The present work starts from an investigation of an ongoing master's thesis in Community Cultural Development. It presents elementary theoretical and methodological aspects for the elaboration of a life story based on qualitative methodology.
The biographical or life history method is currently acquiring significant value in the entire field of social science. Life history has in its own right a certain scientific status, which is of importance for the investigation of culture and art. Life history represents the purest form of descriptive studies.
Materials and methods
To develop the investigation, the active and passive bibliography that exists about the life history method were used as materials and among the methods, content analysis, analysis and synthesis, induction and deduction were used.
Introduction
To speak of qualitative methods is to speak of styles or ways of investigating social phenomena, in which certain objectives are pursued to give an adequate response to the specific problems facing the investigation.
The qualitative methodology similar to the quantitative consists of more than a set of techniques to collect data, it is a way of approaching the empirical world. (Olabuénaga, 1999, p- 23).
- Qualitative research is inductive. In qualitative methodology the researcher sees the setting and people in a holistic perspective, people, settings and groups are reduced to variables, but considered as a whole. Qualitative researchers are sensitive to the effects that they cause on the people who are the object of their study. Qualitative researchers try to understand people within their own frame of reference. The qualitative researcher suspends or sets aside their own beliefs, perspectives and predispositions. For the qualitative researcher All perspectives are valuable. Qualitative methods are humanistic. They emphasize validity in their research while qualitative researchers emphasize validity.the quantitative ones emphasize the reliability and reproducibility of the research (Rist 1977) For the qualitative researcher it is an art, they are flexible in the way they try to carry out their study, they are an architect, they are encouraged to create their own method. they follow guiding guidelines but not rules, the researcher is never the slave of a process or technique (Mills, 1959).
This is not to say that qualitative researchers are not concerned with the accuracy of their data; A qualitative study is not an informal, impressionistic analysis based on a cursory glance at a setting or person: it is a piece of systematic research conducted with rigorous procedures, although not necessarily standardized.
It has already been confirmed by several authors that life history is a specific method, which is generally used from qualitative methodology; it is typical in the vast field of personal document studies in the anthropological and social sciences.
It is evident that among all the methods used in qualitative research, life history is one of the most powerful to access the interpretation of how individuals create and reflect the social world around them.
A useful approach in the investigation of culture and art is currently the oral history method, within which the biographical or life story meaning can be specified.
Anthropology was the discipline that was validated from the biographical method, from the beginning in its field investigations. Anthropologists have been the first to give them scientific status. In 1925, P. Radin published a work that soon became a classic: Crashing Thunder, autobiography of an Indian. WI Thomas and F. Znaniecki (1919), with their monumental work on Polish emigrants to the United States, based on biographical documents, marked a definitive milestone.
After World War II Oscar Lewis remains faithful to the biographical method, almost as an exception, isolated, to become a source of inspiration today not so much for its theoretical conclusions, but for its methods.
When the prominent 19th-century French historian Jules Michelet, professor at the École Normale, La Sorbonne, and Collégue de France, and chief curator of the National Archives, began to write his History of the French Revolution (1847–1853), he considered the documents written as one more font.
Oral history makes it possible to oppose their research results to the crisis of meaning and social vision that abound as a result of the predominance of data and generalizations, as well as to provide information and interpretations of them that, in one way or another, may constitute modes of knowledge and preservation of cultural identity. Furthermore, this method was used, with special intensity, by anthropology in the first decades of the 20th century.
With the passing of this century, the history of life gradually recovers its importance, as it is methodologically renewed. The oral history is based on a series of procedures, in which bibliographic and documentary information, and the interview, which highlight the oral expression and tradition of individuals and social groups are fundamentally highlighted. In this sense, they constitute an important instrument to rescue and safeguard cultural identity at specific stages.
The biographical or life history method is now gaining significant importance throughout the field of social science. Life history has in its own right a certain scientific status, which is of importance for the investigation of culture and art.
This procedure does not specifically aim at writing the biography of one or more people: the researcher does not place the conformation of said biography in the main point of view; on the contrary, it is proposed to organize, in an organized way, the point of view of one or several individuals about a certain social phenomenon.
To ensure the best use of the interpretive potential that a good life story is capable of, it is necessary to apply a series of criteria to determine the descriptive adequacy of the researcher when establishing his social interaction with the interviewed subject. These criteria have been aptly synthesized by Gareth Jones (1983: 153-154).
