Autoethnography – Towards the Humanization of Science

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Abstract

The subject of the issue are methodological and applicational aspects of autoethnography. The articles included in Autoethnography – Technique, Method, or New Paradigm? are put in two parts: Part I: Paradigmatic and Methodological Problems of Autoethnography and Part II. Applicational Dimension of Autoethnography. The intention of the editor was to elucidate the tension between evocative and analytic autoethnography – two main streams of autoethnographical practices – by referring to the statements of key personalities representing these two paradigms: Carolyn Ellis and Leon Anderson. The effect of those efforts is a unique interview with Carolyn Ellis and the first Polish translation of the key article by Leon Anderson in which he introduces the term “analytic autoethnography” to scientific workflow.

Autoethnography contributes to the research process the sensitivity of the researcher and allows to understand the role of investigator’s reflexivity in the process of knowledge production. No other sociological method gives possibility of revealing multidimensional position of the researcher in the research process. This way, we can see autoethnography as a part of research process validation and legitimization, or - in a wider sense - a major constituent of the humanization of science process. This issue is a response to growing interest in autoethnography as a research practice, as well as an attempt to fill publication gap about autoethnography in Polish literature.