A Note on Ethical Issues in the Use of Autobiography in Sociological Research

Abstract

This research note argues that in discussions about autobiography as a research tool in sociology there has been relative neglect of ethical issues. It suggests that the nature of autobiography as a form of personal document requires a re-examination of ethical principles important to sociology and feminist research practice. This paper aims to begin to approach some of these issues through an analysis of the complexities of autobiography's methodological relationship to the private and public domains, and, in particular, of the nature of the relationship between researcher and subject(s). The problematic relationship of the autobiographer, or self, to other subjects in accounts is examined and it is argued that feminists' ethical concerns with power relations in research remain pertinent in the production and use of autobiography.