Autoethnography as Method (Developing Qualitative Inquiry) [Paperback]

Heewon V. Chang (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 1598741233 | ISBN-13: 978-1598741230 | Publication Date: March 31, 2008

This methods book will guide the reader through the process of conducting and producing an autoethnographic study through the understanding of self, other, and culture. Readers will be encouraged to follow hands-on, though not prescriptive, steps in data collection, analysis, and interpretation with self-reflective prewriting exercises and self-narrative writing exercises to produce their own autoethnographic work. Chang offers a variety of techniques for gathering data on the self—from diaries to culture grams to interviews with others—and shows how to transform this information into a study that looks for the connection with others present in a diverse world. She shows how the autoethnographic process promotes self-reflection, understanding of multicultural others, qualitative inquiry, and narrative writing. Samples of published autoethnographies provide exemplars for the novice researcher to follow.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“This book is written by a competent ethnographer who has studied the role of the self in research, and the relationship of self to culture, and desires to provide that knowledge for those who want to include the self in their ethnographic research. This book will be useful for ethnographers who work from a traditional realist perspective and who want to reflect on personal experience in a systematic way. It is especially helpful for those who desire a methods cookbook to guide them. It thoroughly and insightfully covers all the steps for doing the kind of cultural analysis that includes experiences of the self that Chang advocates.” —Biography

"The author's writing is so clear and accessible that her first chapters could easily be used as an introduction to the entire self-narrative phenomenon. Beyond Chang's excellent overview, her specific intention is to provide a guidebook on how to conceive an construct a viable autoethnographic study, with detailed sections successively focusing on initial planning, data, collection, management, analysis, and interpretation, In the process she provides a usable bibliography, practical exercises, a schematic chart for visually organizing a self-study and a model example of an autoethnography. Useful as both an overview of a widely far-flung field and as a workbook for constructing a personal autoethnography. Highly recommended." —CHOICE Magazine

Heewong Chang’s Autoethnography as Method is a superb introduction to the genre for qualitative researchers. Chang foregrounds the work by eloquently describing the complex interrelationship between culture and identity, then provides intriguing ways of reflecting on and exploring one’s self through memory work, introspective analysis, and evocative writing. Chang demystifies the processes of creating autoethnography by providing readers clear guidance, rigorous expectations, and poignant examples from her own life story. This book is essential reading for both novices and seasoned researchers in the field.

"Richly nuanced and shedding new light on the varied and often quite fluid ways in which self and others connected to self interact, connect, and disconnect within the realm of culture, Chang’s text invites researchers to include themselves as a research focus and to consider autoethnography as a tool to explore their own perspectives and to arrive at a deeper understanding of others. Those who are willing to take the first step will find a treasure trove of writing exercises and specific strategies to choose from. The result might be a short reflection on a single topic or a book length study that interprets one’s life experiences from a cultural perspective. Autoethnography not only offers a way to make sense of one’s own life, but it also has the potential to illuminate key themes and common understandings that can lead to a deeper appreciation of the diversity and complexity of human interaction."

-Carol Kennett, International Journal of Multicultural Education

“Chang offers new researchers and novice anthropologists an excellent starting place. Her book can facilitate the journey for those exploring research practices and deciding how, and in what capacity, to intentionally center themselves in their work. Chang’s writing style is clear, and her tone makes the book accessible to nonacademics. Chang clearly expresses the conceptual and methodological understanding of the self as a window into cultural experience, and the self-transformative power of this process.”
—Kate Mullin, Qualitative Health Research

About the Author

Heewon Chang is Associate Professor of Education at Eastern University. Trained as an educational anthropologist, she has conducted ethnographic studies of adolescents in the United States and Korea, one of which was published in Adolescent Life and Ethos: An Ethnography of a US High School. Her other research interests include autoethnography, multicultural education, cultural identity, and gender issues. She founded, and serves as Editor-in-Chief of, two open-access online journals--Electronic Magazine of Multicultural Education and International Journal of Multicultural Education.

Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Left Coast Press, Inc. (March 31, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1598741233
• ISBN-13: 978-1598741230
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.9 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #164,293 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars sound, but ultimately uninspiring, August 9, 2008

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textile fiend (Auckland, New Zealand) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Autoethnography as Method (Developing Qualitative Inquiry) (Paperback)

Heewon Chang has written a good overview of the current state of autoethnography, but has failed to add anything to it.

