The Life Story Interview

By Robert Atkinson

Book Overview

First-person narratives are a fundamental tool of the qualitative researcher. One of the latest volumes in the Qualitative Research Methods series, The Life Story Interview provides specific suggestions and guidelines for preparing and executing a life story interview. Author Robert Atkinson, Director of the Center for the Study of Lives at the University of Southern Maine, places the life story interview into a wider research context before moving on to planning and conducting the interview. Atkinson carefully covers the classic functions of stories, the research uses of life stories, generating data from a life story, and the art and science of life story interviewing. He also thoroughly examines the potential benefits of sharing a life story, getting the information desired and questions to ask, and transcribing and interpreting the interview. To provide further support for the reader, the book concludes with a sample life story interview.

As the use and study of narratives continues to grow in importance throughout the research enterprise, The Life Story Interview becomes an even-more valuable tool for qualitative researchers in all disciplines.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: B007S7EN38
• ISBN13: 9780761904281
• Release Date: January 1998
• Publisher: Sage Publications, Inc
• Length: 104 Pages
• Weight: 0.30 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.3" x 5.6" x 8.4"