Interpreting Experience

The Narrative Study of Lives

The focus of this book is on the role of narrative analysis in the social sciences and in increasing our understanding of human lives and experiences. Contributors address such questions as: Should in-depth interviews become occasions in which to ask for life stories so as to enhance a study of social phenomena? Can a richer approach to psychological understanding be reached by studying how experience, conscious and unconscious, is organized, interpreted and reshaped throughout the life cycle? How can biographical work be used to shed light on the social construction of individual lives?

In addition, the book covers the use of narrative analysis in career biography, in examining turning points in people's lives, in the effects of language on women at work, and in discovering common themes between people in similar careers and with shared experiences.