Unexpected Stories: Life History and the Limits of Representation

Abstract

The author first used life history as a research method in her master of education thesis at a Canadian university. She now believes that the issues and questions that arose from that experience were mired in a critical perspective that reflected realist assumptions. Increasing dissatisfaction with her efforts to work through the life history data gathered in 1995 has led her to problematize the methodological implications of studying research participants’ lives this way. Main points discussed include questions and issues with voice and collaborative methodologies, the epistemological assumptions that frame life history research, and a discussion of victory narratives within the redemptive culture of the human and social sciences. And, just what do we do with “unexpected stories”?