Writing Qualitative Inquiry
Self, Stories, and Academic Life
H.L. Goodall, Jr.
"This is a wonderful manuscript, brilliantly crafted, nuanced, and oh so well written."
- Norman K. Denzin
I, like so many others, developed my narrative roots by reading outside of the academy. I read novels and poetry, drama and investigative journalism. I, too, was frustrated by the lack of compelling stories coming out of my discipline (at the time) as well as by the general lack of respect for narratives within my scholarly community. There seemed to be a need for a bridge between what I was reading outside the academy—compelling stories—and what I was reading in my scholarly journals and books.
I was strongly attracted to academic literature—great ideas, interesting theories, inspired applications—and the ongoing conversations about them. I was also dismayed by the tough going that characterized much of the prose that was used to write theory and report on practice. Why couldn’t a research-based form of inquiry also be a compelling narrative?