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Full-Text Articles in Social Statistics
Writing As A Process Of Inquiry In Autoethnography For Meaning-Making: Reflections And Some Points For Consideration, Niroj Dahal
Writing As A Process Of Inquiry In Autoethnography For Meaning-Making: Reflections And Some Points For Consideration, Niroj Dahal
The Qualitative Report
This article explores writing as a process of inquiry and meaning-making in the autoethnographic tradition, offering reflections on the recursive, emergent, and dialogical/dialectical nature of writing, along with some points for consideration. Drawing on perspectives from qualitative research and narrative inquiry (Riessman, 2008), I argue that autoethnographic writing serves as a method of inquiry and/or discovery, generating ontological, epistemological, and axiological-driven cultural meaning that functions as a site of reflection, interrogation, and re-storying of lived experiences. This recursive, often messy, and reflexive act allows researchers to excavate, analyze, and interpret their lived experiences. Rather than viewing writing as a final-stage …
A Very Positive Review Of Positive Autoethnography: An Introduction To Theory And Practice, Ronald J. Chenail
A Very Positive Review Of Positive Autoethnography: An Introduction To Theory And Practice, Ronald J. Chenail
The Qualitative Report
Emerging from a creative marriage of positive psychology and autoethnography, Freda Gonot-Schoupinsky and Claude-Hélène Mayer (2025) present a wonderful addition to both families with their new book, Positive Autoethnography: An Introduction to Theory and Practice. The authors do an excellent job situating this new methodology in the rich traditions of both foundational areas and present the theoretical and practical qualities of a variety of positive autoethnography derivations. In what might be the most interesting variation of this evolving form of autoethnography is its promise as a form of therapy – a very positive development indeed.
Ethnographic Dilemmas And Reflexive Thoughts Of A Contemplative Jewish Anthropologist, Elazar Ben-Lulu Dr.
Ethnographic Dilemmas And Reflexive Thoughts Of A Contemplative Jewish Anthropologist, Elazar Ben-Lulu Dr.
The Qualitative Report
During ethnographic fieldwork, anthropologists of religion grapple with various dilemmas regarding their participation in the rituals they study. How do they make real-time decisions between full participation and observational distance? Do they manage to participate harmoniously in religious activities even during moments of doubt or questioning of their own faith? Based on my three-year fieldwork in Israeli Reform Jewish congregations, which included observations and in-depth interviews, I demonstrate how my reflexive experience which exposes my internal Jewish dialogue, shaped my patterns of participation and motivation in engaging with various rituals. This autoethnographic description illustrates that my deliberate abstention or avoidance …
Emotion Labor As A Catalyst For Language Teacher Identity Renewal And Well-Being: An Autoethnography, Yasser Aminifard
Emotion Labor As A Catalyst For Language Teacher Identity Renewal And Well-Being: An Autoethnography, Yasser Aminifard
The Qualitative Report
In this autoethnographic study, I explore how my temporary engagement in emotion labor, triggered by teaching and assessment demands imposed by my university, prompted a renewal of my teaching style and enhanced my well-being. Personal journals supplemented by semi-structured interviews with the university’s vice-chancellor, whose expectations precipitated my emotion labor, served as the primary data sources. Drawing on Engeström’s (2015) activity theory, I analyze the contradictions within my university’s activity system that gave rise to my emotion labor, understood here as the management of the negative emotions and tensions arising from discrepancies between teachers’ professional beliefs and workplace demands (Benesch, …
Exploring Giftedness And The Gifted Learner In Education And Beyond: An Autoethnographic Study With Critical Friends, Katrina Reynen-Woodward, Penny N. Round Dr, Pearl Subban, Edwin Creely
Exploring Giftedness And The Gifted Learner In Education And Beyond: An Autoethnographic Study With Critical Friends, Katrina Reynen-Woodward, Penny N. Round Dr, Pearl Subban, Edwin Creely
The Qualitative Report
The concept of giftedness is complex, contested and evolving and may be thus frustratingly challenging to apply in practice. One area of emerging research is understanding the personal experiences of those who identify as gifted in order to better represent the myriad culturally diverse conceptions of giftedness that evolve over a lifetime. In this article, I employ an autoethnographic approach to explore aspects of my adult identity as an atypical learner. This journey unfolds in crafted vignettes that reveal the complexities and multi-dimensionality of my learning and are analysed using Gagné’s Differentiated Model of Giftedness and Talent (DMGT). As I …
Kismet Meets Serendipity: A Personal Reflection On Using Patricia Leavy’S Novel Low-Fat Love To Bring Meaning To College Students, U. Melissa Anyiwo
