Doing narrative ethnography: methods and research design My reasoning behind focusing on narratives as both the object and method of inquiry should be clear from the previous considerations

My reasoning behind focusing on narratives as both the object and method of inquiry should be clear from the previous considerations around ontology. To sum up: “Stories are dynamic, changeable, never the same. Yet they convey something about what we believe to be stable in the world. They say something about us as individuals, cultural creatures, historical beings. They shape our actions and are at the same time what is left when the action is gone.” (http://patternwhichconnects.com/GIST/Diary_2/Entries/2012/1/19_17.01.12.html) Borrowing from ant's approach of 'following the actor' perhaps I could say I am 'tracing or following the narrative'. This section sets out which parts of the literature on narratives I draw on, followed by a justification and rationale for combining narrative enquiry with an ethnographic approach. Finally, I set outline my research design and set out a framework for doing my fieldwork.