Is One Participant Enough in A Doctoral Thesis? Narrative Research as an Alternative in Postgraduate Studies

Abstract

Narrative research has emerged in the social sciences and education as an alternative to traditional research, offering a distinct epistemological and ontological perspective. Despite its recent rise in the humanities, traditional research remains predominant in postgraduate studies, relying on qualitative designs such as case studies, ethnographies, and grounded theory. In this context, the objective of analyzing the conditions of possibility of the design and development of narrative research in the context of a doctoral thesis in education arises. The central research question guiding this study is as follows: How can narrative research be effectively implemented in settings where traditional methodologies predominate in postgraduate studies? The methodology employed is rooted in the paradigm of narrative research of a biographical type, employed to narrate the experience of writing a doctoral thesis from a narrative perspective. The study's subject is a doctoral student in education from the Consortium, comprising the Catholic University of Maule, the Catholic University of the Holy Conception, the Bío-Bío University, and the Catholic University of Temuco, located in the south-central area of Chile. The subject is undertaking a narrative doctoral thesis with a life story design of a single story. The results of the study illuminate several issues that facilitated the preparation of this type of thesis, including the presence in the doctoral faculty of professors who are experts in this type of study and the commitment and constant participation of the co-investigator (participant) of the study. Conversely, the study identified challenges, including the interrogation of faculty professors and the research ethics committee concerning the paradigm, design, and number of participants in the research, as well as the evaluation guidelines for the sections of the doctoral thesis corpus.