The café talk: a discussion of the process of developing a creative non-fiction

ABSTRACT

Humans are story-telling creatures, and our qualitative research needs to reflect this. In this paper we openly discuss our struggles, progress, and experiences with thematic narrative analysis and creative non-fictions from an interdisciplinary team’s perspective. This messy text is aimed at researchers new to and experienced with creative non-fictions to promote critical thinking around the challenges that arise from using such a methodology. It is our goal to be transparent in our processes, emotions, and decision-making throughout the process by providing our individual reflections on each stage of the research process so that other researchers can learn from and critically discuss the future of these methodologies. We use an example of a creative non-fiction that (re)presents data from parents of youth involved in an inclusive physical literacy program. We conclude with a discussion of where we see these methodologies developing in the fields of sport and exercise psychology as to stimulate dialogue amongst our colleagues.

KEYWORD:

• Creative non-fiction
• methodology
• narrative
• interdisciplinary
• disability

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank the youth, parents, and coaches of IFP for their time and trust in the program. We would like to acknowledge all the research assistants who conducted the interviews for this study. Finally, we acknowledge all the funders that made the IFP program and the corresponding research possible: the Milos Roanic Foundation, National Bank, Connaught Grant at the University of Toronto, and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada’s Insight Development Grant (#430-2014-00157).

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. We consider this a messy text as demonstrated and described by many authors before (e.g., Clough 1999; Mellor 2001). Thus, we use a series of fonts to signal a change in perspective: headings are bold, Ink Free, size 12; content is Times New Roman, size 12; and, authors’ reflections are Arial, size 12.

2. For a detailed discussion on forms of generalisability in qualitative research, see Smith (2017).

3. Pseudonym from an IFP youth member in response to the question, ‘What do stories mean to you?’

4. IFP has continued to run beyond the May 2017 date. However, data from these later sessions were not included in this data analysis. Regardless, the most current experiences did influence the conversations and perspectives that the critical friends (initials removed) had throughout the research team’s discussions.

5. Each creative non-fiction was written by (name) at least four times before sharing them with the rest of the research team. Changes were then made to structure (based on comments from [name]) and word choice so many times it is impractical to count them. The creative non-fiction was edited again following the constructive comments from the reviewers of this journal.

6. You can find the comic book online here: http://www.actwithlove.co.uk/woe-digital-comic.html

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Krystn Orr

Krystn Orr is a PhD graduate of the Faculty of Kinesiology and Physical Education at the University of Torontowith more than a decade’s experience working in rehabilitative and recreational sport settings with individuals with disabilities. Her research focuses on the peer interactions and experiences of individuals in recreational sport settings.

Brett Smith

Dr. Brett Smith is a Professor of disability and physical activity at Durham University. He is also passionate about qualitative research and how we can represent lives in different ways.

Kelly P. Arbour-Nicitopoulos

Dr. Kelly P. Arbour-Nicitopoulos is an Associate Professor at the University of Toronto and an Adjunct Scientist at Bloorview Research Institute. Her research focuses on measuring, understanding, and intervening upon the physical activity behaviour of individuals living with a chronic disability.

F. Virginia Wright

Dr. F. Virginia Wright is a Senior Scientist at the Bloorview Research Institute and Professor at the University of Toronto, Department of Physical Therapy.