oa Narratief onderzoek

Narrative research. An introduction of characteristics and challenges of a rapidly growing research field.

This article provides a brief overview of different narrative approaches in social scientific inquiry. First different definitions, methodological and epistemological approaches are introduced. Then, the emergence of a narrative approach in the social sciences is situated in historical and societal contexts. Finally, some challenges and potentials of developing this rapidly growing approach are identified. In particular the use of technological developments and the advancement of the relational turn in narrative inquiry are addressed. In the discussion, arguments are presented concerning a more methodical approach and attention is drawn to the risks of losing the humanistic potential of narrative research.