Rumbling on performativity_Frits Simon

sizes strongly the necessity of ethical awareness and ethical responsibility. This ethical
responsibility should not solely depend upon what evolves in the situation but should
be reflected upon before, during and after the research. To my view there is nothing
against ethical thought before action (Griffin, 2002) as long as you do not suppose that
thought determines what evolves. Thought is just another form of action. Moreover,
taking responsibility for the limits of your research also is an obligation (Denzin, 2014)
and apparently there are ethical limits.
To be able to reflect upon and to take responsibility for my research I will elaborate on
the way ethical matters are - at least theoretically - dealt with from an auto-ethnographic
perspective, to be followed by a first account of my own research. The ethical
awareness in auto-ethnographic research inspires to take ethical responsibility for my
research.
Careful research: ethical guidelines
Most researchers working within the field of auto-ethnography show a great awareness
of the ethical implications of their research. In the recently published Handbook
of Auto-ethnography (Holman Jones et al., 2013a) there is only one out of thirty-four
chapters which does not include the word ethics. From their writings it is obvious that
these researchers acknowledge that what they write is easy to retrace to existing
persons or organizations. Unintentionally persons or even the researcher himself may
be harmed by publication of the findings. According to Tullis (2013: 258) “the edict do no
harm should serve as an ever-present guiding principle for protecting others while
considering if and how doing auto-ethnography can cause harm to the researcher as
well.” (Italics Tullis).
Ethical considerations regarding research move between anticipation (Tolich, 2010)
and ongoing uncertainty or doubt (Brinkmann, 2012). Carefulness obliges a researcher
to reflect upon and to take care of ethical issues not only at the beginning of his
research. Unpredictability of what will become visible during the research makes that
sometimes issues have to be settled during the research process. If others have agreed
upon being part of the narrative, but experience their vulnerability after reading what
is written, ethical issues concerning privacy and consent have to be dealt with on the
spot. Guidelines can help, but they never are able to discharge a researcher from his
situational responsibilities. One might call that phronesis, because on the spot the
researcher has to navigate between the purity of the guidelines and the methodological
prescriptions (Brinkmann, 2012).
Regarding ethical awareness for auto-ethnographic researchers Tullis (2013) comes up
with seven ‘commandments’. Paraphrased they read as follows:
1 Do no harm to self and others. Acknowledge the potential personal and professional
harm for others and yourself as a researcher, minimize the risks and maximize
the benefits.
2. Research from a complex responsive process-approach | 55