Rob O’Connor

‘the research process is not so much a means to an end but an integral part of that end’ (Lohan, 2000 p. 182).

Background to the research AimsResearch designThe use of narrative enquiryBiographical Narrative Interpretive MethodThe role of the InterviewerBenefits of methodChallenges of methodConclusion/questions/discussion

Researchers biographyResearch Question: How do separated fathers

represent their experiences of parenting in Ireland?

Rationale: Change1. Wider gender order (Connell, 1995; Tovey & Share,

2000)2. Socio-demographic family (Binchey, 2004; Giddens,

1992)3. Fathering culture (Dermott, 2008; Featherstone, 2009)

Research ‘dislocation’ or ‘detachment’ (Sprague & Kobrynowicz, 2004) l

Lack of accessibility eading to a ‘sterile, irrelevant discussion without connection to social life (Alcoff, 1993, p. 715).

To investigate how separated fatherhood is represented in Irish legislation and social policy.

To examine the positions of separated fathering in relation to dominant constructions of masculinity and family.

To discover how separated fathers construct their own self identities as fathers.

To develop the use of Narrative and BNIM in research on separated fathers.

To explore the ‘form’ of the narrative told by separated fathers.

To make recommendations for future policy/practice development.

Address the gap, how fathers themselves feel about fathering?

No theoretical positioning on fathers (Marsiglio, 1993; Richards, 1982)

Feminist Research Approach (process as well as result )

1. Interviewee as Expert/ Valuing the Personal (Harding, 2004; Brooks, 2007).

2. Challenge Interviewer objectivity/power (Letherby, 2003)

3. Reflexivity (locating the self, Riessman, 1993)

Narrative Biographical Narrative Interpretive Method (BNIM)

Purposive Sample: which is a sample ‘selected purposefully to permit inquiry into and understanding of a phenomenon in depth’ (Patton, 2002, p. 46).

15 Separated Fathers aged 20-55National Support OrganisationsLocal ProjectsSnowballing

Difficult Group to Access!

ubiquitous throughout society (KY Lai, 2010).

less contrived method Recognises participant expertise as

narrator (Elliot, 2005) Focus on lived experience & interpretation

(Riessman, 1993)Acknowledges interviewer influence (Hardy,

Gregory & Ramjeet, 2009)

StructureWhen telling a narrative some aspects are illuminatedand some excluded and this is a conscious choice(East et al, 2010). MeaningfulLife is given meaning and becomes comprehensibleby expressing it thorough narrative (KY Lai, 2010). Identity Construction‘in the telling, in the talk, substantial identity work wasgoing on’ (Byrne, 2000, p. 152). Social‘Communities are woven together by narratives that

invigorate their common understanding of good and evil, happiness and

reward, the meaning of life and death’ (Christians, 2008, p. 206)

Focus on the life experiences, worthy of research ‘Biography is seen as an alternative narrative, the voice

of the non-professional’ (Chamberlayne et al, 2000)Person must be an expert in their own life as subject,

leadFatherhood constructed through lived experiencesLends itself best to principles of subjectivity and

participation

Berlin Quatext group: Fritz Schütze built upon phenomenological and interactionist work of Gabriele Rosenthal, Wolfram Fischer-Rosenthal and others as part of the. Brought to the U.K. and expanded upon by Chamberlayne and also by Wengraf.

Feminist Phenomenological Interviewing (Reinharz, 1992)

‘methods or techniques are not allowed to determine the research situation but are adapted to the ongoing activity’ (Daly, 2000, p. 63).

gaining access to ‘people’s ideas, thoughts and memoirs in their own words rather than in the words of the researcher’ (Reinharz, 1992, p. 19).

The subtleties within the speech itselffocused on gathering the life story and lived

experiences of an individual and apply a direct framework to achieve this (Wengraf, 2009).

Single Question Used to Induce Narrative (SQUIN) (in every day language, Narrativised)

deliberate vagueness, or ‘pro-subjective vagueness’ (Wengraf, 2001, P. 124)

Interview Stage 1 –SQUIN & Topic notes, 5-6 markers

Interview Stage 2 – Info on topics (same words & order)

Interview Stage 3 – Qs from 1&2 and theoretical purpose

Story facilitatorActive Listening ‘listening around and beyond

words’ (DeVault, 2004, p. 233). Non-Directional support ‘neutral probes’

(Hesse-Biber, 2007, p. 126) ‘the researcher must stay on his or her toes

and listen intently to what the interviewee has to say, for the researcher must be prepared to drop his or her agenda and follow the pace of the interview’ (Hesse-Biber, 2007, p. 132).

Less ‘artificial fragmentation’ (Elliot, 2006)Less intrusive & judgementalInterviewee framework (Patton, 2002)less manipulated, Best self, Hawthorne Effect

(Goffman, 1959)‘when people tell their life stories they can

often be concerned to offer a kind of coherent narrative to others, somehow moving over the breaks, disappointments and displacements’ (Seidler, 2006).

Not unguided - tangible, clear, auditable framework (Wengraf, 2009)

Shed light on social norms & beliefs, assumed and therefore manipulated less

Too much rich data to be manageable. Data so in-depth no room for generalisation/relativist

vacuum Lohan, 2000/validity. Neutrality vs Objectivity Frye (1998, p. 43) ‘has never been anything but an

anthology, a collection of tales unified, like any yarn, only by successively overlapping threads held together by friction, not riveted by logic. There is no reason to predict or require that it must forever hold together at all’.

Requires certain amount of training on part of interviewer. Single question can still appear contrived as does not

follow ‘normal’ conversation. Iterative approach can prove challenging Power Parity? Situating the ‘I’

1. What counts as an explanation/theory in in qualitative research?

2. How to locate the personal in: a) analysisb) writing

3. Who is the research for?

How is qualitative data judged to be credible

Need for some social facts?Trustworthiness & Authenicity vs.

Objectivity & Subjectivty (Patton, 2002).A strong positivist tradition was, and

some would argue still is, present in Irish research (Byrne & Lentin, 2000).

First Person Third Person

Ownership

Patton (2002, p. 64) conveys ‘the personal voice of qualitative analysis’.

Objectivity

The voice of academic rigour