Autoethnography

Autoethnography is a form of qualitative research in which an author uses self-reflection and writing to explore their personal experience and connect this autobiographical story to wider cultural, political, and social meanings and understandings. Autoethnography is a vulnerable, self-reflective form of writing used across various disciplines including communication studies, performance studies, education, English literature, anthropology, social work, sociology, history, psychology, marketing, business and educational administration, arts education, health and exercise sciences, among others.

According to Maréchal (2010), “autoethnography is a form or method of research that involves self-observation and reflexive investigation in the context of ethnographic field work and writing” (p. 43). A well-known autoethnographer, Carolyn Ellis (2004) defines it as “research, writing, story, and method that connect the autobiographical and personal to the cultural, social, and political” (p. xix). However, it is not easy to reach a consensus on the term’s definition. For instance, in the 1970s, autoethnography was more narrowly defined as "insider ethnography," referring to studies of the (culture of) a group of which the researcher is a member (Hayano, 1979). Nowadays, however, as Ellingson and Ellis (2008) point out, “the meanings and applications of autoethnography have evolved in a manner that makes precise definition difficult” ..(p. 449).

According to Adams, Jones, and Ellis in Autoethnography Understanding Qualitative Research "Autoethnography is a research method that: Uses a researcher's personal experience to describe and critique cultural beliefs, practices, and experiences. Acknowledges and values a researcher's relationships with others. . . . Shows 'people in the process of figuring out what to do, how to live, and the meaning of their struggles'." (Adams, 2015). "Social life is messy, uncertain, and emotional. If our desire to research social life, then we must embrace a research method that, to the best of its/our ability, acknowledges and accommodates mess and chaos, uncertainty and emotion." (Adams, 2015)

1970s: The term autoethnography was used to describe studies in which cultural members provide insight about their own cultures. Walter Goldschmidt, former professor of anthropology at the University of California in Los Angeles, proposed that all "autoethnography" is focused around the self and reveals, "personal investments, interpretations, and analyses." David M. Hayano was an Associate Professor of Anthropology at California State University in Northridge. As an anthropologist, Hayano was interested in the role that an individual's own identity had in their research. Unlike more traditional research methods, Hayano believed there was value in a researcher "conducting and writing ethnographies of their own people."

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