Document Type : Research Paper
Author
School of Languages, Ibn Haldun University, Istanbul, Turkey
Abstract
This paper critically examines the concept of trustworthiness in autoethnographic research, a qualitative approach often challenged on various methodological and epistemological grounds. It begins with a personal narrative, illustrating how autoethnography resonates deeply with the author’s academic and professional identity. The paper then engages with four recurring critiques frequently directed at autoethnographic work, namely invisible data, over-subjectivity, misrepresentation of others, and navel-gazing. Each critique is explored in depth, followed by practical and theoretical strategies to mitigate its impact. These include data triangulation, reflexive questioning, collaborative validation, ethical representation, and alignment with established qualitative research criteria. Drawing on constructivist epistemologies, the study argues that when handled rigorously, personal experience can serve as a legitimate and valuable source of knowledge. The paper concludes with implications for both autoethnographers and critics, advocating for more reflexive, transparent, and dialogic practices that elevate the scholarly value of autoethnography while preserving its distinctive voice and transformative potential.
Keywords
Adams, T. E., Jones, S. H., & Ellis, C. (Eds.). (2016). Handbook of autoethnography. Routledge.
Anderson, L. (2006). Analytic autoethnography. Journal of Contemporary Ethnography, 35(4), 373-395. https://doi.org/10.1177/0891241605280449
Berger, L. (2001). Inside out: Narrative autoethnography as a path toward rapport. Qualitative Inquiry, 7(4), 504-518. https://doi.org/10.1177/107780040100700407
Bochner, A. P., & Ellis, C. (2006). Communication as autoethnography. In G. Shepherd, J. St. John, & T. Striphas (Eds.), Communication as.... Perspectives on theory, (pp.110-121), Sage.
Bochner, A., & Ellis, C. (2016). Evocative autoethnography: Writing lives and telling stories. Routledge.
Canagarajah, A. S. (2012). Teacher development in a global profession: An autoethnography. TESOL Quarterly, 46(2), 258-279. https://doi.org/10.1002/tesq.18
Chang, H. (2008). Autoethnography as method. Routledge.
Chang, H., Ngunjiri, F. W., & Hernandez, K. C. (2013). Collaborative autoethnography. Left Coast Press.
Edwards, J. (2021). Ethical autoethnography: Is it possible? International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 20, 356-385. https://doi.org/10.1177/1609406921995306
Egitim, S., & Watson, D. (2024). Language teacher's pedagogical transformation through a critical autoethnographic lens. Social Sciences & Humanities Open, 9, Artilce e100837.
Ellis, C., & Bochner, A. (2000). Autoethnography, personal narrative, reflexivity: Researcher as subject. In N. K. Denzin & Y. S. Lincoln (Eds.), Handbook of qualitative research (2nd ed.), (pp. 733–768), Sage Publications.
Ellis, C., Adams, T. E., & Bochner, A. P. (2011). Autoethnography: An overview. Forum: Qualitative Social Research, 12(1), 1-18. Retrieved from http://www.qualitativeresearch.net/index.php/fqs/article/view/ 1589
Fricker, M. (2007). Epistemic injustice: Power and the ethics of knowing. Oxford University Press.
Fricker, M. (2016). Epistemic injustice and the preservation of ignorance. In R. Peels & B. Martijn (Eds.), The epistemic dimensions of ignorance (pp. 144–159). Cambridge University Press.
Grant, A. (2020). Autoethnography. In K. Aranda (Eds.), Critical qualitative health research (pp. 159-176). Routledge.
Holman Jones, S. (2005). Autoethnography: Making the personal political. In N. K. Denzin & Y.S. Lincoln (Eds.), Handbook of qualitative research (pp. 763–791). Sage Publications.