Kismet Meets Serendipity: A Personal Reflection On Using Patricia Leavy’S Novel Low-Fat Love To Bring Meaning To College Students, U. Melissa Anyiwo
The Qualitative Report
In this article Melissa Anyiwo writes about meeting Patricia Leavy and reading her debut novel, Low-Fat Love. She reflects on the impact this book has had on her personally, and how as a work of social fiction it resonated deeply with her own life experiences. She details using social fiction novels in undergraduate classroom settings, why she has used Low-Fat Love so many times in her courses, the lessons embedded into the novel, and the kinds of self and social reflection the novel stimulates. She references other well-known examples of popular culture in her analysis of meaning-making in Low-Fat …
Stories Of Mothering: Autoethnography Of Generational Sexual Abuse, Karen D. Barley Dr
Stories Of Mothering: Autoethnography Of Generational Sexual Abuse, Karen D. Barley Dr
The Qualitative Report
Being a mother is both rewarding and challenging and most women seek to be the best mother that they can be. Despite best intentions, many find their ability to ‘mother’ has been tempered by their own mothering. This autoethnography encapsulates a series of vignettes describing poignant and melodic memories of my mother; and explores her neglect and inability to protect me because of sexual abuse in her life. Within my family heritage there has been a craven cycle of abuse that has perpetuated a lineage of multigenerational family sexual violence. This cycle has affected the mothers in my family’s ability …
Tale Of Transitions: Experiences Of A First-Year Ph.D. Asian Student In America, Aakash Kumar
Tale Of Transitions: Experiences Of A First-Year Ph.D. Asian Student In America, Aakash Kumar
The Qualitative Report
This autoethnographic account narrates my transition as a first-year Ph.D. student at Texas A&M University, USA. Employing Kurt Lewin’s Change Model, I have structured my narrative around three phases: (a) unfreeze, (b) change, and (c) refreeze. The unfreeze phase details the process of unlearning, adjusting to American academic practices, and the initial cultural shock intensified by homesickness. The change phase describes embracing a new identity, integrating into campus and cultural life, and overcoming academic challenges. Lastly, the refreezing phase involves consolidating new beliefs, perspectives, and skills, solidifying the transition to becoming a more confident and competent scholar. This autoethnographic account …
The Critical Art And Hope Of Unraveling: A Review Of M. F. Alvarez’S Autoethnography Of Suicide And Renewal, Lucy E. Bailey
The Critical Art And Hope Of Unraveling: A Review Of M. F. Alvarez’S Autoethnography Of Suicide And Renewal, Lucy E. Bailey
The Qualitative Report
This review engages with the powerful critical and evocative autoethnography, Unraveling: An Autoethnography of Suicide and Renewal (2024). Written by M. F. Alvarez, Assistant Professor of Communication Studies at the University of New Hampshire, this book narrates the embodied experiences of a young Filipino gay man named Mike whose suffering from childhood trauma slowly escalates into relentless delusions and self-harm that eventually propel him to seek professional help. Alvarez’s beautifully sculpted book captures Mike’s multidimensional psychological life as he lives, observes, and narrates it within structures that medicalize people’s mental health experiences. Dividing his text into story and analysis, Alvarez …
Daughters Of The Diaspora: Using Autoethnography To Interrogate Impositions Of Cultural Conformity, Rose M. Wake Dr, Jane Southcott, Maria Gindidis
Daughters Of The Diaspora: Using Autoethnography To Interrogate Impositions Of Cultural Conformity, Rose M. Wake Dr, Jane Southcott, Maria Gindidis
The Qualitative Report
In this collaborative autoethnography, I (Rose) discuss my personal experience with cultural transmission as cultural conformity. As a cultural hybrid and a daughter of a southern Italian proxy bride I share my narratives with a daughter of a Greek proxy bride (Maria). We find confluences in our experiences and understandings that suggest we are Daughters of the Diaspora. We may not be unique. Using a shared autoethnographical approach between ourselves and a collaborator (Jane), we construct and critique vignettes that capture and interrogate our understandings. This study offers a potential model for further inquiry by women who are daughters of …
Reflection, Reflexivity, Learning And The Influence Of Formalised And Experiential Piano Training, Dorothy Li
Reflection, Reflexivity, Learning And The Influence Of Formalised And Experiential Piano Training, Dorothy Li
The Qualitative Report
This autoethnographic study examines how music learning is influenced by teachers and socio-cultural environments and how this influences not only our musical journeys but the way we view our lives, of the progress we have made, the goals in which we hope to achieve, and the way we perceive we will achieve them. This study explores how my musical background, understanding, learning, music-making abilities, and skills have shaped my present beliefs, attitudes and identity as a musician, educator, and researcher. Focusing on teacher pedagogy and practice, the study reveals how prevailing teacher-centred and didactic approaches to teaching impact the perspectives …
