Introduction to Part 2: Exploring Narrative Inquiry Practices

When choosing narrative inquiry to explore a social science phenomenon, the researcher has a voice and a role in how the narrative is analyzed, discussed, and disseminated. Some research topics allow the researcher to simply tell the narrative-letting the narrator's story stand as it. Other research issues such as trauma, social injustice, or emotional inquiry relating to identity formation or construction often raise conflicts and issues within the researcher who is hearing the narrative. While the first section of this special issue addressed some of the theoretical underpinnings related to narrative inquiry, the second section of this issue will focus on four studies that applied a narrative approach. In all four articles, the researcher has stepped outside of the research process to explore his or her own narrative with a candor seldom seen in the literature. [Reprinted by permission of Sage Publications Inc., copyright 2007.]