Samitha - Yes, it is possible to incorporate narrative analysis to analyse data obtained from an ethnographic research. There is increasing recognition of the importance and usefulness of narrative analysis as an element of doing ethnography. Narrative is now seen as one of the fundamental ways in which humans organize their understanding of the world. Narrative inquiry is the process of gathering information for the purpose of research through storytelling. The researcher then writes a narrative of the experience. Ethnography provides a detailed exploration of group activity and may include literature about and/or by the group. It is an approach which employs multiple methodologies to arrive at a theoretically comprehensive understanding of a group or culture.

Dear Michael

I do not see any problem, as long as the analysis makes sense, since basically ethnography is reported as a story which tries to uncover meanings.

D@ear Michel

Narratives, in their varied possibilities, constitute compelling instruments for collecting ethnographic data. People regularly narrate what is most significant in their lives, in their life stories. Therefore, the narratives are full of meanings, relevant to the ethnographic practice

Samitha, what narrative analysis gives you in ethnography is that it livens the intricacies, the nuances and the complexities of the ethnographic experiences, challenges, interactions, stories, sub-stories and power relations between those groups of people on and about whom the ethnographic study has been conducted. There is the potential, through narratology, to find out whether there is a pattern in the major themes and issues that may arise and what these may inform about those individuals and groups whose accounts have been studied. Interesting stuff.