the flesh and the great flu were more commonly used instead of HIV or AIDS. Letters addressed HIV in three ways: direct references to experiences living with HIV; direct questions about HIV prevention; and scenarios where HIV could (from a public health perspective) have been the main concern, but everyday issues took precedence. The majority of letters fell into this latter category where the writers focused on the immediate concerns of good sexual relations, problems related to love and romantic relationships, good moral behaviour of others, and issues of oppressive life conditions rather than on HIV directly. The findings illustrate that informal, public contributions to health information, such as agony aunts, are important narratives that inform popular perspectives on HIV and health. A better appreciation of this context would allow health implementers to ensure that these role players receive updated health messaging to avoid the risk of HIV-related stigma where HIV is used as a moral rod to punish perceived moral transgressions.

The utility of injury narratives for prioritising future prevention activities in small and medium enterprises in rural Vietnam.

PubMed

Marucci-Wellman, Helen; Willetts, Joanna L; Diep, Nguyen Bich; Binh, Ta Thi Tuyet

2013-04-01

Injuries are a leading cause of work-related disability and death in rapidly developing countries such as Vietnam. The authors' objective was to demonstrate the utility of detailed injury narratives, derived from a household survey, in providing information on the determinants of work-related injuries to inform potential intervention targets. In a cross-sectional survey administered to 2615 households of a rapidly developing community of Vietnam where many workers engage in both agriculture and industrial work, the authors collected information about self-reported work-related injuries, annual hours worked in each industry and narrative text describing the circumstances of each injury. The authors used a customised coding taxonomy to describe injury scenarios. Several intervention themes emerged, including the implementation of machine guarding, the use of cut resistant gloves and safety glasses which would benefit the small- and medium-sized enterprises. Calculation of incidence rates using full-time equivalents, stratified by work group, provided some unexpected observations of the risks of working in agriculture; workers who work in agriculture in addition to another industry are at an increased risk of fatigue or overexertion and other consequences of working too hard in their agricultural activities. A lack of aggregate injury statistics makes it difficult for the owners of small- and medium-sized enterprises to recognise a priori the most effective safety interventions. This analysis of detailed injury narratives with an appropriate taxonomic basis offers the ability to focus on the level of cause, activity and source and may inform the choice of various potential interventions at the workplace or enterprise level.

Keystone characteristics that support cultural resilience in Karen refugee parents

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Harper, Susan G.

2016-12-01

This participatory action research study used the conceptual framework of social-ecological resilience to explore how Karen (pronounced Ka·rén) refugee parents re-construct cultural resilience in resettlement. The funds of knowledge approach helped to define essential knowledge used by Karen parents within their own community. Framing this study around the concept of resilience situated it within an emancipatory paradigm: refugee parents were actors choosing their own cultural identity and making decisions about what cultural knowledge was important for the science education of their children. Sustainability science with its capacity to absorb indigenous knowledge as legitimate scientific knowledge offered a critical platform for reconciling Karen knowledge with scientific knowledge for science education. Photovoice, participant observation, and semi-structured interviews were used to create visual and written narrative portraits of Karen parents. Narrative analysis revealed that Karen parents had constructed a counter-narrative in Burma and Thailand that enabled them to resist assimilation into the dominant ethnic culture; by contrast, their narrative of life in resettlement in the U.S. focused on the potential for self-determination. Keystone characteristics that contributed to cultural resilience were identified to be the community garden and education as a gateway to a transformed future. Anchored in a cultural tradition of farming, these Karen parents gained perspective and comfort in continuity and the potential of self-determination rooted in the land. Therefore, a cross-cultural learning community for Karen elementary school students that incorporates the Karen language and Karen self-sustaining knowledge of horticulture would be an appropriate venue for building a climate of reciprocity for science learning.

The use of abstract paintings and narratives to foster reflective capacity in medical educators: a multinational faculty development workshop

PubMed Central

Karkabi, Khaled; Wald, Hedy S; Cohen Castel, Orit

2014-01-01

Reflective capacity is integral to core healthcare professional practice competencies. Reflection plays a central role in teacher education as reflecting on teaching behaviours with critical analysis can potentially improve teaching practice. The humanities including narrative and the visual arts can serve as a valuable tool for fostering reflection. We conducted a multinational faculty development workshop aiming to enhance reflective capacity in medical educators by using a combination of abstract paintings and narratives. Twenty-three family physicians or physicians-in-training from 10 countries participated in the workshop. Qualitative assessment of the workshop showed that the combined use of art and narrative was well received and perceived as contributing to the reflective exercise. Participants generally felt that viewing abstract paintings had facilitated a valuable mood transformation and prepared them emotionally for the reflective writing. Our analysis found that the following themes emerged from participants’ responses: (1) narratives from different countries are similar; (2) the use of art helped access feelings; (3) viewing abstract paintings facilitated next steps; (4) writing reflective narratives promoted examination of educational challenges, compassion for self and other, and building an action plan; and (5) sharing of narrative was helpful for fostering active listening and appreciating multiple perspectives. Future research might include comparing outcomes for a group participating in arts–narrative-based workshops with those of a control group using only reflective narrative or in combination with figurative art, and implementing a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods of assessment. PMID:24273319

A Study of Geometry Content Knowledge of Elementary Preservice Teachers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Aslan-Tutak, Fatma; Adams, Thomasenia Lott

2015-01-01

The purpose of this research is to examine preservice elementary school teachers' geometry learning as investigated by both qualitative and quantitative methods. For the qualitative investigation, narrative analysis and thematic analysis methods were used. The findings of narrative analysis indicated two main kinds of stories: as a learner and as…

Narrating Beliefs: A Language Ideologies Approach to Teacher Beliefs

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Razfar, Aria

2012-01-01

This article explores how we can better understand the language ideologies of teachers working with second language learners through narrative analysis. This analysis draws on ethnographic data collected in an urban high school with a predominant Latina/o population and nearly a quarter designated as English learners. This analysis illustrates how…

Epidemics and the politics of knowledge: contested narratives in Egypt's H1N1 response.

