Reflections on using life history
approaches
Kate Bird
Overseas Development Institute
k.bird.ra@odi.org.uk
What is the life history
research method?
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Life histories are generated from qualitative research, interviewing individuals
about their lives
Not one approach, but several
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Structured, semi-structured, unstructured
Can have different aims and be underpinned by different epistemological
approaches and theoretical standpoints
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Biographical research
Life histories
Family histories
Oral testimonies
Focus on narrative, story-telling and language
Focus on perceptions of/ interpretations of truth and reality
Focus on social relations
Focus on empirical exploration of the narrator‟s life (and the connected lives of
household members)
Interviews can produce
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Facts (may be generalisable – same pattern revealed by many cases, may be useful
as part of a Q2 exercise)
Validation of theory
Narrative (respondent‟s unique viewpoint)
Why use life history methods
in your work?
• Provides insights into long-term change (social,
economic, political)
• Analysis of panel data provides an alternative – but
few national panels exist, and they rarely help
explain decisions and processes
• Places people at the heart of research
• (Development-related research requires work to
contextualise these individual accounts with an
exploration of wider economic, social and political
factors)
• Allows for the exploration of complexity and interrelationships (between people and phenomena)
• Allows counter-intuitive findings to emerge
• Generates powerful case studies – useful in policy
engagement
Advantages
• Experienced qualitative researchers can
quickly & successfully add life history
methods to their „toolbox‟
• Powerful method
– particularly when used in combination with other
approaches
– Generates fascinating (and often unexpected)
insights
– Allows for the...