Choices of illness narratives in practice

This chapter examines how which cases and parts of illness narratives are selected for a specific use in practice. It takes the perspective of qualitative researchers and apply ideas of sampling and generalizability to this question. It discusses the different types of sampling strategies in qualitative research and the relevance of each towards making generalization statements. It then reflects on the different roles that qualitative researchers might take in using illness narratives in practice, including the roles of agency or that the media might take. In light of these perspectives this chapter argues that decisions on how illness narratives are selected should be guided by the same rigour used in the conduct of a qualitative study. In short, criteria for their selection should be explicit and transparent.