PubMed

Leach, Melissa; Tadros, Mariz

2014-01-01

This article explores the politics of knowledge involved in understanding and responding to epidemics in an era of global health governance and biosecurity. It develops and applies an approach focused on how multiple, competing narratives about epidemics are constructed, mobilized and interact, and selectively justify pathways of intervention and response. A detailed ethnographic case study of national and local responses to H1N1 influenza, so-called swine flu, in Egypt reveals how global narratives were reworked by powerful actors in a particular political context, suppressing and delegitimizing the alternative narratives of the Zabaleen (Coptic Christian) people whose lives and livelihoods centered on raising pigs and working with them to control urban waste. The case study illustrates important ways in which geographies and politics of blame around epidemics emerge and are justified, their political contexts and consequences, and how they may feed back to shape the dynamics of disease itself.

Sociality and intergenerational transfer of older adults' nostalgia.

PubMed

Wildschut, Tim; Sedikides, Constantine; Robertson, Sara

2018-05-03

Interest in nostalgia has blossomed, yet its nature in older adulthood and potential for intergenerational transfer to younger adults has remained neglected. In Experiment 1, we focused on the content of older adults' nostalgic (vs. ordinary) recollections and asked whether older adults' nostalgia could be transferred to younger adults. We showed that nostalgia expressed in older adults' narratives was positively associated with nostalgia reported by young-adult readers. In Experiment 2, undergraduates read a nostalgic or ordinary narrative written by an older adult. Then they rated their own nostalgia as well as their perceived social connectedness, self-continuity, and meaning in life. Exposure to older adults' nostalgic (vs. ordinary) narratives promoted concurrent nostalgia among young adults, along with associated psychological benefits (social connectedness, self-continuity, meaning). The findings illustrate the potential for intergenerational transfer of nostalgia through written narratives, and attest to the universality of nostalgic themes across younger and older adults.

Natural history's hypothetical moments: narratives of contingency in Victorian culture.

PubMed

Choi, Tina Young

2009-01-01

This essay focuses on the ways in which works by Robert Chambers, Charles Darwin, and George Eliot encouraged readers to imagine the future as contingent. But where Chambers alludes to Charles Babbage's computational engine and the period's life insurance industry to hint at the role of contingency in natural history, Darwin insists on the importance of contingently determined outcomes to speciation. The "Origin" consistently exercises the reader's speculative energies by generating conditional statements, causal hypotheses, adn diverging alternatives. "Adam Bede" constitutes its characters' interior lives around the proliferation of such contingent narratives. To reflect on the future or on the past, these works suggest, demands a temporal, moral, and narrative complexity in one's thinking.

Nurses in the Nazi "euthanasia" program: a critical feminist analysis.

PubMed

Benedict, Susan; Georges, Jane M

2009-01-01

From 1940 to 1945, Nazi Germany conducted a program of killing institutionalized psychiatric patients. Known as "euthanasia," this killing program included the administration of lethal doses of medication given largely by nurses. The purposes of this article are to (1) describe the historical context in which nurses' participation in the Nazi euthanasia program occurred; (2) present a recently unsealed narrative testimony of a nurse accused of active participation in the euthanasia program; and (3) analyze this account from a critical-feminist perspective, with a focus on its epistemological salience for contemporary nursing.

The Gendered Narrator: The Voice of the God/Mother in Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Dred

DTIC Science & Technology

1993-05-01

terms, and when to let the reader discover it for herself or himself. In Narrative Discourse, Gerard Genette describes the analysis of narrative...rela- tionship between the same discourse and the act which produces it" (27). When Genette speaks of these relationships, he is 3 concerned with the...form of narrative discourse, and this relationship should not be overlooked when examining the relationships Genette proposes. For example, Genette

Language processing and executive functions in early treated adults with phenylketonuria (PKU).

PubMed

De Felice, Sara; Romani, Cristina; Geberhiwot, Tarekegn; MacDonald, Anita; Palermo, Liana

We provide an in-depth analysis of language functions in early-treated adults with phenylketonuria (AwPKUs, N = 15-33), as compared to age- and education-matched controls (N = 24-32; N varying across tasks), through: a. narrative production (the Cinderella story), b. language pragmatics comprehension (humour, metaphors, inferred meaning), c. prosody discrimination d. lexical inhibitory control and planning (Blocked Cyclic Naming; Hayling Sentence Completion Test, Burgess & Shallice, 1997). AwPKUs exhibited intact basic language processing (lexical retrieval, phonology/articulation, sentence construction). Instead, deficits emerged in planning and reasoning abilities. Compared to controls, AwPKUs were: less informative in narrative production (lower rate of Correct Information Units); slower in metaphorical understanding and inferred meaning; less accurate in focused lexical-search (Hayling test). These results suggest that i) executive deficits in PKU cannot be explained by an accumulation of lower-order deficits and/or general speed impairments, ii) executive functions engage dedicated neurophysiological resources, rather than simply being an emergent property of lower-level systems.

Digital Storytelling as a Narrative Health Promotion Process: Evaluation of a Pilot Study.

PubMed

DiFulvio, Gloria T; Gubrium, Aline C; Fiddian-Green, Alice; Lowe, Sarah E; Del Toro-Mejias, Lizbeth Marie

2016-04-01

Digital storytelling (DST) engages participants in a group-based process to create and share narrative accounts of life events. The process of individuals telling their own stories has not been well assessed as a mechanism of health behavior change. This study looks at outcomes associated with engaging in the DST process for vulnerable youth. The project focused on the experiences of Puerto Rican Latinas between the ages of 15 to 21. A total of 30 participants enrolled in a 4-day DST workshops, with 29 completing a 1 to 3-minute digital story. Self-reported data on several scales (self-esteem, social support, empowerment, and sexual attitudes and behaviors) were collected and analyzed. Participants showed an increase in positive social interactions from baseline to 3-month post workshop. Participants also demonstrated increases in optimism and control over the future immediately after the workshop, but this change was not sustained at 3 months. Analysis of qualitative results and implications are discussed. © The Author(s) 2016.

Painful languages of the body: experiences of headache among women in two Peruvian communities.

PubMed

Darghouth, Sarah; Pedersen, Duncan; Bibeau, Gilles; Rousseau, Cecile

2006-09-01

This exploratory study focuses on the understandings of and experiences with headache in two settings in Peru: the Quechua-speaking district of Ayacucho, in southern Peru, and a poor urban district of Lima Metropolitana. More specifically, it explores the personal and collective meanings constructed around women's headache experiences. Structured and open-ended interviews were administered to patients suffering headache to elicit interpretations of headache episodes. An analysis of the collected narratives suggests that headache is often comprehended in a polysemic framework, where meanings ascribed in bodily, emotional, family, and social terms articulate individual and shared notions of suffering within larger contexts of social dislocation. Often woven into experiences of solitude, headache accounts are lived and told in dynamic temporal spaces, and narrate dissolution of family ties and tensions associated with women's roles. The results underscore the significance of patients' subjective interpretations of painful experiences and underscore the connections between bodily and emotional pain and distress experienced at family, community, and larger social levels.

