19.3 Oral history

What is the purpose of oral history research?

As outlined by the Oral History Association (OHA, 2009), “Oral history interviews seek an in-depth account of personal experience and reflections, with sufficient time allowed for the narrators (interviewees) to give their story the fullness they desire. The content of oral history interviews is grounded in reflections on the past as opposed to commentary on purely contemporary events”.^[1] Much like case studies with their intentionally narrow focus, oral histories are dedicated to developing a deep understanding with a relatively limited scope. This may include a single oral history provided by one interviewee, or a series of oral histories that are offered around a unifying topic, event, experience or shared characteristic.

Now, what makes this a form of research and not just a venue for sharing stories (valuable in-and-of-itself), is that these stories are connected systematically and there is a central question or series of questions that we as researchers are attempting to answer. For instance, the Columbia Center for Oral History Research at Incite hosts the Human Rights Campaign Oral History Project. This project seeks to understand: “What can a single organization tell us about a social movement and social change? How do historic moments shape organizations and vice versa? How do institutions with diverse constituencies reconcile competing needs and agendas for a forward-thinking movement, all while effectively responding to consistent external attacks?”^[2] By interviewing people connected with this organization and its work, this oral history project is simultaneously hoping to gain a rich understanding of the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), but also an appreciation of how social change may occur more broadly, with HRC as an instructive example.

Particularity relevant for social work research, oral histories are often used for the purpose of studying and promoting social change, as in the HRC example. For instance, Groundswell is a network of “oral historians, activists, cultural workers, community organizers, and documentary artists” dedicated to the use of oral history as a tool for social change.^[3] The central idea here is that by sharing our stories, we can learn from each other. Much like in narrative therapy traditions, our stories contain valuable and transformative information. In the case of narrative therapy, the narrative is transformative for the individual, but in the case of oral histories, the hope is that these shared narratives are transformative for the audience by offering new perspectives on the world, what it needs, and what it offers. Ideally this transformation leads to action and broader social change.

What is involved in oral history research?

While the core of oral history research involves interviewing people to capture their historical accounts to help explore a broader question or set of questions, the research process is a bit more involved than this. Moyer (1999)^[4] offers an overview of the steps involved in conducting oral history research.

1. Formulate a central question, set of questions, or issue
2. Plan the project. Consider such things as end products, budget, publicity, evaluation, personnel, equipment, and time frames.
3. Conduct background research
4. Interview
5. Process interviews
6. Evaluate research and interviews and cycle back to step 1 if the central question is not sufficiently answered, or go on to step 7 if it is
7. Organize and present results
8. Store materials archivally

Of course, these are generic steps and only a beginning introduction to oral history design. Each of these steps has its own learning curve and nuance. For instance, interviewing for oral histories can vary in both preparation and application when compared to interviewing for other forms of qualitative research. Resources for further learning on oral history research are offered at the end of this section to help you become more knowledgeable and proficient. In addition to this overview of the design process, there are a number of unique principles associated with conducting oral histories. Let’s discuss a few of these.

Oral history as a relationship between the interviewer and interviewee

Just as with other forms of interviewing, the expectation is the participation is voluntary and only proceeds after informed consent is provided. While this is very important for all research, it is perhaps especially important for oral histories because of some of the aspects discussed below (e.g. public access, frequent disclosure of identifying information) that differentiate oral histories.^[5][6] Thoroughly explaining what oral histories are, how they are conducted, and the nature of the research final products is especially important. In addition, interviewees for oral histories often have a greater degree of control in their storytelling, with less direction from the interviewer (compared with other forms of qualitative interviewing).^[7][8] This potentially challenges some of the power dynamics in more traditional research traditions. While the interviewer does provide the initial prompt or question and hopes to obtain an in-depth account, the interviewee is largely in control of how the story is told.

Oral history as a research product

Consistent with our NASW code of ethics and the expectations of all qualitative researchers, interviewees should be treated with dignity and respect. For the purposes of oral history research, this is in part demonstrated through crafting significant historical questions and engaging in prior research and preparation to inform the study (generally) and the interview (specifically).^[9][10]. This will lay the foundation for a well-informed oral history project. The oral history is a detailed historical recounting by one person or a small group of people. It is meant to be a ‘window in time’ through the lens of the interviewee.^[11] Because an oral history involves the detailed telling of personal stories and experiences it is often expected that the finished products of oral histories will often provide identifying information; it is often unavoidable in recounting the history. In fact, the interviewee is typically identified by name due to the extensive detail and contextually identifying information that is gathered.^[12][13] Again, this should be made abundantly clear during the recruitment process and spelled out in the informed consent.

Oral history as an ongoing commitment

Traditional research is often shared with the public through journal articles or conference proceedings, and these often do not provide access to the data. While oral history research may be shared in these venues, the expectation is generally that oral history interviews that are collected will also be made accessible to future researchers and the public.^[14] To accommodate this, researchers need to be planful in how they will provide this access in a sustainable way. This also means they need to have access to and operating knowledge of technology that will allow for quality audio capture and maintenance of these oral histories.^[15][16] Furthermore, this obligation needs to be very clear to participants before they share their hisitories. Also, because of the level of access that is often afforded to oral history interviews, researchers can’t guarantee how others may use or portray these interviews in the future and should be mindful not to overpromise such guarantees to participants.

Cultural considerations with storytelling

I think it is also important for us to consider the cultural implications of storytelling and the connection this holds for oral history research. Many cultural groups have and continue to depend on storytelling as a means of transmitting culture through time and space. Lately, I have been thinking about this as a response to the racial conflict we have been experiencing in the United States. It can be particularly powerful to hear the stories of others and to allow ourselves to be changed by them. The author Ta-Nehisi Coates book Between the World and Me is a profound nonfiction work that is written as a letter to his teenage son about what it means to be a Black man in America, drawing on his own memories, experiences and observations. In addition, Takunda Muzondiwa, offers a beautifully articulated performance of spoken word poetry about her history as a young woman immigrating from Zimbabwe to New Zealand. I believe these stories can be powerful antidotes to the fear and ignorance that fuels so much of the structural oppression and racial division in this country. Gathering oral histories can help contribute to elevating these voices and hopefully promoting understanding. However, I think we also have to be very aware of the danger in this practice of cultural appropriation. It requires us to be extremely vigilant in how these stories are obtained and presented, and who has ownership of them.