Kamali, J. (2023). Metamorphosis of a teacher educator: A journey towards a more critical self. Journal of Applied Learning & Teaching, 6(2), 252-259. https://doi.org/10.37074/jalt.2023.6.2.8
Kamali, J. (2025). Revisiting an anti-machiavellian model for teacher education: A critical perspective. Power and Education, 17(1), 96-112. https://doi.org/10.1177/17577438231225157
Kamali, J., & Javahery, P. (2024a). Applying Galperin model to teacher professional development: A qualitative case study of a peer coaching program. International Journal of Training and Development, 28(3), 275-297. https://doi.org/10.1111/ijtd.12323
Kamali, J., & Javahery, P. (2024b). Collaborative reflection as a means to improve teachers’ reflective skills: a community of practice perspective. Reflective Practice, 26(2), 246–261. https://doi.org/10.1080/14623943.2024.2426279
Kamali, J., Alpat, M. F., & Bozkurt, A. (2024). AI ethics as a complex and multifaceted challenge: decoding educators’ AI ethics alignment through the lens of activity theory. International Journal of Educational Technology in Higher Education, 21(1), 1-20. https://doi.org/10.1186/s41239-024-00496-9
Kamali, J., Freeman, D., Larsen-Freeman, D., Norton, B., & Farrell, T. S. C. (2024). Editorial: Language teacher education research – key trends, challenges, and questions. Language Teacher Education Research, 1, 1-16. https://doi.org/10.32038/lter.2024.01.01
Kamali, J., Javahery, P., Zendehbad, M., Shahraki, M., & Rasouli, M. (2025). A sociocultural exploration of Iranian language teachers’ corrective feedback: why and how? Cambridge Journal of Education, 55(1), 73–91. https://doi.org/10.1080/0305764X.2025.2451261
Keleş, U. (2022). Autoethnography as a recent methodology in applied linguistics: A methodological review. Qualitative Report, 27(2), 448-474. https://doi.org/10.46743/2160-3715/2022.5131
Koay, J. (2023). Self-directed professional development activities: An autoethnography. Teaching and Teacher Education, 133, 104258. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2023.104258
Mirhosseini, S. A. (2018). An invitation to the less‐treaded path of autoethnography in TESOL research. TESOL Journal, 9(1), 76-92. https://doi.org/10.1002/tesj.305
Miyahara, M., & Fukao, A. (2022). Exploring the use of collaborative autoethnography as a tool for facilitating the development of researcher reflexivity. System, 105, Article e102751. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2022.102751
Muncey, T. (2005). Doing autoethnography. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 4(1), 69-86. https://doi.org/10.1177/160940690500400105
Park, L. E. (2014). Shifting from reflective practices to reflexivity: An autoethnography of an L2 teacher educator. English Teaching, 69(1), 173-198.
Poerwandari, E. K. (2021). Minimizing bias and maximizing the potential strengths of autoethnography as a narrative research. Japanese Psychological Research, 63(4), 310-323. https://doi.org/10.1111/jpr.12320
Riazi, A.M., Rezvani, R. & Ghanbar, H. (2023) Trustworthiness in L2 writing research: a review and analysis of qualitative articles in the Journal of Second Language Writing. Research Methods in Applied Linguistics, 2(3), Article e 100065. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rmal.2023.100065
Shakespeare, W. (1907). Shakespeare: Romeo and Juliet (Vol. 26). TY Crowell & Company.
Sughrua, W. M. (2020). The core of critical performative autoethnography. Qualitative Inquiry, 26(6), 602-632. https://doi.org/10.1177/1077800419830132
Truong, K. D., & Nguyen, A. T. (2024). Western-trained Vietnamese teachers’ EFL writing instruction: A collaborative autoethnography of tensions, emotion, and agency from an activity theoretical perspective. Journal of Second Language Writing, 65, 101132. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jslw.2024.101132
Wall, S. (2006). An autoethnography on learning about autoethnography. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 5(2), 146-160. https://doi.org/10.1177/160940690600500205
Yang, S., Liu, Y., & Wu, T.-C. (2024). ChatGPT, a new “Ghostwriter”: A teacher-and-students poetic autoethnography from an EMI academic writing class. Digital Applied Linguistics, 1, 2244. https://doi.org/10.29140/dal.v1.2244
Yazan, B. (2019). An autoethnography of a language teacher educator. Teacher Education Quarterly, 46(3), 34-56.
Yazan, B. (2024). Autoethnography in language education: Tensions, Characteristics, and methods. Springer Nature.
Yazan, B., Pentón Herrera, L. J., & Rashed, D. (2023). Transnational TESOL practitioners’ identity tensions: A collaborative autoethnography. TESOL Quarterly, 57(1), 140-167. https://doi.org/10.1002/tesq.3130
Zhu, J., Kim, G. J. Y., & Weng, Z. (2022). Affordances and constraints: Using collaborative autoethnography as a methodology to examine language teacher agency. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, 37(3), 846–859. https://doi.org/10.1080/09518398.2022.2127011
)