NEGOTIATING HEALTH: patients' and guardians' perspective on "failed" patient-professional interactions in the context of the Swedish health care system.

PubMed

Koch, Roland; Joos, Stefanie; Ryding, Elsa-Lena

2018-05-11

Sweden has a largely tax-funded health care system that aims at providing equal access for everyone. However, the individual's perception and experience of the health care system remains a relevant topic for researchers. The aim of this study is to learn the patient's perspective on how patients and professionals negotiate in the social context of the Swedish health care system. Eight essays that had spontaneously been contributed to a medical writing contest were analyzed using narrative methods. Narratives were defined as a sequence of clauses that correspond to an order of events in the narrator's biography. The analysis comprised a three-step process. First, the essays were read and narratives were extracted. Second, an agency analysis was performed. Third, an analysis of social positioning was employed. The Swedish health care system provides the social context and background for negotiations between patients and professionals. The narrators position the protagonists of the illness narratives as either patients or guardians of underage patients. The protagonists meet health care representatives in negotiation situations. Due to the lack of emotional connection between the negotiating parties, impossible situations arise. False promises are made which ultimately result in the patients' suffering. Thus, all negotiations failed from the narrators' perspective. The narrators invited their audience to solve negotiation situations differently. This study discusses some actions that may help navigate negotiation situations: Health care providers should acknowledge the patient's or guardian's social position and dilemma, allow emotions, involve all parties in the decision-making process and manage expectations. Writing competitions may provide a tool for experience-based assessment of health care systems.

Conflict Narratives in Middle Childhood: The Social, Emotional, and Moral Significance of Story-Sharing

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Walton, Marsha D.; Davidson, Alice J.

2017-01-01

"Conflict Narratives in Middle Childhood" presents evidence from twenty years of research, examining nearly 3,000 narratives from 1,600 children in eight settings in two countries about their own experiences with interpersonal conflict. Close readings, combined with systematic analysis of dozens of features of the stories reveal that…

Narratives of Classroom Life: Changing Conceptions of Knowledge

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nelson, Cynthia D.

2011-01-01

Narratives of classroom life--the type that blend analysis with artistry, in the form of plays, poems, stories, and the like--remain relatively uncommon within language education research. Yet such narratives have the potential to make a significant and timely contribution to the field, given the ways in which knowledge is being reconceptualised…

What's Worth Talking about? Meaning-Making in Toddler-Initiated Co-Narratives in Preschool

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Odegaard, Elin Eriksen

2006-01-01

To elaborate narratives, toddlers are dependent on adult co-construction. Both children and teachers make meaning and learn together. This article examines what themes toddlers introduce in mealtime conversations in preschool. The object of analysis is 39 toddler-initiated co-narratives constructed by toddlers and teachers in 15 videotaped meals…

The Organization of Narrative Discourse in Lewy Body Spectrum Disorder

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ash, Sharon; McMillan, Corey; Gross, Rachel G.; Cook, Philip; Morgan, Brianna; Boller, Ashley; Dreyfuss, Michael; Siderowf, Andrew; Grossman, Murray

2011-01-01

Narrative discourse is an essential component of day-to-day communication, but little is known about narrative in Lewy body spectrum disorder (LBSD), including Parkinson's disease (PD), Parkinson's disease with dementia (PDD), and dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB). We performed a detailed analysis of a semi-structured speech sample in 32 non-aphasic…

Illuminating the Landscape of Religious Narrative: Morality, Dramatization, and Verticality

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Martin, Timothy J.

2009-01-01

A major dilemma confronting religious educators in the utilization of short stories, film, and other emerging forms of narratives is the question of how to evaluate their "religiousness." This can present dilemmas in the selection, analysis, and comparison of narratives for the purposes of teaching Religious Education. This article forwards useful…

Resisting Anorexia/Bulimia: Foucauldian Perspectives in Narrative Therapy

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lock, Andrew; Epston, David; Maisel, Richard; de Faria, Natasha

2005-01-01

Foucault's analysis of unseen power as it operates in discourses that construct "practices of discipline" and "technologies of the self" has been a central conceptual resource in the development of narrative therapy. Narrative therapists take the view that ?unseen aspects of power work to construct both how a person understands their situation,…

Narratives Boost Entrepreneurial Attitudes: Making an Entrepreneurial Career Attractive?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fellnhofer, Katharina

2018-01-01

This article analyses the impact of narratives on entrepreneurial attitudes and intentions. To this end, a quasi-experiment was conducted to evaluate web-based entrepreneurial narratives. The paired-sample tests and regression analysis use a sample of 466 people from Austria, Finland, and Greece and indicate that individuals' perceptions of the…

Children's Narrative Structure: How Do Japanese Children Talk About Their Own Stories?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Minami, Masahiko

The conversational narratives of 17 Japanese children aged 5 to 9 were analyzed using stanza analysis. Three distinctive features emerged: (1) the narratives are exceptionally succinct; (2) they are usually free-standing collections of three experiences; and (3) stanzas almost always consist of three lines. These features reflect the basic…

A Life in the Sun: Accounts of New Lives Abroad as Intercultural Narratives

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Beaven, Tita

2007-01-01

Through an analysis of three settler narratives about new lives in Spain, Stewart (1999), Kerr (2000) and Lambert (2000), the paper explores three elements of these intercultural narratives that contribute to the formation of the settler's new sociocultural identity: the physical environment, explorations of the other through signs of the…

Qualitative thematic analysis of the phenomenology of near-death experiences

PubMed Central

Degrange, Sophie; Martial, Charlotte; Charland-Verville, Vanessa; Lallier, François; Bragard, Isabelle; Guillaume, Michèle; Laureys, Steven

