Purpose,Practice,and (Discovery) Process

Abstract

This article represents a collection of discoveries influenced by academic mentors, insightful research methods courses, and personal introspection that together demonstrate how I have come to make sense of, and apply self-reflection as a methodological practice of qualitative inquiry. To begin, I share a sequence of brief narrative excerpts, influenced by the scholarship of Dr. H. L. “Bud” Goodall, that demonstrates the self-reflexive writing process as narrative inquiry. I position my story as a reflexive piece of comedy writing (and eventual performance) alongside historical narratives of diverse death rituals to demonstrate how the process of self-reflection makes complex cultural knowledge accessible to both authors and readers. Next, I explore the meaning of self-reflection as method—its purpose, characteristics, and formal and informal practices. The article concludes with a short discussion of the rewards of self-reflection as qualitative inquiry to researchers and audiences alike.