Chapter One Openness and Inconclusivity in Interpretation in Narrative Inquiry: Dimensions of the Social/Personal

The Repatriation Experiences of American Third Culture Kids

“…The developing narratives will be analyzed using both narrative analysis and the Listening Guide, developed by Carol Gilligan (1982). With multiple and sequential listenings and codings of each transcription, the Listening Guide helps the researcher and participant identify the TCK's "distinct and multilayered voice" (Chase, 2005;Edwards & Weller, 2012;Gilligan et al, 2003;Pinnegar & Daynes, 2007;Pinnegar & Hamilton, 2012; Taylor, Gilligan, & Sullivan, 1995, as cited in Chase, 2005.…”

“…Since people lead storied lives and tell of their lived experiences, narrative inquiry "names the structured quality of experience to be studied, and it names the pattern of inquiry for its study" (Clandinin, 2006;Clandinin & Rosiek, 2007;Connelly & Clandinin, 1990, p. 2;Lyons, 2007;Pinnegar & Daynes, 2007;Pinnegar & Hamilton, 2012); which separates it from other forms of narrative research that simply have the "narrative researchers describe such lives, collect and tell stories of them, and write narratives of experience" (Chase, 2005;Connelly & Clandinin, 1990, p. 2;Polkinghorne, as cited in Clandinin & Murphy, 2007).…”

“…Expanding on these ideas, Clandinin and Connelly generated a three-dimensional conceptual framework for narrative inquiry, with the three dimensions-temporality, sociality, and place-explored concurrently, inquiring into the individual experiences of the participants and the researcher, as well as the co-constructed experience (Bach, 2007;Caine et al, 2013;Clandinin, 2006, Clandinin & Huber, 2010Clandinin & Rosiek, 2007;Connelly & Clandinin, 1990Pinnegar & Hamilton, 2012). "[Narrative inquiry] studies have temporal dimensions and address temporal matters: they focus on the personal and the social in a balance appropriate to the inquiry:…”

“…Place. It is important to note that while it is no less important than its counterparts, place is the most tangible aspect of the three-dimensional narrative inquiry space as it refers to "the specific concrete, physical, and topological boundaries of place or a sequence of places where the inquiry and events take place" (Clandinin & Rosiek, 2007, p. 70;Clandinin & Huber, 2010;Connelly & Clandinin, 2006, p. 480;Pinnegar & Hamilton, 2012). Place not only influences the participant's lived and told experience, but the conditions of a place can also shape the comfort level of a participant when reliving and retelling his/her experiences (Clandinin & Rosiek, 2007;Clandinin & Huber, 2010;Connelly & Clandinin, 2006;Pinnegar & Hamilton, 2012).…”

“…Stemming from Dewey's notion of continuity, narratives include the experiences of people, places, things, and events and have an aspect of "temporal transition" (Clandinin & Rosiek, 2007;Connelly & Clandinin, 2006, p. 479;Pinnegar & Hamilton, 2012;Riessman & Speedy, 2007). Understanding the temporality of narrative requires the awareness that experiences are temporal and that life is not only experienced in the present but exists along a chronological continuum (Bach, 2007;Clandinin & Connelly, 2000;Connelly & Clandinin, 1990Pinnegar & Hamilton, 2012). It is crucial for narrative inquirers to understand that "life is also a matter of growth toward an imagined future" (Connelly & Clandinin, 1990, p. 4), with people (researcher included) living and telling stories of who they are, with both types of experiences "offer[ing] possible plotlines for the futures as [they] tell and retell stories" (Bach, 2007, p. 283;Clandinin & Connelly, 2000;Pinnegar & Hamilton, 2012;Pushor & Clandinin, 2009).…”