This article extends the discussion of the subjective and positioned nature of the researcher in ethnography by examining how a cancer survivor conducting fieldwork in an oncology clinic shapes and is shaped by the experience. Narratives of lived experience interrupt the academic essay to demonstrate my dynamic understanding of the clinic and the connections between my experiences and those of the patients and staff. I explore how my experiences with cancer shape how I understand the patients and staff; how viewing the clinic from multiple viewpoints affects my understanding of it; and how this process influences my understanding of my own experiences as a cancer survivor.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Behar, R. (1996). The vulnerable observer: Anthropology that breaks your heart. Boston: Beacon.
2.
Bennett, K.C. & Irwin, H. (1997). Shifting the emphasis to "patient as central:" Sea change or ripple on the pond. Health Communication, 9, 83-93.
3.
Bochner, A.P. (1994). "Perspectives on inquiry II: Theories and stories ." In M. Knapp & G. R. Miller (Eds.), The handbook of interpersonal communication (2nd ed.), (pp. 21-41). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
4.
Bochner, A.P. (1997). It's about time: Narrative and the divided self . Qualitative Inquiry, 4(3), 418-438.
5.
Bochner, A.P., & Ellis, C. (1996). Introduction: Talking over ethnography. In C. Ellis & A. P. Bochner (Eds.), Composing ethnography: Alternative forms of qualitative writing (pp. 13-45). Walnut Creek, CA: AltaMira.
6.
Borges, S., & Waitzkin, H. (1995). Women's narratives in primary medical care encounters . Women and Health, 23(1), 29-56.
7.
Brison, S.J. (1997). Outliving oneself: Trauma, memory, and personal identity. In D. T. Meyers (Ed.), Feminists rethink the self (pp. 12-39). Boulder, CO: Westview Press.
8.
Clark, C. (1997). Misery and company: Sympathy in everyday life . Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
9.
Denzin, N.K. (1997). Interpretive ethnography: Ethnographic practices for the 21st century. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
10.
DeVault, M.L. (1990). Talking and listening from women's standpoint: Feminist strategies for interviewing and analysis. Social Problems, 37, 96-116.
11.
Ellingson, L.L., & Buzzanell, P.M. (in press). Listening to women's narratives of breast cancer treatment: A feminist approach to patient satisfaction with physician-patient communication. Health Communication.
12.
Ellis, C. (1993). "There are survivors:" Telling the story of sudden death. Sociological Quarterly, 34, 711-730.
13.
Ellis, C. (1997). Evocative autoethnography: Writing emotionally about our lives. In W. Tierney & Y. Lincoln (Eds.), Representation and the text: Reframing the narrative voice (pp. 115-139). Albany, NY: SUNY Press.
14.
Ellis, C., Kiesinger, C.E., & Tillman-Healy, L.M. (1997). Interactive interviewing: Talking about emotional experience. In R. Hertz (Ed.), Reflexivity and voice (pp. 119-149). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
15.
Fine, M.G. (1988). What makes it feminist? Women's Studies in Communication, 11, 18-19.
16.
Fine, M. (1994). Working the hyphens: Reinventing the self and other in qualitative research. In N. Denzin and Y. Lincoln (Eds.), Handbook of qualitative research (pp. 70-82). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
17.
Fisher, S. (1984). Doctor-patient communication: A social and micro-political performance. Sociology of Health and Illness, 6,1-29.
18.
Fisher, S. (1986). In the patient's best interest: Women and the politics of medical decisions. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press.
19.
Frank, A.W. (1995). The wounded storyteller: Body, illness and ethics . Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
20.
Gabbard-Alley, A.S. (1995). Health communication and gender: A review and critique. Health Communication, 7, 35-54.
21.
Gravel, A. (1997, May). The ideological functions of autoethnography. Paper presented at the Autobiographies, Rhetorical Performance, and Memory Conference, Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
22.
Jackson, M. (1989). Paths toward a clearing: Radical empiricism and the ethnographic inquiry. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.
23.
Lindlof, T.R. (1995). Qualitative communication research methods. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
24.
Mies, M. (1983). Towards a methodology for feminist research. In G. Bowles & R D. Klein (Eds.), Theories of women's studies (pp. 117-139). London: Routledge Kegan Paul.
25.
Mishler, E.G. (1986). Research interviewing: Context and narrative. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
26.
North, C.L. (1996, November). Narratives as health communication research. Paper presented at the 1996 Annual Speech Communication Association Conference, San Diego, California.
27.
Northrup, C. (1994). Women's bodies, women's wisdom: Creating physical and emotional health and healing. New York: Bantam.
28.
Paget, M.A. (1993). A complex sorrow: Reflections on cancer and an abbreviated life. Philadelphia : Temple University Press.
29.
Parsons, T. (1978). Action theory and the human condition. New York: Free Press.
30.
Reinharz, S. (1992). Feminist methods in social research. New York: Oxford University Press.
31.
Richardson, L. (1994). Writing: A method of inquiry. In N. Denzin & Y. Lincoln (Eds.), Handbook of qualitative research (pp. 516-529). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
32.
Rosaldo, R. (1989). Culture and truth: The remaking of social analysis . Boston: Beacon Press.
33.
Rothman, B.K. (1986). Reflections: On hard work. Qualitative Sociology, 9, 48-53.
34.
Sandelowski, M. (1991). Telling stories: Narrative approaches in qualitative research. Image: The Journal of Nursing Scholarship, 23(3),161-66.
35.
Sharf, B.F. (1993). Reading the vital signs: Research in health care communication. Communication Monographs, 60, 35-41.
36.
Spitzack, C., & Carter, K. (1989). Doing research on women's communication: Perspectives on theory and method. Norwood, NJ: Ablex.
37.
Tedlock, B. (1991). From participant observation to the observation of participation: The emergence of narrative ethnography. Journal of Anthropological Research, 41, 69-94.
38.
Vanderford, M.L., Jenks, E.B., & Sharf, B.F. (1997). Exploring patients' experiences as a primary source of meaning. Health Communication, 9,13-26.
39.
Van Maanen, J. (1988). Tales of the field: On writing ethnography. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
40.
Wyatt, N. (1991). Physician-patient relationships: What do doctors say? Health Communication, 3,157-174.