Navigating Rigor: An Autoethnographic Exploration Of Templating And Crystallization, Heather Stewart Dr, Harsh Suri, Deborah Delaney, Vishal Rana Dr
Navigating Rigor: An Autoethnographic Exploration Of Templating And Crystallization, Heather Stewart Dr, Harsh Suri, Deborah Delaney, Vishal Rana Dr
The Qualitative Report
In this autoethnographic exploration, we engage in a dialogic investigation to examine how templating and crystallization shape rigor in qualitative research. The use of templates in qualitative research has been widely used as a means of enhancing rigor in organizational research design yet comes with caveats especially when wanting to push boundaries. With the interplay of templates and crystallization, the researcher is encouraged to apply iterative and reflexive modes. The aim here is to inspire and invite researchers to pursue the multiplicity offered by qualitative methodologies and expand the discipline through authentic, trustworthy, and credible approaches. To explore the development …
Violinmaking Apprenticeship: A Qualitative Investigation Of Learning As Embodied Familiarization, Isaac Calvert, Melissa Noel Hawkley, Samantha Swift
Violinmaking Apprenticeship: A Qualitative Investigation Of Learning As Embodied Familiarization, Isaac Calvert, Melissa Noel Hawkley, Samantha Swift
The Qualitative Report
This case study examines Yanchar, Spackman, and Faulconer’s “Learning as Embodied Familiarization” (hereafter LAEF) framework in the case of a violinmaking apprenticeship. Its purpose is to critically examine each facet of the LAEF framework as manifest in the lived experience of both master and apprentice. While previous studies investigating this framework have used various qualitative and hermeneutic methodologies, none have done so from a prolonged, ethnographic perspective. This perspective comes from an immersive autoethnography in which I apprenticed under a master violinmaker in an informal, one-on-one workshop environment for six months working four to five days a week for three …
Thank You, Tony E. Adams, Stacy Holman Jones, And Carolyn Ellis, For Offering The Handbook Of Autoethnography, Niroj Dahal
Thank You, Tony E. Adams, Stacy Holman Jones, And Carolyn Ellis, For Offering The Handbook Of Autoethnography, Niroj Dahal
The Qualitative Report
I offer this review on autoethnography for various social science disciplines for readers, writers, and novice and experienced researchers. The second edition of the Handbook of Autoethnography, edited by Tony E. Adams, Stacy Holman Jones, and Carolyn Ellis (2022b), includes contributions from more than 50 authors representing more than a dozen disciplines and writing from different parts of the world and published on year 2022. The book attempted to develop, enhance, and broaden qualitative research and autoethnographic inquiry. This review is based on the section on Doing Autoethnography, which provides examples of diverse, considerate, practical, innovative, and applied …
Becoming Culturally Proficient Qualitative Researchers By Crossing Geographic And Methodological Borders, Corinne Brion, Carol Rogers-Shaw
Becoming Culturally Proficient Qualitative Researchers By Crossing Geographic And Methodological Borders, Corinne Brion, Carol Rogers-Shaw
The Qualitative Report
This article explores how novice researchers develop a scholarly identity as they cross geographic, cultural, institutional, identity, and methodological borders throughout their studies, experiencing insider, outsider, and in-betweener positions. It hypothesizes that researchers become more culturally proficient through their fieldwork and self-study. The autoethnographic narratives address the social justice issues encountered by two early career researchers who increased their cultural proficiency and self-awareness as they moved across multiple cultural contexts. By shifting back and forth between insider, outsider, and in-betweener, the researchers became more culturally proficient, developed their voices as researchers, and practiced inclusivity by amplifying marginalized voices. Their self-reflective …
An Autoethnography Of Becoming A Qualitative Researcher: A Book Review, Ekaterina A. Jegede
An Autoethnography Of Becoming A Qualitative Researcher: A Book Review, Ekaterina A. Jegede
The Qualitative Report
Autoethnography has been steadily taking its well-deserved place in the field of the qualitative research in the recent years. As more and more doctoral students consider autoethnography as their research method, the approach is still somewhat mysterious. An Autoethnography of Becoming a Qualitative Researcher offers a rare opportunity to look into one novice researcher’s exploration of becoming a Qualitative Researcher. This review provides an overview of the book, which was published in 2022, as well as an evaluation of its strengths and shortcomings and suggestions for potential audience.
