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Ninth (June 06) Intensive BNIM Short Course

in the Biographic-Narrative-Interpretive Method (BNIM) 

5 days for 6 people:   June 15th and 16th, and 19th-21st  2006 in London


Summary


Designed for PhD students and professional researchers, the course provides
a training in doing BNIM biographic narrative interviews, together with
'hands-on experience' of following  BNIM interpretation procedures.
Students develop a sense of how their own research projects might use  such
aspects  and components. The cost is £650 (£600 for early-birds who pay in
full 5 weeks in advance, i.e. by May 1st  ).  Taught by Prue Chamberlayne
and Tom Wengraf  in North London., the course's  small number of students
ensures close coaching and support for the intensive work that is needed for
you to fully acquire both the understanding of  principles and the practical
capacity for  proceeding with the  systematic practices involved in BNIM --
both for BNIM and  for other types of  narrative interviewing and
interpretation.

 

You will be expected to have looked at  (not read!)  chapters 6 and 12 of
Tom's  textbook, Qualitative research interviewing: biographic narrative and
semi-structured method (2001: Sage Publications), Examples of the use of
BNIM can be found in the case-studies from the European Union  7-country
SOSTRIS project in our (edited)  Biography and social exclusion in Europe:
experiences and life-journeys (2002: Policy Press) and other items in the
Short Guide to BNIM .  Preliminary and supplementary material will be
provided. More recent debates and developments in theory and method are
integrated into the programme. Before the course starts, you are expected to
have studied the most recent version of the Short Guide to BNIM which will
be sent to your email address.

 

Programme (subject to revision)

 

Thursday 15th-  Friday 16h  June 2006 

We start with a short introduction to the Biographic-narrative-interpretive
method,  a very brief history of its development in Germany and then in
Britain, and an indication of the principles behind its practice. The  point
and timing of  using  open-ended biographic narrative interviews rather than
(only) the more conventional semi-structured and attitude-and-argument
focused ones is clarified.  The bulk of the  two days is then almost
entirely devoted to learning the craft of  BNIM interviewing practice. This
involves  learning to  ask  narrative-pointed questions (both topic-focused
and also open) and not inadvertently interrupting or deflecting the
interviewee. Apparently simple, it rapidly becomes clear that such a craft
requires repeated and careful practice to be successfully achieved.
Pencil-and-paper and repeated practical exercises ensure such success is
achieved by the end of the 2nd day.   

 

 Monday 19th- Wednesday  21th  June 2006

We outline the principles and you engage in  the  key practices of BNIM
interpretive work . We explain the twin-tracks of 'lived life' and 'told
story' analysis, and micro-analysis,  and how you convert the raw transcript
into two series of processed data for each track. You learn the significance
of the future-blind chunk-by-chunk approach peculiar to BNIM by practice -
by doing parts of a narrative text analysis, a  micro-analysis  and
biographical data analysis. Finally, on the basis of case-presentations, you
practice case-comparison and the comparative theorising towards which BNIM
work is typically oriented. The course ends with our looking again at how
you might best use all or part of the BNIM approach for your individual
research projects, and how to defend your choice to use a low-N in-depth
sample in arguments with sceptical research and policy audiences. 

 

To get a copy of the 'Short Guide', to ask any questions or to book a place,
contact  [log in to unmask] Places tend to go quite fast, so if interested,
please don't delay too long!  Provided there are still places left, £100
refundable deposit secures your place on the course of your choice.

 

 Tenth course: (5 day or maybe 9 day 3+3+3)  in/from February 2007

PLUS Courses in Sydney (September 2006) and Slovenia (November 2006)


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