Narrative analysis

Narrative analysis, like the name implies, centers around the study of stories or accounts – usually of individuals, but also of groups, societies, and cultures.

Narrative analysis or narrative methods are a product of what was termed the "narrative turn" in social science research, which has been described and analyzed as a response to the lack of human stories in traditional social science in the 1960’s. 

Early works delineating the historical foundations of narrative methods included works on life histories and oral narratives. The focus of these methods were life stories that described the personal experiences of poverty, inequality, sexism, and many other social and cultural experiences.

Approaches to narrative analysis are four different analytic approaches: 

• Thematic Analysis, 
• Structural Analysis, 
• Dialogic/performance analysis, and 
• Visual Analysis

1. Thematic analysis relies on categorizing accounts or aspects of accounts that are being told.
2. Structural analysis looks into the ways in which the narratives are structured and what the language in the stories does both on the textual as well as the cultural level. 
3. Dialogic/performance analysis focuses on the difficulty in analyzing accounts that are co-constructed or performed. 
4. Lastly, visual analysis focuses on the analysis of all visual media including art, video, and digital media.

Researchers can collect data for narrative analysis using any means that involves capturing an account. Common means are through video, interview, and participant observation though none of these means are mutually exclusive.