Lead…For Father’S Sake: An Autoethnography On Leadership Growth In Western And Indigenous Contexts, Dau D. Jok
Lead…For Father’S Sake: An Autoethnography On Leadership Growth In Western And Indigenous Contexts, Dau D. Jok
The Qualitative Report
This autoethnography examines the juxtaposition of Western and Indigenous ideas of leadership through my lens and experiences as a refugee, student-athlete, a patriarch in a sub-Saharan African culture, and Soldier. I utilized existing literature on leadership perspectives from multiple regions (McManus & Perruci, 2015) to contextualize the study, revealing insights into differences in leader-follower relationship, decision-making, and responsibilities. Although the Western context, specifically the United States, is predominantly individualistic, I highlight the versatility and plurality of its leadership—sports and the military provide the most potent examples. Leaders in the Western context are judged on their leadership role, whereas Indigenous leaders …
Operationalizing The Constructs Of Privilege And Marginalization: A Developing Researcher’S Autoethnographic Exploration, David D. Perrodin, Richard Watson Todd
Operationalizing The Constructs Of Privilege And Marginalization: A Developing Researcher’S Autoethnographic Exploration, David D. Perrodin, Richard Watson Todd
The Qualitative Report
Although the notions of privilege and marginalization have become a common theme in research, the application of these concepts to extralocal teachers of English (ETEs; i.e., non-local, non-native, or native foreign English teachers who are not citizens of the national community in which they teach) in applied linguistics has been problematic. Much of this research has equated characteristics of marginalization with implicit bias and structural inequity, and privilege as immunity to such prejudice and discrimination, while other work has viewed these constructs as subjective feelings influencing foreign teacher identities. These problematic depictions of privilege and marginalization have resulted in a …
Solipsism As A Challenge Of Doing Autoethnographic Inquiry, Chet Nath Panta, Bal Chandra Luitel
Solipsism As A Challenge Of Doing Autoethnographic Inquiry, Chet Nath Panta, Bal Chandra Luitel
The Qualitative Report
The purpose of this paper is to unpack and critique different forms of solipsism and whether its impacts on autoethnographic inquiry are overly self-referential. This paper offers thoughts on Western and Eastern perspectives on the self. It is argued that autoethnography as a genre and method of inquiry confronts challenges and tensions in terms of epistemology, methodology, and ethical issues, particularly the issues of solipsism as a major challenge. It is often critiqued that autoethnographers are not able to establish a clear theoretical standpoint and the autobiographic texts lack convincing arguments and scholarly rigor. In the meantime, it is not …
Choosing To Thrive: An Autoethnographic Journey Of Cancer, Companionship, And Carrots, Bruce Lilyea
Choosing To Thrive: An Autoethnographic Journey Of Cancer, Companionship, And Carrots, Bruce Lilyea
The Qualitative Report
In this autoethnography, I explore the companionship experience of someone supporting a cancer patient who is endeavoring to thrive in the face of this disease. A wide range of studies has been conducted on the emotional and social issues relating to cancer and specifically to breast cancer. Appropriately, most of the research relating to the personal narrative focuses on the stories of the person who has been diagnosed with cancer, and limited research has highlighted the perspective and experiences of their companions. My primary goals for this autoethnographic research are to: (1) Begin to answer the question: What role do …
“I Finally Marginalized Myself From The Mainstream”: An Autoethnography Study Of Chinese International Student’S Development Of Intercultural Communicative Competence, Yuqi Lin, Hongzhi Zhang
“I Finally Marginalized Myself From The Mainstream”: An Autoethnography Study Of Chinese International Student’S Development Of Intercultural Communicative Competence, Yuqi Lin, Hongzhi Zhang
The Qualitative Report