2018-01-01

Near-death experiences (NDEs) refer to profound psychological events that can have an important impact on the experiencers’ (NDErs) lives. Previous studies have shown that NDEs memories are phenomenologically rich. In the present study, we therefore aimed to extract the common themes (referred to as “features” in the NDE literature) reported by NDErs by analyzing all the concepts stored in the narratives of their experiences. A qualitative thematic analysis has been carried out on 34 cardiac arrest survivors’ NDE narratives. Our results shed the light on the structure of the narratives by identifying 10 “time-bounded” themes which refer to isolated events encountered during the NDE and 1 “transversal” theme which characterizes the whole narrative and generally appears as a retrospective comment of self-reflection on the experience. The division of narratives into themes provides us with detailed information about the vocabulary used by NDErs to describe their experience. This established thematic method enables a rigorous description of the phenomenon, ensuring the inclusion of all self-reported manifestations of themes in narratives. PMID:29444184

Life Themes and Interpersonal Motivational Systems in the Narrative Self-construction

PubMed Central

Veglia, Fabio; Di Fini, Giulia

2017-01-01

What makes unique and unrepeatable individuals is their ability to write their own story attributing meaning, sharing it through narration, giving coherence to the information related to the interpersonal motivational systems, and creating alternative hierarchies to those biologically provided by the genetic code. Through clinical narratives and narrative literature, we can observe the recurrence of specific topics, across time and different cultures. Hence, we wondered whether there are some evolutionary suggestions that guide us in the construction of the narrative-autobiographical contents. In this article we proposed a theoretical-clinical hypothesis about the existence of a biological disposition to identify as fundamental six Life Themes (LTs) that contribute to defining the image of the self and the world: Love, Personal Value, Power, Justice, Truth, and Freedom. Besides the innumerable narratives dependent upon context, there may be many ways of telling stories that, instead, would be reported to these few essential themes. A narrative review of the literature about these concepts follows the systematic explanation of the perspective about the LTs as attractors of meaning. The manuscript considers also the process of co-construction of meanings within the interpersonal relationships and the influences of these on the narratives. In particular, we focused on the importance of episodic and autobiographical memory related to the attachment and significant figures, in the construction of the personal story and the LTs. We also explained the possible clinical implications of the theoretical hypothesis of LTs. Within clinical conversations, the LTs could be expressed rigidly or, otherwise, in a confused way. The lack of narrative integration may lead to the dominance of chaos or rigidity that generates suffering. A better comprehension of the LTs in patients’ narrations could be useful to identify a narrative profile about the areas of greatest suffering related to the idea of self and the world, as well as to construct an adequate care plan. PMID:29163279

Mothering differently: narratives of mothers with intellectual disability whose children have been compulsorily removed.

PubMed

Mayes, Rachel; Llewellyn, Gwynnyth

2012-06-01

Despite the frequency with which mothers with intellectual disability have their children removed, little theoretical or empirical work has understood the mothers' perspectives on this. A few studies have reported mothers' feelings of grief and loss and their sense of powerlessness in the child protection system. This qualitative study explores the daily life narratives of 7 mothers with intellectual disability following the involuntarily removal of their children. For most mothers, having a child removed was not a one-off experience. The serial nature of the experience yielded 3 different narratives, lived out in different ways. In some cases, women told a different narrative for each of their removed children. All women remained focused on their children in care. The multiple and varied narratives of mothers with intellectual disability who have children in care suggest that their support needs may differ from each other and over time. How their support needs might best be met remains an unanswered question. Further research is also needed to identify any adverse health and social consequences for mothers with children in care as well as the effects on their children.

Innovation Through Tradition: Rediscovering the "Humanist" in the Medical Humanities.

PubMed

Kutac, Julie; Osipov, Rimma; Childress, Andrew

2016-12-01

Throughout its fifty-year history, the role of the medical humanist and even the name "medical humanities" has remained raw, dynamic and contested. What do we mean when we call ourselves "humanists" and our practice "medical humanities?" To address these questions, we turn to the concept of origin narratives. After explaining the value of these stories, we focus on one particularly rich origin narrative of the medical humanities by telling the story of how a group of educators, ethicists, and scholars struggling to define their relatively new field rediscovered the studia humanitatis, a Renaissance curriculum for learning and teaching. Our origin narrative is composed of two intertwined stories-the history of the studia humanitatis itself and the story of the scholars who rediscovered it. We argue that as an origin narrative the studia humanitatis grounds the medical humanities as both an engaged moral practice and pedagogical project. In the latter part of the paper, we use this origin narrative to show how medical humanists working in translational science can use their understanding of their historical roots to do meaningful work in the world.

A critical narrative analysis of shared decision-making in acute inpatient mental health care.

PubMed

Stacey, Gemma; Felton, Anne; Morgan, Alastair; Stickley, Theo; Willis, Martin; Diamond, Bob; Houghton, Philip; Johnson, Beverley; Dumenya, John

2016-01-01

Shared decision-making (SDM) is a high priority in healthcare policy and is complementary to the recovery philosophy in mental health care. This agenda has been operationalised within the Values-Based Practice (VBP) framework, which offers a theoretical and practical model to promote democratic interprofessional approaches to decision-making. However, these are limited by a lack of recognition of the implications of power implicit within the mental health system. This study considers issues of power within the context of decision-making and examines to what extent decisions about patients' care on acute in-patient wards are perceived to be shared. Focus groups were conducted with 46 mental health professionals, service users, and carers. The data were analysed using the framework of critical narrative analysis (CNA). The findings of the study suggested each group constructed different identity positions, which placed them as inside or outside of the decision-making process. This reflected their view of themselves as best placed to influence a decision on behalf of the service user. In conclusion, the discourse of VBP and SDM needs to take account of how differentials of power and the positioning of speakers affect the context in which decisions take place.

Reflecting on how we remember the personal past: missing components in the study of memory appraisal and theoretical implications.

PubMed

Foley, Mary Ann

2018-05-01

The current paper offers a selective review of the study of memory appraisal, focusing on recollections of the personal past, with the goal to bring attention to a missing component in this study. To date, memory appraisal studies have concentrated on participants' assessments of the content of their personal recollections (e.g., their perceptual detail and story-like feel), including beliefs about the accuracy of that content. Participants' assessments of reflection processes accompanying their recollections (e.g., a sense of piecing-together recollection fragments) have yet to be extensively examined. The lack of information on process-based appraisals is related to prior studies' procedural constraints (e.g., kinds of cue prompts and their timing, minimal opportunities for reflection). Reasons for addressing this missing component provide the central themes of the paper. The reasons emerge from the analysis of autobiographical cueing studies, including integration of narrative research studies and autobiographical works. The analysis leads to suggestions for future research involving the use of personal narratives that are intended to address critiques of reconstruction accounts and unresolved questions in the study of memory appraisal.

