Escaping the house of secrets: Auto-ethnographic reflections on the complexities of field exit

Abstract

While a large body of auto-ethnographic literature focuses on the bias associated with conducting methodological research as ‘insiders’ and examines the implications of their backgrounds for their research design, the interpretation of the data and the complexities of their position for the research, less reflection exists in the literature on the complexities of exiting the field. Drawing on auto-ethnographic reflections from fieldwork among Arab Muslim families in Denmark, I discuss field exit in relation to field access and field behaviour. I show how the established trust, friendship and intimate relationships with our interlocutors can position us as the subject and the object of our study. While embracing familiarity and being intimately inside one’s field offer significant advantages, I argue that it simultaneously reshapes and complicates the researcher’s insider role experiences and expectations, as the strategies, behaviour and negotiations we make in the field often have an impact on field exit.