Anecdote Research - Research Methods

Experiences shape people`s lives and learning. They can provide orientation or unsettle us, encourage us to embrace new things or strengthen our inhibitions. Experiences are also the ideal path to scientific knowledge in a phenomenological understanding. At the same time, experiences pose a dilemma for research. They elude secure access, as they happen unexpectedly and are already over by the time those affected become aware of them. Experiences cannot be controlled: just as we can neither decide to blush nor stop blushing when we become aware of it, experiences cannot be brought about or controlled. So, how can experiences be scientifically recorded? Vignette and anecdote research, based on two FWF projects at the University of Innsbruck and now widespread worldwide, has developed two research tools: the vignette as a condensed description of directly `co- experienced experiences` and the anecdote as a recall of past experiences. In the "Research Methods" series published by the renowned Bloomsbury Verlag, one volume each is dedicated to both methods: the book "Vignette Research", published in 2023, and its new counterpart "Anecdote Research". The authors proceed step by step. First, the scientific anecdote is distinguished from the literary form. The scientific anecdote is not an invented story but is based on people`s memories from interviews or spontaneous conversations. The anecdote includes not only the "what" but also the "how" of what was said: Gestures, facial expressions, posture, and tone of voice of what is said are also recorded. Following the bodily phenomenological background of vignette and anecdote research, body and mind are not thought of separately but are rather intertwined as a lived body or "animated body" according to the philosopher Bernhard Waldenfels. In the anecdotes, verbal statements are condensed with perceived bodily expressions. In further research, the anecdote does not serve as an assertion of truth about the remembered experience. Instead, the anecdotes are reflected on in terms of what can be learned from the memories for overarching questions: how, for example, unpleasant experiences on the educational path can have a lifelong inhibiting effect; how encouragement can inspire people; how medical staff communicate serious illnesses can be helpful or stressful for those affected; how structural conditions can affect teams. Although initially developed in school research, anecdotal research has many applications. The publication uses many examples to illustrate how memory can be found in anecdotes and can be used scientifically as a moment of reflection.