In the higher education market, the cross-border flow of international students has become increasingly apparent. For Australia, China has been a major student source and most of these students have been enrolled in the higher education sector. Such a phenomenon has rendered the innovation of higher education management necessary, and its socio-cultural influence has attracted attention from the Australian government. This study suggests that international students’ intercultural communicative competence (ICC) deficits could influence their self-perceptions thus compromising their ability to communicate with peers. Using a qualitative research approach, the study explores the extent to which China’s College English influences Chinese …
Informing Without Conforming: Applying Two Frameworks To Enrich Autoethnography, Annmarie Dull
Informing Without Conforming: Applying Two Frameworks To Enrich Autoethnography, Annmarie Dull
The Qualitative Report
This article explores my experiences using two frameworks to guide the design, implementation and reporting of an autoethnography. I used Hughes, Pennington, and Makris’ (2012) framework for translating autoethnography to the American Educational Research Association (AERA) Standards for reporting empirical research to inform the structure, design, and process for the autoethnography, and Milner’s (2007) framework for researchers to examine seen, unseen, and unforeseen dangers to guide my reflection, support reflexivity, and examine the development of a dynamic positionality. In this article, I illustrate how using these frameworks enhanced the rigor and reflexivity of my autoethnographic research.
Unearthing The Artist: An Autoethnographic Investigation, Diane K. Daly
Unearthing The Artist: An Autoethnographic Investigation, Diane K. Daly
The Qualitative Report
In this paper I address how autoethnography was utilized to research the role and value of arts practice research in Western classical music professional training and practice, by a classically trained professional violinist. As a researcher, I use the philosophy and method of Dalcroze Eurhythmics as a framework to excavate the multiple layers of my own practice and investigate whether there is wider potential resonance for other professional performers. I utilize a mixed-mode approach, combining artistic practice with a number of documenting strategies, in particular using autoethnography as a tool for documentation and reflection. I propose key findings concerning the …
Throwing Pebbles While Waiting: An Autoethnographic Exploration Of Mental Health And Colonialism, Kelly Limes Taylor, Rita Sørly, Bengt Karlsson
Throwing Pebbles While Waiting: An Autoethnographic Exploration Of Mental Health And Colonialism, Kelly Limes Taylor, Rita Sørly, Bengt Karlsson
The Qualitative Report
In this article, three scholars jointly investigate questions of Western colonization and mental health. While their areas of interest and experience vary, the authors discuss oppression as a common thread connecting their ideas about mental health and its medicalization. In line with Toyosaki et al. (2009), the researchers did a community autoethnography, performing written dialogue as a dynamic research method. Using a sequential model, Kelly Limes Taylor wrote about her experience, passed it on to Rita Sørly and Bengt Karlsson. Karlsson added his story to the previous writing, and he passed it on to Sørly for further addition of stories. …
“Surveilling The Maternal Body”: A Critical Examination Through Foucault’S Panopticon, Sarah Symonds Leblanc
“Surveilling The Maternal Body”: A Critical Examination Through Foucault’S Panopticon, Sarah Symonds Leblanc
The Qualitative Report
This article analyzes my personal experience of having a maternal body through autoethnographic means. Being pregnant is a time of celebration, but moms experience private and public changes in their bodies. These public changes continue during the postpartum period. Ground in Foucault’s panopticon, this paper explores how the maternal body undergoes self-surveillance as well as surveillance by the proverbial others. I provide vignettes and personal experiences to highlight the panopticon: moms self-surveil but moms are also being surveilled when in the public eye. I make the argument of how the maternal body is a site of surveillance often used to …
Recovery From Relinquishment: Forgiving My Birth Mother. My Journey From 1954 To Today, Christian L. Anderson
Recovery From Relinquishment: Forgiving My Birth Mother. My Journey From 1954 To Today, Christian L. Anderson
