What is Participatory Narrative Inquiry (PNI)?

Updated

Participatory Narrative Inquiry (PNI) is a form of Participatory Action Research in which groups of people share and work with their stories of personal experiences to understand each other and to make collective sense of complex issues and situations. It fits situations where a community or organization needs to explore values, beliefs, feelings, and perspectives—not just collect quick data points. NarraFirma is a web application built to support PNI projects from start to finish, and the method itself is documented in the book Working with Stories by Cynthia Kurtz.

What makes PNI different from interviews or surveys

PNI focuses on the profound consideration of values, beliefs, feelings, and perspectives through the recounting and interpretation of lived experience. The people who share stories are not just sources of data; they participate in making sense of what the stories reveal.

Dimension PNI Typical interview or survey
Who analyzes Participants work with the stories together Researchers or analysts interpret responses
What is collected Personal experience stories Answers to fixed questions
Purpose Collective sense-making of complex issues Measurement, comparison, or reporting
Depth Values, beliefs, feelings, perspectives Often attitudes, facts, or preferences

When PNI is a good fit

PNI suits groups facing complex, multi-perspective situations where understanding each other matters as much as finding an answer. The source material gives several concrete examples:

  • Community market planning — a market board listened to customers to keep the market going strong.
  • Work-life balance — managers discovered people were overworked because everybody thought everybody else should do more.
  • Merging cultures — after a big company acquired a small one, people in both groups shared stories to understand how their two cultures could work together.
  • Theft prevention — a police force overturned long-standing assumptions about when, where, and why people steal.

If your goal is a fast poll or a statistically representative sample, PNI is not the right tool. If your goal is to surface hidden assumptions and build shared understanding, it is.

How NarraFirma supports a PNI project

NarraFirma is a web application that supports participatory narrative inquiry and helps you carry out your own PNI projects from start to finish. According to the site, it works as:

  • A checklist — practical guidance as you work, with questions to answer, recommendations based on the conditions you describe, activities that help you make decisions, and just-in-time advice.
  • A journal — it helps you keep a record as the project proceeds.

The site also lists Try it!, Support, Installation, GitHub, WordPress, FAQ, Donate, and Blog as entry points, and notes that Cynthia Kurtz offers support, training, and consulting. PNI Practicum Courses are described as online, project-based PNI practice.

Where to go next

  • Read the full method in Working with Stories in Your Community or Organization (and the related Working with Stories book series).
  • Explore project stories on the site for real-world examples.
  • Try NarraFirma directly, or check the FAQ and support pages before starting a project.
  • Consider the PNI Practicum if you want guided, project-based practice.