Autoethnography as a Method for Reflexive Research - Term Paper Example

Autoethnography as a Method for Reflexive Research I. Introduction II. Background III. Analysis IV. Discussion V. Future Research & Considerations VI. References 'However far man may extend himself with his knowledge, however objective he may appear to himself-ultimately he reaps nothing but his own biography'-Nietzsche I. Introduction By 1960s itself, postmodernism became a major epistemological path in the social scientific enquiry of knowledge. The influence of postmodernism was not limited to the French academia where it was emerged, on the contrary spread all over the word like prairie fire. What is commonly known as postmodernism is not a homogeneous strand but encompasses a number of academic disciplines. Meantime, it also tries to blur the distinction between so called sciences and the dichotomies between academic disciplines. Most importantly, post modernist approaches have relentlessly attempted to overcome the divide between academic knowledge (so called cultivated knowledge) and popular knowledge (so called uncultivated knowledge). In the poststructuralist paradigm, different streams have emerged such as rhetoric analysis, discursive analysis, ethnomethodology, content analysis and so on in order to comprehend the phenomena under consideration from unconventional planes and levels. Autoethnography too is a poststructuralist approach, which is used mainly for dealing with issues related to self and identity. It is a genre in the making in both academic as well as real life practices. Autoethnography is at present an established approach in a number social science fields such as anthropology, sociology and cultural studies (Anderson, 2006; Etherington, 2004; Roth, 2005). In essence, narrative analysis is what constitutes autoethnography as an independent social science approach. Moreover, autoethnography is broadly multidisciplinary as it synthesises many theoretical tolls from a number of paradigms. According to autoethnographic approach, one could cultivate knowledge or open up a new level of discourse or invent a new plane of theoretical activity through the medium of a personalised style of writing. Here, the personalised style of writing would essentially be linked to or based on established scientific theory. Being part of the postmodern tradition of knowledge-making, autoethnography rejects the prevalent scienticism in almost all the branches of human knowledge (Wall, 2006). On the other hand, theorists of various hues still see autoethnography as deprived of scientific rigour, methodological validity and epistemological legitimacy. Countering this, the proponents of autoethnography assert that critical practices which are established in social science for validating knowledge could also be replicated to autoethnography in order to check its legitimacy and accuracy. In reality, the difference of opinion on the matter of autoethnographic knowledge arises from a different point of departure, i.e. the question that whether a story is merely a piece of a fiction or a legitimate analytical tool for providing a better and crucial understanding of the self vis-à-vis the prevailing culture in its totality. An author, interestingly, could enhances his/her insights into inner processes of reflection based on the practice of writing an autoethnography in relation to extensive consideration of its objectivity and ethics. Autoethnography creates a smooth space which could be used innovatively for exploring the intricacies of self and its positioning in the wider social fabric. In other word, autoethnography allows the building up of a ‘personal’ bridge between the individual self and the larger society. As tool for concrete praxis, autoethnography functions as a form of critical enquiry into oneself and the social conditions in which s/he is placed. Furthermore, autoethnography is a reflexive praxis involving the construction of autobiographic account of phenomena under consideration from the standpoint of the personal life of the research practitioner. Importantly, social constructionist research is brought into effect through the medium autoethnographic practice and thereby, turns itself authentic and legitimate. It also, crucially, helps out the research practitioner to develop a sort of critical consciousness which is absolutely necessary for comprehending what actually exists. Here, the blurring of the distinction between the means of enquiry (methodology to a phenomenon) and the content of enquiry (life story as content) is intended. II. Background Increasingly, sports plays a vital role in the lives of millions from around the world. Today, we live in a globalised world in which athletes have an influential role in making the identities of people across religion, class, race and location. The role of global media in general and twenty four hours sports channels in particular have is considerably important in the making of sports based or related identities among various sections of people from various countries. Dialectically speaking, sports not only create identity for its spectators but also for the players themselves. It has been observed from many corners that athletes do define and redefine their identities in relations to their genre of sports. Therefore, Spakes (1998) defines athletic identity as “the degree to which an individual identifies with the athlete role”. It is an important factor that an athlete not only develops athletic skills physically but also embeds herself/himself in a corresponding mental construct of athletic identity. In addition, Cornelius (1995) indicates that the role of an athlete is a vital social aspect that points out the equilibrium of personal experiences, immediate relationships and the constant pursuit of sports activity or other related exercises exist in the life of any sportsperson. It is important to note that Brewer (1993) asserts that there are ample of psychological benefits associated to sports activity which develops on the basis of athletic identity. On the other hand, too much emphasis on athletics could create adverse effects for the athlete both physically and mentally. Extreme forms of commitment to sports and concurrent training might cause irreversible damage to the mental as well as physical well being of the sportsperson. There are many a athletes who have exclusive athlete identities in which all other identities of that person would recklessly be subsumed by the hegemonic athletic identity. Brewer (1993) is of the view that such exclusive athletic identities emerge as a reaction to specific but difficult occasions such as loss of form, dismissal from the team, injury or retirement. The ‘bonsai-fication’ of other identities in an athlete by the dominance of athlete identity would ultimately lead to multiple levels of identity crises, which could eventually turn out to be personality disorders. Therefore, Wiechman (1997) observes that an exclusivity of the athletic role has a hampering effect on the very development of all other identities within the self. III. Analysis: Athletic Identity as Reflexive Self Concept Self concept involves