Write your research proposal outlining your goals, methods, subjects, time frame, budget, anticipated questions, ethical issues and consent documentation. Ensure that all questions required by your university's ethical review process are answered.
Explain why you are choosing to use storytelling methods and the rationale behind that decision. Identify published research that supports the use of narratives and how you feel that this method is best for the research you are doing.
Identify your research subjects and how they will be selected. One common method for qualitative research is to use "snowball sampling." This method requires that you ask each person you interview for suggestions of other people to interview. You may also want to ask community leaders for ideas, or place an ad in the local newspaper.
Conduct your interviews. Record the interviews if at all possible or take detailed, accurate notes. It is important that the voice of the interviewee -- including dialect and slang -- comes through. Allow for ample time for the interview subject to feel comfortable with you. This is particularly important for sensitive topics.
Transcribe all of your interviews. Pay close attention to pronunciation, grammar and slang. A transcription should be a replica of the spoken word including hesitations such as "ah" or "um," as well as inaccurate pronunciation or word use. In some cases, researchers will clean up the language if it doesn't affect the overall result.
Check your transcription for accuracy with your interview subjects. Although this step isn't always used, most feminist researchers and many social scientists will ask their interviewees to read the transcription to ensure that their words and thoughts were captured accurately.
Analyze the stories. Identify key themes and repeating motifs. What unique words, phrases and metaphors are used? Check for discrepancies between stories. This can be the result of retrospective analysis -- the way in which time and distance from events allows people to rethink the way they happened -- or it may show how an individual's viewpoint affects his understanding of the event.
Create a finished product, such as a paper or book, that includes the academic research you have conducted on the topic, the content analysis and the stories you have gathered.