Narrative research studies human experience through the stories people tell about their lives. Stories are not merely reports of events but active constructions of meaning — organizing experience temporally, assigning causality, and shaping identity. The methodology preserves the wholeness of narratives rather than fragmenting them, attending to structure (how the story is told), content (what is told), and context (why and to whom).

IRON LAW: In narrative research, the STORY is the unit of analysis —
fragmenting narratives into coded themes destroys the temporal and
contextual meaning. If you reduce stories to thematic codes, you are
doing thematic analysis, NOT narrative research.

Key assumptions:

Conduct narrative interviews using a single generative question (e.g., "Tell me the story of..."). Allow the narrator to structure the telling. Avoid interrupting with probes until the main narrative is complete. Collect life stories, oral histories, or episode-specific narratives depending on the research focus.

Examine HOW the story is told using structural elements:

(Labov's structural model; adapt as needed for non-Western narrative forms.)

Analyze WHAT the story conveys: turning points, character positioning, agency, causality, and moral framing. Examine how the narrator positions themselves (hero, victim, survivor, agent). Identify master narratives the story aligns with or resists.

Situate the narrative within broader social, cultural, and historical contexts. Present findings as re-storied narratives (Clandinin and Connelly) or analytic narratives that preserve the story's integrity while offering scholarly interpretation.