Autoethnography: The Science of Writing Your Lived Experience

Abstract

This methods column guides health care professionals engaged in design practice to write about their experiences. But it is more than an autobiographical approach. Autoethnographic writing is a scientific method which contextualizes experiences in cultural, social, political and personal history. Through an evidence based approach, professionals in academic, practice, and research can bring their past experiences to a place in the present, and provide direction for future professionals. The six steps outlined here: selecting an approach; ensuring ethical responsibility; deciding theoretical underpinnings; assembling and gathering data; reflecting and analyzing; and disseminating work with supporting drawings, photography, and other evocative formats. With autoethnography our current generation of leaders can not only better understand their own work, but plan for new directions in their future practices and those of the next generation of scholars and practitioners.