Document Type
Journal Article
Publication Title
Qualitative Research
Publisher
SAGE
School
School of Education
RAS ID
36005
Funders
Edith Cowan University - Open Access Support Scheme 2021
Australian Department of Education Research Training Program
Abstract
Words and stories have the power to resonate with people. Composite narratives can be constructed using multiple participant accounts, representing their experiences while also capturing the properties and categories of qualitative research findings. The ability of composite narratives to represent the multiple facets of theory construction through a singular narrative point-of-view is unique and provides a concise and credible method to present research findings. This paper explains how composite narratives can be constructed to present the research data that findings are built upon through an illustrative example of the process. The example of a composite narrative presented in this article is one of a larger set from a grounded theory study about a substantive group of Australian students’ experiences of their interactions in the classroom that communicate their teachers’ expectations of them. Narratives have the power to affect change in society by enhancing the transferability of research findings, presenting research findings with impact because they are engaging and memorable for readers. Qualitative researchers who are interested in composing composite narratives to reflect multiple participants’ different experiences, through interview data, will benefit from the justification and example of the technique, which provides a model for future research.
DOI
10.1177/14687941211016158
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 License
Comments
Johnston, O., Wildy, H., & Shand, J. (2023). Student voices that resonate – constructing composite narratives that represent students’ classroom experiences. Qualitative Research, 23(1), 108-124.
https://doi.org/10.1177/14687941211016158