Biography and Story in Sociological Analysis. The Contribution of the BNIM (Biographic-Narrative Interpretive Method) School

Abstract

This paper outlines the epistemological and methodological specifi cities
of the Biographic-Narrative Interpretive Method, developed in Britain
(under the name ‘BNIM’) and Germany (where it is known as
‘Interpretative Biografi eforschung’). Based on phenomenology and
hermeneutics, this method seeks to express subjects’ past and present
frames of meaning through the use of a non-directive interview. This
interview is analysed by a reconstructive process that differentiates
between the ‘lived life’ and the ‘told story’, and subsequently connects
both dimensions. The main steps for the application of the method are
explained through the case study of Adriana, taken from a R&D&i
research project on immigration and the labour market.