LIVING RESEARCH: THE EXPERIENCE OF RESEARCHING SELF, OTHER, AND DISCOURSE

Abstract

Abstract Although there is widespread agreement among psychologists that the self needs to be studied in context, how to actually study the interconnections between the self and environment can be challenging. This article describes a process of engaging in socially-embedded research by providing an inside view of the researcher's experience of working with such abstract concepts as culture, discourse, and the self. The background study consisted of three main layers of analysis, including (a) a narrative of one woman's reconstitution of self while recovering from anorexia nervosa, (b) an analysis of dominant discourses surrounding the discourse of recovery and treatment, and (c) a narrative of the research process including the discursive relationships of the researcher. This article focuses on this last phase and discusses the difficulties encountered when attempting to understand one's own relationship to various discourses. The researcher builds on constructivist conceptualizations of the self as the foundation for interpreting the texts selected as the data.