- The first criterion establishes that the historian must be considered as a member of a culture, that is, as someone who has become part of a culture from birth and that the past, present and future are captured by the individual as part of knowledge of common sense through the interpretative schemes of it. The life story describes and interprets the actor's story in his development within this world of common sense and the way he acquires his cultural baggage. Secondly, the role of significant others in the transmission of culture must be recognized, highlighting the role of the family, opinion leaders, more specifically through the "us relationship" from which the social world is captured and its contents are typified.Thirdly, it is necessary to specify the social action itself and the bases of social reality, that is, the basic expectations, the elementary postulates that are taken for granted in behavior, the central criteria with which the situation is defined and oriented in it the actor. The central values, the codes of conduct, the myths, the rites with all the underlying rationality attributed to them. The fourth criterion calls for the reconstruction and follow-up of the common thread that connects, over time, some experiences with others in the actor's life. The significance of some facts for subsequent behavior and expectations or future goals as milestones in behavior throughout life. The moments of crisis in which this thread breaks,the significant changes in the definition of reality and the connections of some behaviors with others apparently disconnected. The fifth criterion calls for the continuous and simultaneous recreation of the social contexts associated with the person and his social action. The context cannot be dissociated from the behavior since it not only conditions them, but also serves as an interpretive key to their understanding.
As its own name indicates, the Life Story is fundamentally based on the account that an individual makes of his life or of specific aspects of it, of his relationship with his social reality, of the ways in which he interprets contexts and defines situations. in which he has participated.
In the life story, the personal experience of an informant is focused in this way, it has the character of an oral history with a biographical focus. The informant relates his life to the researcher, who from this autobiographical discourse will extract information for the construction of data from his work on a specific topic.
Life history cannot be outlined in a fixed pattern: it must be adapted to each specific case, to each life, object of study. The biographical approach has to be adequate on each occasion, so that it is an efficient analogue of the life to which it is applied.
There are different criteria on life history:
- According to Blumer: The human document is an account of individual experience that reveals the actions of an individual as a human actor and participant in social life (Blumer, 1939, p: 29).For Langnes (1965, p-4-5), the life story refers to an extensive record of a person's life, as it is presented both by the people themselves and by another or both, whether written by the protagonist or obtained by interviews or by both media. Simmon: a life story is the detailed account of an individual's behavior in his environment, it can also be a dynamic story that founds an individual in bold relief and explains how it has happened that he acts in a certain way at a given time or predicts how it will behave in a series of similar situations. (Leo Simmon, 1942, p-385).
These three concepts, despite a certain distance in time, have not lost their validity. On the other hand, Smith points out that in this technique the person refers to a long story, the development of her life from her point of view and on her own terms, spontaneously or accompanied by an "expert sonsacador", the subject is reeling.
It is interesting to highlight from this author the fact that he frames life in episodes or stages. The life story is reworked by codifying and separating the data according to those stages, each period becomes a chapter or section. Very successful idea.
The idea of the “expert sonsacador” is very successful, although something very important should be taken into account that Magrassi and Rocca (1979) consider, that a deep and committed relationship must be established between the research author, and freedom of expression, trust must also be provided., show interest, perseverance, sympathy, good humor, etc.
On the other hand, Taylor and Bogdan (2000) refer to a definition and other criteria:
The life story contains a description of the important events and experiences of a person's life or some main part of it in the protagonist's own words in the construction of the life story; The analysis consists of a process of collating and gathering stories in such a way that the result captures people's feelings, ways of seeing and perspectives. (Taylor-Bogdan, 2000, p-174).
As a sociological document, life history must illuminate the significant social features of the events it narrates. (Goffman-1961).
In some analyzes that have been done in qualitative research begin with intimate recognition of the data, it is said that all transcripts, notes, documents and other data should be read, identify the main stages, the main events, and the main experiences of the person's life.
In the life story it is impossible to incorporate all the data, some stories or topics will not be pertinent in view of the interests of the research and may be left aside, however, you should try to include all the data that may modify any interpretation of the life and experience of the protagonist.
The final step according to this same author is to combine the stories of the experiences, to produce a coherent document since all people do not have the ability to express themselves clearly, different stories will require different efforts of collation.
