An Auto-Ethnographic Study of the Disembodied Experience of a Novice Researcher Doing Qualitative Cancer Research

Datos Bibliográficos

ID4721132
AutoresCharlotte Benoot (0000-0003-2419-1318, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels, Belgium, autor de correspondencia), Johan Bilsen (0000-0001-8371-4612, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels, Belgium)
Año2016
Volumen26
Número4
Páginas482-489
Fecha de publicación2016-03-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaQualitative Health Research (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 1049-7323 • E-ISSN: 1552-7557
EditorialSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/1049732315616625
PMID26612885
OpenAlexW2313684917
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas32
Referencias citadas25

Qualitative health researchers who explore individuals' experiences of illness are exposed to an emotionally demanding work environment. After doing 49 interviews with cancer patients living alone, I was confronted with serious emotional distress that kept me from my work for almost 6 months. Because there is a need for discussion within academia about the emotional risks encountered by researchers, I used auto-ethnography to explore what I call the "three disembodied experiences" I encountered during the research: disembodiment linked with suppression of emotions, disembodiment linked with distal traumatization, and disembodiment linked with overidentification with the participant. I illustrate these concepts with personal stories of doing research with cancer patients living alone. I conclude that writing down experiences of doing qualitative research in an embodied and reflexive way holds two advantages: It can protect the researcher and enhance the quality of research

Ethnography · Qualitative research · Sociology · Anthropology · Participatory Visual Research Methods · Psychology · Qualitative Research Methods and Applications · Qualitative Research Methods and Ethics