The Qualitative Report
Adoptees carry the burden of shame for being “given up, abandoned, unwanted, not right,” and birth mothers carry the weight of shame for succumbing to external pressure to relinquish their children. There is ample literature addressing recovery for both adoptees and birth mothers (Buterbaugh & Soll, 2003; Franklin, 2019; Lanier, 2020; Soll, 2005, 2013, 2014); however, there is little recognition of the co-shame and need for forgiveness. Utilizing autoethnographic methodology, I discuss the issues of misogyny prevalent in the 1950s, the “Baby Scoop Era [BSE],” and my ongoing process of forgiving my birth mother after five decades of rage. This …
Mothers Of Children With Dyslexia Share The Protection, “In-Betweenness,” And The Battle Of Living With A Reading Disability: A Feminist Autoethnography, Christine Woodcock
Mothers Of Children With Dyslexia Share The Protection, “In-Betweenness,” And The Battle Of Living With A Reading Disability: A Feminist Autoethnography, Christine Woodcock
The Qualitative Report
In order to shed personalized light upon some of the confusions surrounding dyslexia, this study draws upon critical disability studies to share the stories of mothers of children with dyslexia. This feminist autoethnography shares the voice of the researcher alongside interviews with 5 participants, all mothers of children with dyslexia, who were in their 40s, and ethnically and socioeconomically diverse. Using interpretative phenomenological analysis, results illustrated that the children inhabited an “in-betweenness” in their disability, in the ways dyslexia was less visual and therefore misunderstood. Likewise, the children presented a great deal of resistance in their learning, which was later …
I Am Still On My Way: The Influence Of Motivation In Transforming Identities, Zijia Cheng
I Am Still On My Way: The Influence Of Motivation In Transforming Identities, Zijia Cheng
The Qualitative Report
This article explores how my identities were transformed from a piano learner and player to a piano teacher and researcher by employing motivation. My musical background, piano learning experience, understanding and knowledge have formed me as a piano learner and player. My musical identities provide motivation which influences the establishment of my new identities. To investigate my background, an autoethnographical method was employed. Through this qualitative study, I found that my identity, interests and choices of research methodologies in music education are influenced by my understandings and beliefs gained from my own learning experience.
Finding A Good Book To Live In: A Reflective Autoethnography On Childhood Sexual Abuse, Literature And The Epiphany, Karen D. Barley Ms
Finding A Good Book To Live In: A Reflective Autoethnography On Childhood Sexual Abuse, Literature And The Epiphany, Karen D. Barley Ms
The Qualitative Report
The topic of Childhood Sexual Abuse (CSA) remains a prevalent issue globally and despite the best efforts of welfare organisations, it would seem that as a society we are no closer to a resolution. CSA is a topic that is discussed in vague terms, but the real impact of CSA on the child is rarely divulged, except behind closed doors. This autoethnographic study traces the life and experiences of CSA of the author and how she used literature and writing as a coping mechanism. Using this powerful methodological tool, the author has been able to expose the implications of the …
Life Is Like A Box Of Derwents - An Autoethnography Colouring In The Life Of Child Sexual Abuse, Karen D. Barley Ms
Life Is Like A Box Of Derwents - An Autoethnography Colouring In The Life Of Child Sexual Abuse, Karen D. Barley Ms
The Qualitative Report
This autoethnographic study contains vignettes from my life of unrelated but interconnected experiences of sexual abuse which profoundly impacted my life through moments of epiphanous transformation. I am using my voice as the researcher and researched to write authentically and evocatively as a way of truth telling about a difficult subject. This autoethnography invites you to walk in the shoes of myself as the storyteller and for that reason the vignettes are deliberately provocative and expose aspects of my life that have previously been hidden. The vignettes weave together stories that have had a profound impact on me which eventually …