AUTOETHNOGRAPHY

By Paul Bernal
University of the Incarnate Word

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Confusion- Whos on 1st

Definition of Autoehnography & Ethnography

Review

Historical (the roots) Development

Methods of Data Collection

Data analysis

Methods of Presentation

Example

Questions

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Whos on 1st?

I am I interview someone?
Is someone interviewing me?
Is this like an autobiography?
Do I interview myself?

Definition
According to Marchal (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 terms 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).

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Ethnography is commonly referenced as a key qualitative approach to studying the rules, norms,
and acts of resistance associated with cultural groups. Hughes (2012)
Consequently, the hybrid term, autoethnography, is intended to name a form of critical self-study
in which the researcher takes an active, scientific, and systematic view of personal experience in
relation to cultural groups identified by the researcher as similar to the self (i.e., us) or as others
who differ from the self (i.e., them). Hughes (2012)
Autoethnography is a form of self-reflection and writing that explores the researcher's personal
experience and connects 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, anthropology,
sociology, history, psychology, marketing, business and educational administration, arts
education, health and exercise sciences, among others.

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Qualitative research method that uses:

Researchers personal experience to describe and critique cultural beliefs and practices, and
experiences.

Acknowledges and values a researchers relationship with others

Uses deep careful self-reflection (reflexivity)

Shows people in the process of figuring out what to do, how to live, and the meaning of their
struggles

Balances Methodological rigor, emotion, and creativity

Strives for social justice and to make life better

Autoethnography, Understanding Qualitative Research (Adams, Holman Jones, & Ellis, 2015)

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Historical (the roots) Development

In 1975 the term was first introduced by Anthropologist Karl Heider

During the 1970s and early 1980s Carolyn Ellis began writing autoethnography

In 2004, Elis wrote a story about how autoethnography gained popularity

Carolyn Ellis and Arthur P. Bochner are credited for the increased interest in the research method

Autoethnography is still an emerging method

In 2006 AERA tried to create an a standard for reporting Empirical Social Science Research in AERA
publication.

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Methods of Data Collection

Data Collection:

Self-Observation

Memory (recollection and reflection)

Visual tools and drawings to help recall events/experiences

Photographs

Field Notes/Journals

Autoethnography also recognizes the role of the researcher, the relationship between the
researcher and participants, and how this relationship can influence data collection.
Hughes(2012)

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Data Analysis

Interpreting data for cultural meaning

Connecting feelings/experiences to the cultural (gain better understanding)

Going back from self to culture

Why does a self perceive, think, behave, and evaluate the way it does and how does the self relate to
others in thoughts and actions (Chang, 2007)?

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Methods of Presentation
Poems

Narratives
Plays
Video
Drama
Dialogues
Photographs

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Example
Just passed my defense on 10.19.15
This is my abstract:
The purpose of this auto-ethnographic study is to describe the academic journey of a twice exceptional
(gifted) Black male with dyslexia. The central research question is: What were some of the stories along
my academic pathway that seem significant? The research design positioned me inside the culture in
which I am the investigator and also the topic of examination. The research methodology employed for
this analysis was auto-ethnography because it is through the intersection between narrative inquiry and
ethnography that I am able to articulate my lived experiences using a transformative framework that
provided a deeper understanding of how race, gender, giftedness and dyslexia have influenced my
academic journey. An analysis of my journey leads to the finding that it is the intersection of identity
categories that must be attended to in order to support the learning of students with triple-identity. The
significance of this dissertation is that it has the potential to help teachers across a wide array of
academic disciplines who are interested in meeting the needs of students who are marginalized and
underperforming in school, particularly Black males who are gifted and have dyslexia.

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Example
Three different sets of written records are kept. In the field abbreviated immediate notes are recorded in
a reporters or shorthand notebook. At home in tranquillity these are written up into a full narrative
account, with as much amplification about events, interactions, comments and the setting as I can
recall, and choose to add. My personal reflections on the research are kept separate, in a different set of
notebooks that I call my out of the field diary. The distinction between the fieldwork, and the personal
engagement, is thus physical as well as intellectual and emotional.

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