On the other hand Taylor also refers to the rules that a life story must have: it must be readable, without having attributed to the protagonist things that he did not say or change the meaning of the repetitive words, but responds to reflect the characteristic expressive guidelines, grammatical constructions and bad pronunciation.
Another idea of Taylor that is considered of great value is when he refers to the fact that the researcher also has the responsibility to establish cross-checks on the informants' history, since different possible sources of data are used to control the informant's claims.
Regarding the personal documents for a life story, we consider it feasible to refer to the compilation of the life story of Magrassi and Rocca: a very successful idea. It affirms that a wide and extensive autobiography, spontaneous or upon request, personally written or dictated and recorded verbatim, when it has been submitted to the accounting requirements and criteria, truthfulness by crossing with other sources, notation and adequate presentation and analysis by a professional researcher can be assimilated to a true life story, to make which only the application would lack of the specific criteria, which could be established that the protagonist author met or meets the necessary requirements to become a prototype and a key informant (Magrassi and Rocca, 1979, p-29)
Ruiz Olabuénaga (1999, p-280) refers, in a very precise way, to very important aspects since he considers that life history is made up of four fundamental objectives:
- Capture the totality of a biographical experience, totality in time and space, from childhood to the present, from him I intimate with all who enter into a significant relationship with the life of a person that includes the physiological needs, the family network and friendly relationships, personal definition, personal change and environmental society change, critical moments and quiet phases, the inclusion and marginalization of an individual in their surrounding social world. Capture ambiguity and change, far from a static and immobile vision of people and a logical and rational vital process, life history tries to discover each and every one of the changes that a person goes through throughout his life and the ambiguities, the lack of logical, doubts, contradictions,the backward journey that is experienced throughout it. Capturing the subjective vision with what one sees oneself and the world, how he interprets his behavior and that of others, how he attributes merits and challenges responsibilities to himself and the others. This subjective vision reveals the negotiation that all life requires between the expressive tendencies of the person and the demands of rationality to adapt to the outside world. To discover the keys to the interpretation of not a few social phenomena of general and historical scope that only find an adequate explanation for through the personal experience of concrete individuals.how he attributes merits and challenges responsibilities to himself and others. This subjective vision reveals the negotiation that all life requires between the expressive tendencies of the person and the demands of rationality to adapt to the outside world. To discover the keys to the interpretation of not a few social phenomena of general and historical scope that only find an adequate explanation for through the personal experience of concrete individuals.how he attributes merits and challenges responsibilities to himself and others. This subjective vision reveals the negotiation that all life requires between the expressive tendencies of the person and the demands of rationality to adapt to the outside world. To discover the keys to the interpretation of not a few social phenomena of general and historical scope that only find an adequate explanation for through the personal experience of concrete individuals.To discover the keys to the interpretation of not a few social phenomena of general and historical scope that only find adequate explanation through the personal experience of specific individuals.To discover the keys to the interpretation of not a few social phenomena of general and historical scope that only find adequate explanation through the personal experience of specific individuals.
Results and Discussion
After an analysis of the treatment given to the life history method by several authors, it was found that the biographical or life history method is currently acquiring significant importance throughout the field of social sciences.
Through this study, important theoretical - methodological aspects are made available to carry out a successful life story.
Conclusions
This method has already had a notable development in Latin America and as a method of researching culture and art, it allows a direct human approach to a series of phenomena in these spheres. Likewise, it helps to preserve cultural memory and also to penetrate subjective points of view on cultural and artistic events.
The daily exchange has a great influence on the usefulness of life history in the field of research on art and culture, it is demonstrated by several researchers from different latitudes. In Cuba, given the priority that the state gives to culture, identity, cultural development, cultural heritage and others, these types of approaches are prolific to build the history of cultural traditions, actions or institutions.
Bibliography
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2. Magrassi, G Rocca M: Life story. Latin American Publishing Center. Argentina, 1979.
3. Olabuénaga, Ruiz José Ignacio. Qualitative research methodology. Second edition. Ed: Bilbao. Spain. 1999. P- 327.
4. Issues magazine No 18. Study of culture. Havana, Cuba, 1989. Ed: people and education. P: 135.
5. --- II Ibero-American meeting: culture and development, challenges and strategies, a project of participatory management of the cultural event. The hab, 1997, P-8. Master's material.
6. SJ, Taylor: Introduction to qualitative research methods. Barcelona. Buenos Aires Mexico, Ed Piadóssaicf. 2000. P-343.
