10 - A mosaic of siblings of cystic fibrosis: a creative dramaturgical analysis

Summary

Introduction

When I first started this project, the idea I had of creativity in my research initially lay within the use of visual and creative research methods to engage children in their narrative story. I can honestly say that I had not anticipated what would unfold as I moved out of my comfort zone into the field, towards the analysis phase of the data. I had not heard of dramaturgy or even considered a dramaturgical analysis. I think that in those early days my thoughts were in a systematic analysis mode. Anything other than that, in my ‘imposter syndrome’ moments, I thought would have been beyond my scope. I was undertaking my doctoral fieldwork and the thought of getting to the analysis phase scared me. My thoughts were: ‘How do I do this?’ ‘What if I am analysing data incorrectly?’ ‘How do I get this right?’ I managed to put the imposter to one side and gradually progressed in my journey. Keeping an open mind, I listened, read, networked, and reached a stage where I was not afraid to be creative. My approach, I was informed, was like Marmite, as one could love it or hate it.

I write these few words to begin my chapter in case these thoughts of imposter syndrome or fear or the ‘how do I do this?’ resonate with you as the reader, particularly if you are just starting out in considering ways of analysis.

This chapter will set the context of the project and articulate my analytical practices in the exploration of the experiences of child siblings within their family, in the context of cystic fibrosis (CF). It will examine my intertwined use of creative data analysis based on Goffman's (1959) dramaturgical framework, as well as the systematic use of my adapted version of Wolcott's (1994) framework in working with my data set. I use examples from data that include narrative scripts and dramaturgical scenes encountered during my field visits to demonstrate application. Sensory moments that aided the analytical process are highlighted, as well as discussion around imagination. This was used to bring the data together, through what I termed dramaturge fantasia. In using the imagination one can focus on an aspect of data to create an image that can bring a fantasy to life and provide a new meaning to the context of a situation (Edgar, 2004).