Locating the researcher in the research: personal narrative and reflective practice

Abstract

[Abstract]: This paper illustrates how personal narrative and reflective practice are used as the basis for an ethnographic account that locates the researcher in the research endeavour. It provides an overview of narrative inquiry as a means of reflective practice. Two narrative approaches - life history/autobiographical narrative and autoethnography - are briefly introduced and evidence is presented of the application of these approaches in a number of discipline areas. This serves to highlight the relative dearth of literature reporting the use of autoethnography in particular in the counselling and psychology fields, either in terms of research or practical applications. After outlining the background of the author's doctoral study, the paper illustrates how autoethnography is employed as an example of reflective practice. Concluding remarks address a reflection of the experience of writing the paper, including reference to criteria for evaluating autoethnographic writing.