Discovery stories in the science classroom

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Arya, Diana Jaleh

School science has been criticized for its lack of emphasis on the tentative, dynamic nature of science as a process of learning more about our world. This criticism is the guiding force for this present body of work, which focuses on the question: what are the educational benefits for middle school students of reading texts that highlight the process of science in the form of a discovery narrative? This dissertation traces my journey through a review of theoretical perspectives of narrative, an analysis of first-hand accounts of scientific discovery, the complex process of developing age-appropriate, cohesive and engaging science texts for middle school students, and a comparison study (N=209) that seeks to determine the unique benefits of the scientific discovery narrative for the interest in and retained understanding of conceptual information presented in middle school science texts. A total of 209 middle school participants in nine different classrooms from two different schools participated in the experimental study. Each subject read two science texts that differed in topic (the qualities of and uses for radioactive elements and the use of telescopic technology to see planets in space) and genre (the discovery narrative and the "conceptually known exposition" comparison text). The differences between the SDN and CKE versions for each topic were equivalent in all possible ways (initial introduction, overall conceptual accuracy, elements of human interest, coherence and readability level), save for the unique components of the discovery narrative (i.e., love for their work, acknowledgement of the known, identification of the unknown and the explorative or experimental process to discovery). Participants generally chose the discovery narrative version as the more interesting of the two texts. Additional findings from the experimental study suggest that science texts in the form of SDNs elicit greater long-term retention of key conceptual information, especially when the readers have little prior knowledge of a given topic. Further, ethnic minority groups of lower socio-economic level (i.e., Latin and African-American origins) demonstrated an even greater benefit from the SDN texts, suggesting that a scientist's story of discovery can help to close the gap in academic performance in science.

The emergence of global health partnerships as facilitators of access to medication in Africa: a narrative policy analysis.

PubMed

Ngoasong, Michael Zisuh

2009-03-01

Over the last decade global health partnerships (GHPs) have been formed to provide a better policy response to Africa's health problems. This paper uses narrative policy analysis to explain the historical processes and challenges facing national and global health policy in facilitating access to medication in African countries. An overview of the historical context of events leading to the creation of GHPs is followed by a content and context analysis of two GHPs - Roll Back Malaria partnership and the Accelerating Access Initiative. The historical narratives implicitly reflect the context in which policy decisions are produced and implemented. The deployment of GHPs in Africa reflects a convergence of the competing and conflicting narratives, in relating to strategies previously promoted by various multilateral and bilateral development agencies, international civil society organizations, and the private commercial industry to facilitate access to medication.

Images, femininity and cancer: an analysis of an international patient education programme.

PubMed

Phillips, Catherine

2009-01-01

This article is an analysis of a cancer patient education programme run by cosmetic companies. I focus on an analysis of imagery, arguing that there are particular discursive elements that the cosmetic companies use in order to make productive the relationship between femininity and cancer. I contextualize this education programme by presenting the controversies regarding cosmetics as they relate to the growth of breast tumours. In doing so, I conclude that conversations and questions about a link between chemicals and cancer are subverted by both ;horror' narratives of cancer and the provocative use of standards of beauty. Such discursive dominance in patient education programmes makes it difficult to engage in a more public understanding of cancer growth as affected by cosmetic chemicals.

The Development of Reference Realization and Narrative in an Australian Contact Language, Wumpurrarni English

PubMed Central

Disbray, Samantha

2016-01-01

The development of narrative skill has been investigated extensively in a wide range of languages, cross-linguistically and in multilingual settings (Berman and Slobin, 1994b; Severing and Verhoeven, 2001; Hickmann, 2004; Strömqvist and Verhoeven, 2004). The present study investigates the development of reference realization in narrative among Indigenous children in a remote urban township in Central Australia. The children, aged between 5 and 14 years, are speakers of a contact language, Wumpurrarni English. Language development is rarely investigated among speakers of minority languages, whose language development is often appraised in the majority language, with little attention to language performance in the speaker's home variety. The present study addresses this gap through a fine-grained qualitative analysis of the development of reference in narrative, drawing on a complex stimulus and a model of discourse strategy. The results show (a) a developmental trajectory similar to that found in other languages, with children aged eight and under producing simpler and less globally organized narratives than older speaker groups, and (b) vulnerability to the changing demands of the stimulus among these younger speakers. In addition, a subset of narrations were produced in “school variety,” a style more like Standard Australian English. The results for this set showed that the narrative content and global organization of the productions by 10- and 12-year-olds were more similar to the productions of younger children, than like-aged speakers, who narrated in their home variety. Analysis of speaker responses to two factors of complexity, the stimulus and code choice, illuminated mechanisms for discourse production and development, and suggest that constructing discourse requires co-ordination of an underlying schema and on-line construction of a particular story, through the deployment of linguistic devices in a particular narrative context. The analysis showed that these two skills are tightly interdependent, and indeed co-constructing. PMID:26869952

Genetic Counseling, Professional Values, and Habitus: An Analysis of Disability Narratives in Textbooks.

PubMed

Reed, Amy R

2016-10-19

This article analyzes narrative illustrations in genetic counseling textbooks as a way of understanding professional habitus--the dispositions that motivate professional behavior. In particular, this analysis shows that there are significant differences in how the textbooks' expository and narrative portions represent Down syndrome, genetic counseling practice, and patient behaviors. While the narrative portions of the text position the genetic counseling profession as working in service to the values of genetic medicine, the expository portions represent genetic counselors as neutral parties. Ultimately, this article argues that this ambiguity is harmful to the production of a professional habitus that is consistent with espoused professional values concerning respect for persons with disabilities and the promotion of psychosocial counseling.

Issues encountered in a qualitative secondary analysis of help-seeking in the prodrome to psychosis.

PubMed

Gladstone, Brenda M; Volpe, Tiziana; Boydell, Katherine M

2007-10-01

Primary data are rarely used explicitly as a source of data outside of the original research purpose for which they were collected. As a result, qualitative secondary analysis (QSA) has been described as an "invisible enterprise" for which there is a "notable silence" amongst the qualitative research community. In this paper, we report on the methodological implications of conducting a secondary analysis of qualitative data focusing on parents' narratives of help-seeking activities in the prodrome to psychosis. We review the literature on QSA, highlighting the main characteristics of the approach, and discuss issues and challenges encountered in conducting a secondary analysis. We conclude with some thoughts on the implications for conducting a QSA in children's mental health services and research.

