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Narrative and knowledge development in medical ethics

P Tovey1

  • 1University of Leeds.

Journal of Medical Ethics
|July 3, 1998
PubMed
Summary
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Individual life stories, often termed narrative ethics, offer valuable insights into medical ethics research. Rigorous methods allow personal accounts to yield robust empirical and theoretical knowledge about ethical dilemmas.

Area of Science:

  • Medical Ethics
  • Qualitative Research Methods
  • Bioethics

Background:

  • Individual life accounts, particularly through narrative ethics, have been recognized for their importance in medical ethics.
  • The perceived incompatibility between personal narratives and scientific methodology has historically limited their research application.
  • This limitation represents an underutilization of a valuable research approach for understanding ethical dilemmas and their contexts.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To argue for the significant value of life stories as a research method in medical ethics.
  • To demonstrate that personal accounts can yield intellectually robust evidence, applicable to both general and specific ethical issues.
  • To show how rigorous methods can enable personal accounts to contribute to empirical and theoretical knowledge.
Keywords:
Analytical ApproachBioethics and Professional EthicsNational Health Service

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Main Methods:

  • Utilizing rigorous methods adapted from other fields to analyze personal life stories.
  • Employing qualitative approaches to 'enter the world of the sick person'.
  • Focusing on how personal accounts can generate empirical and theoretical knowledge.

Main Results:

  • Personal life stories, when analyzed rigorously, can provide intellectually robust evidence.
  • This method allows for a deeper understanding of ethical dilemmas and the settings in which they occur.
  • Personal accounts contribute to both empirical data and theoretical frameworks in medical ethics.

Conclusions:

  • Life stories are an underutilized yet valuable method for researching medical ethics.
  • Rigorous analysis of personal accounts allows for significant contributions to empirical and theoretical knowledge.
  • This approach offers a unique way to understand patient experiences and ethical challenges.