Storying Research Through Writing

• In Event: Roundtable Session 54
  In Roundtable Session: (Re)storying in Qualitative Research

Abstract

This theoretical paper introduces “storying research,” extending writing as methodology (Colyar, 2009; Richardson, 2003) through theorization of the work of stories (Frank, 2010). Storying research interrogates traditional qualitative data with narrative tools. This iterative process connects theory from my lived experience and my experience of a research site (both texts of lives) with others' writing (texts of written words). I put these knowledges into dialogue, creating an intertextual story that generates new data and additional research questions. This process integrates theory into story, enabling stories that speak with (rather than to) broader public audiences; it helps to demystify the process of writing through and with data. Storying research utilizes many forms of knowledge, builds community, and works toward transformation.

Author

• Shannon McManimon, Science Museum of Minnesota