"You Have to Knock at the Door for the Door Get Open": Alternative Literacy Narratives and the Development of Textual Agency in Writing by Newly Literate Adults

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rosenberg, Lauren

2008-01-01

This article is part of a project that involves case studies of four adults who attend an informal literacy center. I examine people's motivations to write when their main purpose is not to gain a degree or other credentials. Here I focus on one study member and how she uses writing to gain textual agency. By composing narratives that investigate…

Narratives of Violence, Pathology, and Empowerment: Mental Health Needs Assessment of Home-Based Female Sex Workers in Rural India.

PubMed

Sardana, Srishti; Marcus, Marina; Verdeli, Helen

2016-08-01

This study explores the narratives of psychological distress and resilience among a group of female sex workers who use residential spaces to attend to clients in rural India. The narratives reflect the lived experiences of these women. They describe the women's reasons for opting into sex work; guilt, shame, and stigma related to their sex worker status; experiences with intimate partner and domestic violence; health-related problems; communication with their family members about their sex worker status; mental health referral practices among the women; and elements of resilience and strength that they experience within themselves and within their community of fellow sex workers. The article also offers elements of our own experiences of recruiting the women to participate in the focus group, training local outreach workers in conducting focus group discussions, and forging a collaboration with a local community-based organization to highlight important barriers, challenges, and strategies for planning a group-based discussion to explore the mental health needs of home-based sex workers. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Narrative skills in deaf children who use spoken English: Dissociations between macro and microstructural devices.

PubMed

Jones, -A C; Toscano, E; Botting, N; Marshall, C-R; Atkinson, J R; Denmark, T; Herman, -R; Morgan, G

2016-12-01

Previous research has highlighted that deaf children acquiring spoken English have difficulties in narrative development relative to their hearing peers both in terms of macro-structure and with micro-structural devices. The majority of previous research focused on narrative tasks designed for hearing children that depend on good receptive language skills. The current study compared narratives of 6 to 11-year-old deaf children who use spoken English (N=59) with matched for age and non-verbal intelligence hearing peers. To examine the role of general language abilities, single word vocabulary was also assessed. Narratives were elicited by the retelling of a story presented non-verbally in video format. Results showed that deaf and hearing children had equivalent macro-structure skills, but the deaf group showed poorer performance on micro-structural components. Furthermore, the deaf group gave less detailed responses to inferencing probe questions indicating poorer understanding of the story's underlying message. For deaf children, micro-level devices most strongly correlated with the vocabulary measure. These findings suggest that deaf children, despite spoken language delays, are able to convey the main elements of content and structure in narrative but have greater difficulty in using grammatical devices more dependent on finer linguistic and pragmatic skills. Crown Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

By the Book: An Analysis of Adolescents with Autism Spectrum Condition Co-Constructing Fictional Narratives with Peers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bottema-Beutel, Kristen; White, Rachael

2016-01-01

In this discourse analytic study, we examine interactions between adolescents with autism spectrum condition (ASC) and their typically developing (TD) peers during the construction of fictional narratives within a group intervention context. We found participants with ASC contributed fewer narrative-related turns at talk than TD participants. The…

Analysis of Narrative Texts in Secondary School Textbooks in Terms of Values Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sallabas, Muhammed Eyyup

2013-01-01

Texts have a crucial place in language education and probably they are the most important means of education. Students at the primary and secondary education ages mostly read narrative texts like short stories, poems and fictional books. This study attempts to assess value transfer in narrative texts at the secondary education textbooks. Our study…

The Teaching of Tragedy: Narrative and Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gibbons, Andrew

2013-01-01

"The plague" narrates the stories of a group of men whose lives interconnect around the experience of exile during the event of a plague. This article selects and summarizes themes from each of their stories. The purpose of these selections is to present an interpretation of Camus' narratives that can be juxtaposed to an analysis,…

"Mass Effect 2": A Case Study in the Design of Game Narrative

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bizzocchi, Jim; Tanenbaum, Joshua

2012-01-01

Digital games have matured substantially as a narrative medium in the last decade. However, there is still much work to be done to more fully understand the poetics of story-based-games. Game narrative remains an important issue with significant cultural, economic and scholarly implications. In this article, we undertake a critical analysis of the…

Kurukshetra and the O.K. Corral: A Comparative Narrative Analysis of "Wyatt Earp" and the "Mahabharat."

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stroud, Scott R.

Each culture advances its own inflected narrative rejoinder to the issues that have confronted it from both time immemorial and in recent developmental history. The important aspect of such a process, however, is that "mythic narratives" allow for answers to be advanced to pressing needs that any particular society may consider…

The Northern Experience of Street-Involved Youth: A Narrative Inquiry

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

George, Serena D.; O'Neill, Linda K.

2011-01-01

This research explored the experiences of 8 street-involved youth (4 male, 4 female) between the ages of 20 and 27 living in north-central British Columbia. The analysis was carried out in 3 phases based on the narrative approach developed by Lieblich, Tuval-Mashiach, and Zilber (1998). The narratives represented the holistic experiences of the…

Gesturing towards Teaching: A Teacher's Narrative

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Krishnamurthy, Gopalakrishna

2012-01-01

This is a study of a 20 minute video recorded narrative of a participant-teacher at an inservice teacher education seminar in South India. My analysis involves the close observation of oral and visual elements of this narrative. I employ and deploy this as a telling case to study the conduct and consequences of teaching and educational relations…

My Sister, Our Stories: Exploring the Lived Experience of School Leavers through Narrative and Poetics

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Davis, C. Amelia; Pepperell, Jennifer L.

2012-01-01

The purpose of this study was to explore the educational experiences of two adult female siblings who are both school leavers. Through the use of thematic narrative analysis, sibling narratives and poetic re-presentations, their stories were developed. These stories represent the participants' experiences of prior schooling and their current…

What Is Adolescence?: Adolescents Narrate Their Lives in Lima, Peru

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bayer, Angela M.; Gilman, Robert H.; Tsui, Amy O.; Hindin, Michelle J.

2010-01-01

This study explores the lives of Peruvian adolescents in a low-income human settlement outside of Lima. Twenty 12-17 year olds were asked to narrate their own life stories using the life history narrative research method. Holistic content analysis was coupled with a grounded-theory approach to explore these data. Intergenerational responsibility,…

Emotional Development and Construction of Teacher Identity: Narrative Interactions about the Pre-Service Teachers' Practicum Experiences

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Teng, Mark Feng

2017-01-01

Pre-service teacher identity research has directed limited attention to the construction and development of professional teacher identity through narrative interaction. An analysis of narrative interactions among pre-service teachers in the present study explored the ways in which they negotiated emotional flux in the process of training to become…

The Misintegration of the Negro: A Historical Analysis of Black Male Habitus in Sport and Schooling

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Smith, Martin P.; Harrison, Louis, Jr.; Brown, Anthony L.

