The objective of this article if to analyze different applications of a narrative-biographical tool based on three qualitative inquiries on the transition to adulthood, the evolution of young people’s social participation and the career paths of female university professors. We explain how the use of a life history calendar, combined with a narrative interview, consolidates the construction and analysis of data on subjective and objective time. Secondly, we analyze how the calendar becomes a tool to elicit information, allowing us to jointly construct biographical data in awareness of the reflexivity of the inquiry subjects. Finally, we discuss the contribution of this approach from the perspective of critical realistic ontology.