Grounded narrative approach to researching immigrant-background emerging adults’ sense of belonging

Keywords: belonging, identity, cultural heritage, UK, emerging adults, grounded theory, narrative inquiry, qualitative methods
Session Type: Virtual Paper Abstract
Day: Tuesday
Session Start / End Time: 3/1/2022 11:20 AM (Eastern Time (US & Canada)) - 3/1/2022 12:40 PM (Eastern Time (US & Canada))
Room: Virtual 13

Abstract

Discussions of the sense of belonging, identity, and cultural heritage positioning with those experiencing hybrid and migrant-background realities require innovative methodological approaches to elicit the often unarticulated and tacit narratives and understandings. This is even more apparent in research with emerging adults who likely go through transitional stages of identity formation coinciding with heightened mobility between geographical and social spaces. This contribution draws on a qualitative design that involved reflective journal writing, interviewing, and collaborative data analysis conducted with 15 participants from a range of ethnic and economic backgrounds—all 18-29 years old and born in the UK to immigrant parents. The paper introduces the “grounded narrative approach” which marries grounded theory and narrative inquiry to produce methodological tools that capture participants’ fleeting thoughts and encourage their reflectiveness, analytical engagement, and ownership of their stories. The methodological processes, outcomes, and challenges of the use of this approach for the specific case study will be discussed with particular attention to the potential of this method to identify connecting categories and community aspects within a group of people who have struggled to experience belonging and collectiveness.