many processes and patterns through which an individual looks up on critically or uncritically his or her actual competence and worth. Richards (1999) is of the opinion that it is a prevalent tendency among the people to evaluate their own skills and abilities. For Brewer (1993), the amount of worth and competence an individual places on self concept may substantially differ based on the introspective measurement of their own self esteem, affect and motivation. Most importantly, individuals usually do not measure their social positioning from globalised criteria but from the very specific and immediate social and personal conditions around them. It holds too for people with dominant or dominating athletic identities as well because athletic persons are extremely sensitive to their social settings. The construct of multidimensional self-concept also examines if certain roles within an individual are more highly developed than others. Individuals with an exclusive athletic identity have been found to limit the development of their multidimensional self-concept. Moreover, many a theorists have observed that social settings too can considerably influence the performance of an athlete in both long term and short term. Therefore, it could be argued that athletes usually involve in the practice of constructing their own athletic identities based their conscious or unconscious reflexive introspection of the mind set and rigorous analyses of the social setting around them. IV. Discussion: Reflexivity and Autoethnography of Exclusive Athletic Identity A good number of athletes who remains in sports life for long time are quite often strongly influence by a family member or a neighbourhood friend. It is amply clear as Dorota, who is a female judo sportsperson and, interviewded by her own boyfriend who, in turn, is a member of the research group, asserts that “All of my family was involved with some kind of sport, my mum track and field, my father fencing, my brother a bit of basketball or even my grand mum… my friend she was the influence…she start to practice judo first and I just come to one training and I just asked the coach you know? to take part of some training, my coach said yeah yeah…you can try …as much as you can and I stay for another 16 years”. What it reveals the social conditions from which an athlete is coming up have an important role in the very making of that person as an athlete. Theoretically speaking, it is due to the simple fact that one becomes an athlete only after constructing a mental image of an athlete. In other words, for actually being an athlete, one has to conceive or (re)define himself/herself as an athlete. Also, there is another underlying but overarching implication that the experiences in the childhood have a determining effect in the making of one’s exclusive athletic identity. In addition, a high percentage of elite athletes begins their sport career at relatively very early age. It was apparent when Dorota ‘proudfully’ stated that “Ummm I was nine years old”. It would also be true for thousands of athletes from around the world. It has been suggested that athletics can provide sport performers with valuable life skills and psychological benefits that can help them cope with the personality development establishing independence, solidifying a firm identity(Cornelius, 1995). As we can observe Dorota consider her coach as an important psychological resource and a crucial reference in order to develop some important features of her personality and self-identity (e.g. the physical self-identity).The coach was also her main support for the learning of life skill to apply and manage other areas of her life. Therefore, it is inevitable for Dorota to believe that “my coach was very involved …of…my personality…which…means gives more possibility to to believe on myself ,to get more… confidence with…whatever I was doing, wasn’t only about the sport was… about physical aspects …and as well psychological…my personality or identity was…becoming, I can say ,like a professional…”. Not coaches, sports managers, team counselors or even mentors could play substantial role in the construction n of the personality and athletic identity of a sportsperson. Athletics is also a highly time consuming activity (Richardson, 1999). It may a negatively affect the wider socialization of the sportsperson. Justifying this assertion, Doroty mentions that “later on as judo become a little bit more serious or umm professional…training… were were much...harder..longer…was about five times a week..one and half and two hours and plus many times we were…in the sport camp when the training was even twice a day, sometimes even three times a day”. At this juncture, it become clear that there would be no distinction between Doroty’s athletic career and personal life are not demarcated with strict boundaries. This is the essence what has been argued as the subjugation of all other identities by an overarching athletic identity. Discussing the autoethnographic account of Doroty, thus helps us to shed light on important aspects of the life of an athlete. Autoethnography is the most appropriate method for delineating the complexities of athletic life and exclusive athletic identity. V. Future Research and Considerations Future researches through the medium of autoethnographic on athletic life and athletic identity must reveal the hidden issues if gender disparity. Gender based differences could be an excellent field of study as there are ample of disparities and particularities between male and female athletes. Also, extensive researches on a global scale could shed light on the relationship between positive self concepts based on athletic life and athletic identities. The psychological aspects of athletic identity and its role in the larger life situation between of the athlete also need to be extensively examined. The question of theoretical alignment of autoethnography with appropriate theoretical school must also be explored. And, the positioning of theoretical schools within autoethnographic approach such as paradigm, ontology, epistemology, axiology and rhetorical structure must be actualized for the proper conceiving of the conceptual framework of autoethnography. References Anderson, L. (2006). Analytic autoethnography. Journal of Contemporary Ethnography, 35(4), 373-395. Barresi, J., & Juckes, T. J. (1997). Personology and the narrative interpretation of lives. Journal of Personality, 65(3), 693-719. Brewer, B. W., VanRaalte, J. L., & Linder, D. E. (1993). Athletic Identity: Hercules’ musclesor Achilles heel? International Journal of Sport Psychology, 24, 237-254. Cornelius, A. (1995). The relationship between athletic identity, peer and faculty socialization, and college student development. Journal of College Student Development, 36, 560-573. Richards, S., & Aries, E. (1999). The Division III student athlete: academic performance, campus involvement, and growth. Journal of College Student Development, 40, 211-218. Wiechman, S. A. & Williams, J. (1997). Factors affecting athletic identity and expectations in the high school student athlete. Journal of Sport Behavior, 20, 199-211. Read More