Collecting and Interpreting Work-Life Stories

Abstract

The previous chapter provided an outline of the cultures, histories and demographics of the four occupations that I focus upon in this book. This chapter moves on to outline some of the processes involved in collecting and interpreting work-life stories from those who participate in these occupations. Essentially then, this is a methodology chapter, it details how and from which standpoint I carried out research on these occupations. Significantly, it details how I operationalised Bourdieusian and feminist Bourdieusian concepts. Although methodology sections of papers and books can sometimes be dry, this discussion is an important inclusion, as, as Skeggs (1997: 17) argues: ‘To ignore questions of methodology is to assume that knowledge comes from nowhere allowing knowledge makers to abdicate responsibility for their productions and representations’. The first section of this chapter will introduce the subjects of the study; the workers who kindly shared their stories with me. Then, in the second section of the chapter I will outline how I identified class identities as well as gender identities in the research and finally, in the last section I will discuss my standpoint on eliciting narratives and how I framed the research questions.