Susan Chase’s research focuses on developments in narrative inquiry, a type of qualitative research that explores the narrative character of social life—the stories people tell to make sense of their lives, the stories organizations tell to explain what they are doing, and the stories institutions generate to legitimate everyday practices. Her book, Learning to Speak, Learning to Listen: How Diversity Works on Campus, uses the methods of narrative inquiry to explore undergraduates' engagement with diversity issues on one particular campus (not TU). Based on interviews with students, faculty, staff, and administrators, as well as content analyses of the student newspaper and student government minutes, she shows how some students at predominantly white City University (a pseudonym) have learned to speak and listen to each other across social differences, especially race. She argues that learning to speak and listen in this way exemplifies the educational process itself—opening one's mind, thinking critically, and re-considering taken-for-granted ideas.

Understanding narratives in various institutional contexts, such as higher education