2017-01-01

Drawing from the lenses of critical race theory (CRT) and Pierre Bourdieu's notion of habitus, this article compares the Jackie Robinson story with the Brown versus Board of Education narrative. This juxtaposition illustrates the similarities of these narratives and how interests converged racially. By comparing these historical narratives, we…

Combating Hegemonic Discourse in an Online Multicultural Leadership Course: A Narrative Study of an Instructor and Student Working in Tandem for Social Justice

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Osanloo, Azadeh F.; Hand, Tim W.

2012-01-01

This narrative study examines hegemonic discourse in an online multicultural leadership course by translating e-narrative analysis findings into implications for social justice and recommendations for andragogical strategies. These strategies specifically address hegemonic discourse within an online educational environment. The setting for this…

Making Sense of HIV in Southeastern Nigeria Fictional Narratives, Cultural Meanings, and Methodologies in Medical Anthropology

PubMed Central

Winskell, Kate; Brown, Peter J.; Patterson, Amy E.; Burkot, Camilla; Mbakwem, Benjamin C.

2018-01-01

Fictional narratives have rarely been used in medical anthropological research. This article illustrates the value of such narratives by examining how young people in southeastern Nigeria navigate the cultural resources available to them to make sense of HIV in their creative writing. Using thematic data analysis and narrative-based methodologies, it analyzes a sample (N = 120) from 1,849 narratives submitted by Nigerian youth to the 2005 Scenarios from Africa scriptwriting contest on the theme of HIV. The narratives are characterized by five salient themes: tragedy arising from the incompatibility of sex outside marriage and kinship obligations; female vulnerability and blame; peer pressure and moral ambivalence; conservative Christian sexual morality; and the social and family consequences of HIV. We consider the strengths and limitations of this narrative approach from a theoretical perspective and by juxtaposing our findings with those generated by Daniel Jordan Smith using standard ethnographic research methods with a similar Igbo youth population. [HIV, Igbo, youth, narrative, methodology] PMID:23804317

Chinese mental illness narratives: controlling the spirit.

PubMed

Ramsay, Guy

2009-01-01

Through analysis of local level narrative themes and linguistic features and their attendant narrative 'domains' and emotive content, this study explicates the discursive forms of Chinese personal narratives about mental illness published in a psychoeducational volume in mainland China. The cultural phenomena underpinning the explicated discursive forms are considered. The study finds that the Chinese mental illness narratives emphasize the problematic nature of the illness experience for the individual concerned, as well as the importance of gaining control over the personal and social disembodiment that mental illness brings about. The language of medicine presents as a dominant linguistic feature of the texts. Narrative authors appear to respond to their illness experience by negotiating and utilizing social relationships and support structures and through active medical intercession. As such, their narratives appear deeply culturally marked despite their psychoeducational intent and institutional context of publication. The study findings bear out the call for more attention to be given to the cultural dimension when analysing illness narratives.

Exploring the elements of narrative that emerge in the interactions between an 8-year-old child who uses an AAC device and her teacher.

PubMed

Soto, Gloria; Hartmann, Elizabeth; Wilkins, David P

2006-12-01

Narrative abilities have been identified as a link to successful school achievement and, in particular, to the acquisition of literacy. Children who use AAC may be at risk of impaired narrative facility due to the differences in their language learning experiences, limitation of their AAC systems, and limitations from constrained access to physical and social environments. In this study, the elements of narrative that emerged in the interactions between an 8-year-old child who used an AAC device and her teacher are described. This assessment was achieved through use of the Narrative Assessment Profile (Bliss, McCabe, & Miranda, 1998) in the context of five tasks designed to elicit a spectrum of narrative features. Results indicate that the interactions between the child and her teacher made it difficult to assess whether or not the child had control of certain features of narrative. From a purely structural analysis, most narrative discourse dimensions appeared to be severely compromised and therefore in need of immediate intervention. Discussion includes aspects of narrative intervention and suggested topics for further research.

From perpetrator to victim in a violent situation in institutional care for elderly persons: exploring a narrative from one involved care provider.

PubMed

Sandvide, Asa; Fahlgren, Siv; Norberg, Astrid; Saveman, Britt-Inger

2006-09-01

In order to reach a more comprehensive understanding of the dynamics in violent situations in institutional care for elderly people the aim of this study was to explore involved parties' positions, and to illuminate forces and moves related to these positions. One involved care provider's narrative was analysed using narrative analysis and positioning theory. In the narrative the involved parties' positions were fluid and often overlapping, and not exclusively as victim or perpetrator. Across the narrative the narrator altered the involved parties' positions by using available discourses. We understand that the altered positions were a salient way for the care provider to make sense of her experiences. By reading the care provider's narrative we further understand that she was much more than just a perpetrator, which was the origin for her narrative. This study led us to two assumptions important for implications in nursing practice. First, it is of significance how we position ourselves and others in narratives and conversations. Second, there is a difference between being categorised in advance and getting the opportunity to narrate one's own story.

Lost in the present but confident of the past: experiences of being in a psycho-geriatric unit as narrated by persons with dementia.

PubMed

Edvardsson, David; Nordvall, Karin

2008-02-01

To illuminate meanings of being in a psycho-geriatric unit. Background. There are known risks associated with moving persons with dementia from home to an institution, but little is known about how they experience being in psycho-geriatric units. Using open-ended research interviews, six persons with mild to severe dementia were asked to narrate about their experiences in the hospital. The interviews were interpreted using a phenomenological hermeneutical method of analysis. The comprehensive understanding of being in a psycho-geriatric unit points towards an understanding of being lost in the present but confident of the past. The analysis showed that the participants appeared lost as they could not narrate where they were and why, but that they became confident when narrating about their previous life. The analysis also showed that being in the hospital meant sharing living space with strangers, invasions of private space and establishing new acquaintances. Being in the unit could also mean boredom and devaluation for participants. The interviews were interpreted in the light of narrative theory of identity: persons with dementia narrating about previous life experiences as to make claims of how to be interpreted by others; as persons instead of merely as 'demented' patients. Experiences of care narrated by persons with dementia present meaningful and useful information that can provide feedback to inform care practice. Experiences of care from persons with dementia provide meaningful information about care and the doing and being of staff. Creating time for conversations with these persons may facilitate well-being.

