Learning Autoethnography: A Review of Autoethnography: Understanding Qualitative Research

German theologian Meister Eckhart once wrote "A human being has so many skins inside, covering the depths of the heart. We know so many things, but we don't know ourselves." If this statement is to be taken literally, our understanding of ourselves is limited by the fact that we create layers that mask our true natures. As a graduate student, a Statistics professor posted a poster on the wall that read "In God we trust, all others must bring data." The professor refused to allow any other types of research to be used for seminar projects because of the supposed "lack of credibility and generalizability" among non-sanctioned research paradigms. Similar statements can be found in quantitative and qualitative journals in which they reject the notion that self-reflection can add validity to a study. Accordingly, autobiographical and autoethnographical studies elicit little support in certain academic circles. However, since the 1970s, some researchers have begun to challenge the status quo by utilizing personal narratives as a rich primary source to inform a study (Chang, 2008). In Autoethnography: Understanding Qualitative Research, authors Tony E. Adams, Stacy Jones, and Carolyn Ellis explain how autoethnographic research "enable us to live and to live better" and argue that "stories allow us to lead more reflective, more meaningful, and more just lives" (p. 1). Adams, Jones, and Ellis contend that through careful self-examination, we are able to understand, empathize, and connect our personal experiences to others. Thus, our lived experiences contribute to the growing social narratives at work in society. Autoethnography is a relatively new research paradigm that offers reflective narratives to elucidate the researcher's personal experiences to analyze cultural beliefs, practices, and the social experiences that influence our identities (Wall, 2008). Throughout their study, the authors offer personal stories to illustrate their own understanding of and the importance of autoethnography as a valid and important research tool. Ultimately, they contend that the research method's goal is to create a symmetry between "intellectual and methodological rigor, emotion, and creativity" as well as seeking "social justice and to make life better" (p. 2). Choosing a theoretical framework for any study is daunting. Researchers take great care in selecting which approach will best suit their investigations. As such, the authors provide a list of arguments why autoethnography is a valid and useful tool to investigate how "acknowledge how their own identities, lives, beliefs, feelings, and relationships influenced their approach and their reporting" of data. (p. 22). This contextualization provides a platform for the researcher to relate the subject being studied and their interpretation to the broader discussion. Adams, Jones, and Ellis provide personal examples to illustrate how their own lives have influenced their research. Again, all three authors provide the connection of their own experiences to others'. Unlike other Social Science disciplines (history, anthropology, etc.) which promotes the detachment of the researcher from the participants or subjects under study, either by time or the notion that personal immersion into the field would violate the integrity of the study, autoethnographers begin by examining one's personal views or beliefs on a particular subject. Adams, an openly gay professor, utilizes his experiences to illustrate the issue of "coming out" to friends and family to examine the experiences of others. Interestingly, Jones and Ellis also provide further parallels between their own self-examinations to clarify that a researcher can use their own lives as a metaphorical sounding board to juxtapose their experiences with others. The authors correctly assert that an autoethnographer must be careful not to become so identified by a particular field of inquiry that they will become "typecast" into an academic genre. …