« Oral history research is a method in which personal stories are elicited from people over their life course. It is a specific method of interviewing that requires the researcher and participants to spend a long time together in a process of telling and listening to life stories. Storytelling is a fundamental aspect of human experience; meaning is conveyed through storytelling. This way of passing on knowledge has allowed researchers to develop research techniques that provide an opportunity for people to make their voices heard. An oral history often emphasizes a particular part of an individual’s life—for example, work life or a specific function in some aspect of community life. The emphasis of oral history is on a specific historical juncture, event, period or location which is memorized by individuals. »

David Coghlan, Mary Brydon Miller dirs., The SAGE Encyclopedia of Action Research, Londres : Sage, 2014, p.574