Negotiating Reassurance: Parents' Narratives on Follow-Up after Cochlear Implantation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bruin, Marieke; Ohna, Stein Erik

2015-01-01

This study presents an analysis of parental experiences on follow-up after cochlear implantation. Data were constructed in semi-structured, individual interviews with the parents of 14 children who use cochlear implants. Drawing on narrative analysis, the study explores parental responses to insecurity concerning children's learning and…

Stories of change in drug treatment: a narrative analysis of 'whats' and 'hows' in institutional storytelling.

PubMed

Andersen, Ditte

2015-06-01

Addiction research has demonstrated how recovering individuals need narratives that make sense of past drug use and enable constructions of future, non-addict identities. However, there has not been much investigation into how these recovery narratives actually develop moment-to-moment in drug treatment. Building on the sociology of storytelling and ethnographic fieldwork conducted at two drug treatment institutions for young people in Denmark, this article argues that studying stories in the context of their telling brings forth novel insights. Through a narrative analysis of both 'the whats' (story content) and 'the hows' (storying process) the article presents four findings: (1) stories of change function locally as an institutional requirement; (2) professional drug treatment providers edit young people's storytelling through different techniques; (3) the narrative environment of the drug treatment institution shapes how particular stories make sense of the past, present and future; and (4) storytelling in drug treatment is an interactive achievement. A fine-grained analysis illuminates in particular how some stories on gender and drug use are silenced, while others are encouraged. The demonstration of how local narrative environments shape stories contributes to the general understanding of interactive storytelling in encounters between professionals and clients in treatment settings. © 2015 The Author. Sociology of Health & Illness published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. on behalf of Foundation for Sociology of Health & Illness.

Professional Supervision as Storied Experience: Narrative Analysis Findings for Australian-Based Registered Music Therapists.

PubMed

Kennelly, Jeanette D; Baker, Felicity A; Daveson, Barbara A

2017-03-01

Limited research exists to inform a music therapist's supervision story from their pre-professional training to their practice as a professional. Evidence is needed to understand the complex nature of supervision experiences and their impact on professional practice. This qualitative study explored the supervisory experiences of Australian-based Registered Music Therapists, according to the: 1) themes that characterize their experiences, 2) influences of the supervisor's professional background, 3) outcomes of supervision, and 4) roles of the employer, the professional music therapy association, and the university in supervision standards and practice. Seven professionals were interviewed for this study. Five stages of narrative analysis were used to create their supervision stories: a life course graph, narrative psychological analysis, component story framework and narrative analysis, analysis of narratives, and final integration of the seven narrative summaries. Findings revealed that supervision practice is influenced by a supervisee's personal and professional needs. A range of supervision models or approaches is recommended, including the access of supervisors from different professional backgrounds to support each stage of learning and development. A quality supervisory experience facilitates shifts in awareness and insight, which results in improved or increased skills, confidence, and accountability of practice. Participants' concern about stakeholders included a limited understanding of the role of the supervisor, a lack of clarity about accountability of supervisory practice, and minimal guidelines, which monitor professional competencies. The benefits of supervision in music therapy depend on the quality of the supervision provided, and clarity about the roles of those involved. Research and guidelines are recommended to target these areas. © the American Music Therapy Association 2017. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com

An Exploration of Hmong Women's Perspectives on Cancer.

PubMed

Baisch, Mary Jo; Vang, Pang C; Peterman, Beth R

2008-06-01

The purpose of this study was to explore the perspectives of Hmong women on cancer, using focus groups as the research method. Two focus group interviews were conducted and the narrative data were analyzed using thematic content analysis. Themes that emerged from the focus group discussions included "fatalistic and 'black and white' thinking", "valuing rumors rather than scientific information", "strong adherence to traditional medicine", "male leaders controlling health care decisions", "embarrassment discussing women's bodies", and "preferred strategies in addressing cancer". Many Hmong people in the United States believe that both traditional and Western health care practices are effective, but when health professionals do not address differences in language, communication, and beliefs about health, trust between the provider and client may erode. The findings of this study provide new insight into the importance of cultural accommodation to improve early cancer detection in the Hmong community.

Selection and Rejection in Teacher Education: Qualities of Character Crucial in Selecting and Developing Teacher Education Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McGraw, Amanda; Fish, Tim

2018-01-01

The focus of recent Australian political and media reports on the selection of candidates for initial teacher education programs has focused on the Australian Tertiary Admission Rank (ATAR) score as one of the key indicators of worth. This narrative study conducted in an Australian regional university focuses on the life stories of twelve…

Socialization into science: An ethnographic study in a field research station

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Calovini, Theresa Ann

While the place of language in building the tasks and activities of the science classroom has received attention in the education literature, how students do the work of affiliation building through language remains poorly understood. This dissertation is based on ethnographic research in an apprenticeship learning situation at a biological field research station. I carried out this research with five undergraduates apprentices. I focus on how the language used in this apprenticeship situation positioned the apprentices with science. Issues of access and diversity in science education have motivated this research but this point can be missed because the five apprentices were all fairly successful in university science. They had all secured their job for the summer as paid research assistants. Yet, even with these successful students, science had a complicated place in their lives. I draw on Gee's (1999) notion of Discourse to understand this complexity. I focus on four Discourses--- Science, Knowing about the Animals, Senior Projects and RAships, and Relationships ---which were important in the apprentices' learning about and socialization with science. I try to understand the inter-workings of these four Discourses through a detailed analysis of three conversations involving one of the participants, Michelle. Michelle's use of narrative emerged as a linguistic resource which she used to explore dilemmas she experienced in the tensions between these four Discourses. Michelle was in many ways an ideal apprentice. She did her job well and she sought and received expert advice on her Senior project. Nonetheless, Michelle faced obstacles in her pursuit of a career in science and these obstacles related to language use and her use of narrative. I show how her use of narrative either facilitated or impeded her learning, depending on the context of the interaction. My analysis of Discourse points to important issues in language use by both students and teachers, with broad implications across a range of teaching/learning contexts. I describe multi-genre science reports as a pedagogy that might allow flexibility for students' representations with science, a flexibility that might be necessary given the complicated ways science plays out in the lives of students.