Narratives in quantitative research discussed

Chandigarh, May 25

The sixth day of the workshop on ‘Qualitative Research Methods in Social Sciences’ focussed on narratives, testimonies and ambiguities in issues of equity and social justice in qualitative research.

In the first two sessions, Ranjana Padhi, visiting faculty, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai, focused on using narrative inquiry and testimonials as qualitative research methods. She deliberated on understanding narrative enquiries in social studies and how narratives breathe life in quantitative research.

“Narratives can bring to light the hardships and coping potentials of suffering peasantry and help to affirm their voices of sanity against modernization,” she said. She described that testimonies revealed the feelings and thought process of individuals. She elaborated that though the silence of individuals was difficult to break to pen down testimony, when it was broken, it has a lot to offer. — TNS