Fieldwork can be fraught with challenges to researchers’ mental health and emotional wellbeing. Reflexivity is an increasingly common practice for researchers considering the impact their identity(ies) and/or values may have on ‘the field’. However, less attention is paid to auto-reflexivity as a counter process of reflecting on the impact data collection has on researchers personally. Considering risks to physical, emotional, and psychological wellbeing is vital for ensuring a robust preliminary risk assessment, mitigating negative impacts during research, and enabling critical reflection during the data analysis stage.
This workshop will cover topics including a historical analysis of the ‘reflexive turn’ within academia; definitions and approaches to auto-reflexivity, and its value to knowledge production; and practical ways to write and incorporate auto-reflexive accounts into academic outputs. The workshop will feature lecture-style content delivery, guest speakers, and opportunities for attendees to create their own auto-reflexive outlines for either personal reflection or academic usage.
This workshop will take place over two half days (5 hours total) on Zoom, on 23 and 24 February 2022, 14:00 – 16:30 both days. It is designed for early- to mid-career qualitative researchers, and may be of particular interest for those conducting fieldwork and/or those studying populations impacted by trauma, violence, oppression, inequality, etc.