Storytelling as a Research Method for Developing a Plausible Knowledge Management (KM) Model for Rural Communities

Abstract

A qualitative research approach can be addressed with several research methods to obtain complex phenomena of reality in order to emerge concepts or theories. Storytelling is one appropriate research method to obtain rich data from individuals’ stories or experience. Storytelling allows researchers to deeply understand natural setting through three aspects: temporality, meaning and social context. Storytelling has been used as a research method for knowledge management (KM) research with qualitative research approach to deeply understand and identify knowledge processes and KM component. This article will address how to use storytelling to develop KM model or draw a plausible knowledge processes and their components. For this purpose, the paper will explicate steps and techniques to accomplish storytelling from respondents at research sites to presenting stories as research texts–a plausible KM model.