Storytelling in Health Behavior Research: An Adolescent Health Risk Data Collection Conundrum

Authors

Robert F. Valois, University of South CarolinaFollow
Sarah H. Kershner, Francis Marion UniversityFollow
Jelani C. Kerr, University of LouisvilleFollow
Andre Walker, D. E. & C. ConsultingFollow
Debra Massey, University of South CarolinaFollow
Larry K. Brown, Brown UniversityFollow
Michael P. Carey, Brown UniversityFollow
Ralph J. DiClemente, New York UniversityFollow
Daniel Romer, University of PennsylvaniaFollow
Peter A. Vanable, Syracuse UniversityFollow

Abstract

Storytelling is as old as humankind predating any other form of oral history. Instructional methodologies used by teachers include fables, parables, legends, myths, and real-life stories conveying important instructional cognition and affect. This paper briefly discusses the scientific foundations and use of storytelling for, effective instruction and shares a real-world story of conflict involving adolescent psychosocial and biological data collection, a principal investigator and a church youth director. A review of literature synthesized storytelling from a variety of scientific perspectives. This health behavior research story is framed via the essential elements of a story and told via the perspective of the principal investigator. Storytelling is effective at the higher levels of the cognitive and affective domains of Bloom & Krathwohl’s Taxonomy of Educational Objectives and rooted in neuroscience, psychology and educational psychology. Personal stories are a relevant strategy connecting learning material with situations outside the classroom. The human brain responds to hearing, reading or viewing a story, similar to real life processing as a genuine life experience. This story is anchored to NIH study protocol, a data collection incident at an African American church and a perplexed PI and research team. The problem-solving process and resolution of the story conflict are described. Implications for instruction in health behavior research, community-based participatory research and program evaluation are discussed. Overall, storytelling increases learner interest, and interaction, making content personally relevant and easier to remember. Storytelling is the bedrock of the learning process and the foundation of the teaching process and profession.

Author ORCID Identifier

Robert F. Valois ORCID 0009-000-4565-0906

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 License

Recommended Citation

Valois, Robert F.; Kershner, Sarah H.; Kerr, Jelani C.; Walker, Andre; Massey, Debra; Brown, Larry K.; Carey, Michael P.; DiClemente, Ralph J.; Romer, Daniel; and Vanable, Peter A. (2025) "Storytelling in Health Behavior Research: An Adolescent Health Risk Data Collection Conundrum," Health Behavior Research: Vol. 8: No. 1. https://doi.org/10.4148/2572-1836.1314