Reflections on the Collaborative Story Analysis Method to Understand Qualitative Perspectives of Indigenous Syringe Services Program Clients

Many scholars have cautioned that the use of Western research methods is problematic in studies with Indigenous communities given colonialist histories that have exploited Indigenous populations. One solution has been to utilize a Community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR) approach to enhance equity in research partnerships. Employing a CBPR approach, however, does not necessitate the inclusion of Indigenous Research Methods, an additional step that can further benefit studies with their explicit alignment with Indigenous worldviews and values. In a CBPR project aiming to understand Indigenous harm reduction clients' perspectives of barriers and facilitators to opioid use disorder treatment, our research group assembled a multidisciplinary qualitative data analysis team that included diverse tribal community members and academics. Sparse literature was available to guide the use of Indigenous Research Methods for the qualitative data analysis phase of the research. To address this gap, the aims of this process paper are: (1) to describe the implementation of the Collaborative Story Analysis method, and (2) in the Indigenous tradition of honoring and sharing stories, describe our analysis team's experiences and perceptions of implementing this Indigenous Research Method. Through a series of process discussions, the analysis team found that applying the Collaborative Story Analysis method: (1) honored relationships and story, (2) strengthened the depth of analysis, and (3) exhibited tensions when working in a dominant Western culture. Through sharing our team's experiences, the aspiration is that others can use these insights in their own consideration and implementation of an Indigenous Research Method for qualitative data analysis.