She starts with a broad outline of what culture is, and how the individual must always sit within culture. Then she examines the growing interest in self-narratives, and some ways these have been used in social sciences. In Chapter Three Chang narrows her focus down to autoethnography, and she uses Ellis & Bochner's (2000) extensive list of labels that have been applied to autoethnography. I found this chapter the most useful, as it discusses a number of researchers working in autoethnography (although Change explicity makes the case that she is not attempting a full literature review).

I think Chang's take on auto-ethnography is summed up by her statement that "mere self-exposure without profound cultural analysis and interpretation leaves this writing at the level of descriptive autobiography or memoir" (p. 51). Chang would reject Sela-Smith's (2002) autoethnographical approach as being too personal, and not analytical enough. Chang argues that autoethnography must always be brought back to the context of a wider cultural interpertation, and the strength of her point of view perhaps places her slightly askew from the positioning of Ellis and Bochner (whom she quotes extensively).

So far so good, but it was the remainder of the book which was the biggest let-down for me. Part two is about collecting ethnographic data, and part three is about turning data into autoethnography (this section includes information about coding and analyzing data from a traditional qualitative research p.o.v., which gives you an idea of the direction she is appraoching autoethnography from). Throughout Chang gives many data collecting and writing exercises, making this akin to an autoethnographic workbook. In the text, and in the appendices, Chang gives extensive examples of her own autoethnographic writing.

I admire Ruth Behar's work, and particularly her point that to write work that has the ability to resonate with other's experiences, one must be willing to be a "vulnerable observer" who is painfully open. Sela-Smith states that a heuristic self-search inquiry requires an autoethnographer who is "focussed on the I-who-feels and addresses the exeriencing self... as a way to access knoweldge that is significant to human experience". Unfortunately I found Chang the least vulnerable observer possible, and giving no sense of being in a self-dialog with an I-who-feels. She clearly has a fascinating life history, with relationships that cross many cultural boundaries. Sadly her autoethnographic writing gives no sense of what it would be like to experience this. By leaving out any sense of a lived life I am unable to draw wider culutral interpretations from them. I am unable to sense if my own cross-cultural experiences are similar to hers, as she doesn't self-disclose enough for me to gain a sense of any real experiences.

On pages 164 and 165 Chang gives an example of autoethnographic writing about her mother; such a potentially loaded and emotionally charged topic! Yet Chang's writing leaves me without any real understanding of what she experienced. She states "[my mother] juggled immense multiple roles in her life as a professor, church officer, mother, daughter-in-law, and friend. So her balancing act was a natural sight to my childhood eyes. I occasionally felt inconvenienced by her busy involvement in many different things and absences during the day and some evenings every week. My stay-at-home nurturing grandmother filled the void, which sufficiently satisfied my basic needs".

Now, is it just me, or does it seem to you that behind the phrase "sufficiently satisfied my basic needs" is a piece of real autoethnographical writing just jostling to get out? I imagine that in a Korean-American culture it must have involved some internal conflict trying to balance an intellectual and cultural understanding of the roles her mother needed to play, with Chang's own emotional needs and desires. I think that effective autoethnographic writing should have given an example of a specific time this caused internal (if not external) conflict, and how she felt about it. But then perhaps I am wrong; perhaps Chang never had any emotional qualms about her mother, and she truly did receive all the emotional attention she wished for; however from this writing I cannot tell. If she experienced nothing but feelings of happiness, care and fulfillment as a child then I would have liked to have read about them too.

In contrast Chang includes a marvellous piece of autoethnographic writing in Appendix F, by Jaime J. Romo, about his experience of identity development through school, college, and professional life. I found this writing painfully open, and very moving, and it gave me real insight into some of the cultural capital issues that are present in my own multi-cultural society.

Romo's writing highlighted the disappointment I experienced with the rest of Chang's book; a lack of the "rich details" which Chang herself argues are the essence of autoethnography. I can think of lots of reasons why Chang has not self-examined in her writings, however this lack means the book fell flat for me.

I had high hopes for this book, and I think there is definitely room for someone else to attempt this same overview of the field, bringing together all the strands from other researchers and adding their own stories. Until then I recommend researchers interested in this methodology stick with Ellis, Bochner, Behar, and Sela-Smith.

0 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Autoethnography as Method by Heewon V. Chang, October 31, 2008

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S. M. Bardy (Adelaide South australia) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Autoethnography as Method (Developing Qualitative Inquiry) (Paperback)

As a PhD student of hospice nursing and using Autoethnography as a research methodology I welcome literature discussing this 'new ethnographic' approach. This book is one that is a valuable addition to my collection of references one I frequently access as the methodology chapter evolves.