Life history
Encyclopedia
In sociological and anthropological research, a life history is the overall picture of the informant's or interviewee's life. The purpose of the interview is to be able to describe what it is like to be this particular person, that is, the one being interviewed.
. The subjects were native American leaders. One interviewed them, and the subjects were asked to describe their lives as such, what it was like to be that particular person
. The purpose of the interview was to capture a living picture of a disappearing (as such) people/way of life.
Later the method was used to interview criminals and prostitutes in Chicago
. The subjects were asked to tell about their lives. The interviewers also looked at social
- and police
-records, and the society
in general in which the subject lived. The result was a report in which one could read about (i) Chicago at that particular time; (ii) how the subject viewed his own life (i.e. `how it was like to be this particular person') and (iii) how society looked upon the subject what the consequence of this was for that particular person—i.e. `social work'/-help, incarceration
etc.
The most famous use of life history in connection of the Chicago school, was in connection with the Polish Peasant study by W.I Thomas and Florian Znaniecki
. They employed a Polish emigrant to write his own life story, which they then interpreted and analyzed.
The approach fell later in disrepute, as quantitative methods gained the upper hand in sociology. Only in the 1970s was the method revived, mainly through the efforts of Daniel Bertaux
and Paul Thompson who started doing life history research in such professions as bakers or fishermen. The revival of the life history method spread rapidly through Europe, with major research initiatives in Germany, Italy, Finland.
" method. It is common practice to begin the interview with the subject's early childhood and to proceed chronologically
to the present. Another approach, dating from the Polish Peasant, is to ask participants to write their own life stories. This can be done either through competitions (as in Poland, Finland or Italy) or by collecting written life stories written spontaneously. In these countries, there are already large collections of life stories, which can be used by researchers.
Background
The method was first used when interviewing indigenous peoples of the AmericasIndigenous peoples of the Americas
The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...
. The subjects were native American leaders. One interviewed them, and the subjects were asked to describe their lives as such, what it was like to be that particular person
Person
A person is a human being, or an entity that has certain capacities or attributes strongly associated with being human , for example in a particular moral or legal context...
. The purpose of the interview was to capture a living picture of a disappearing (as such) people/way of life.
Later the method was used to interview criminals and prostitutes in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
. The subjects were asked to tell about their lives. The interviewers also looked at social
Social work
Social Work is a professional and academic discipline that seeks to improve the quality of life and wellbeing of an individual, group, or community by intervening through research, policy, community organizing, direct practice, and teaching on behalf of those afflicted with poverty or any real or...
- and police
Police
The police is a personification of the state designated to put in practice the enforced law, protect property and reduce civil disorder in civilian matters. Their powers include the legitimized use of force...
-records, and the society
Society
A society, or a human society, is a group of people related to each other through persistent relations, or a large social grouping sharing the same geographical or virtual territory, subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations...
in general in which the subject lived. The result was a report in which one could read about (i) Chicago at that particular time; (ii) how the subject viewed his own life (i.e. `how it was like to be this particular person') and (iii) how society looked upon the subject what the consequence of this was for that particular person—i.e. `social work'/-help, incarceration
Incarceration
Incarceration is the detention of a person in prison, typically as punishment for a crime .People are most commonly incarcerated upon suspicion or conviction of committing a crime, and different jurisdictions have differing laws governing the function of incarceration within a larger system of...
etc.
The most famous use of life history in connection of the Chicago school, was in connection with the Polish Peasant study by W.I Thomas and Florian Znaniecki
Florian Znaniecki
Florian Witold Znaniecki was a Polish sociologist. He taught and wrote in Poland and the United States. He was the 44th President of the American Sociological Association and the founder of academic sociology studies in Poland...
. They employed a Polish emigrant to write his own life story, which they then interpreted and analyzed.
The approach fell later in disrepute, as quantitative methods gained the upper hand in sociology. Only in the 1970s was the method revived, mainly through the efforts of Daniel Bertaux
Daniel Bertaux
Daniel Bertaux is a French sociologist who is best known of initiating a research approach to use and study biographies in sociology. A second important field of study has been social mobility from which he moved into life histories as a "better" approach to study the personal destinies of people...
and Paul Thompson who started doing life history research in such professions as bakers or fishermen. The revival of the life history method spread rapidly through Europe, with major research initiatives in Germany, Italy, Finland.
Technique
In both cases, the one doing the interview should be careful not to ask "yes or no"-questions, but to get the subject to tell "the story of his or her life", in his or her own words. This is called the "narrativeNarrative
A narrative is a constructive format that describes a sequence of non-fictional or fictional events. The word derives from the Latin verb narrare, "to recount", and is related to the adjective gnarus, "knowing" or "skilled"...
" method. It is common practice to begin the interview with the subject's early childhood and to proceed chronologically
Chronology
Chronology is the science of arranging events in their order of occurrence in time, such as the use of a timeline or sequence of events. It is also "the determination of the actual temporal sequence of past events".Chronology is part of periodization...
to the present. Another approach, dating from the Polish Peasant, is to ask participants to write their own life stories. This can be done either through competitions (as in Poland, Finland or Italy) or by collecting written life stories written spontaneously. In these countries, there are already large collections of life stories, which can be used by researchers.