Transcript Then You Know How I Feel*: Empathy, Identification, and Reflexivity

“Then You Know How I Feel”:
Empathy, Identification, and
Reflexivity in Fieldwork
Ellingson, Laura L
University of South Florida
Qualitative Inquiry,Voulem4,1998 429-514
1998 Sage Publications, Inc.
Laura L. Ellingson
Laura L. Ellingson (Ph.D., University of South Florida) is
Associate Professor of Communication and Women's &
Gender Studies at Santa Clara University where she
teaches courses on Health Communication, Communication
& Gender, Qualitative Methods, and Gender, Health &
Sexuality. Her research focuses on gender in extended and
chosen family networks, representation in qualitative
research, and interdisciplinary teamwork in health care
organizations. {A Cancer survivor (Bone)}
Laura grew up in New England (and still misses it!) and
now lives with her partner Glenn in the San Francisco Bay
area. She is an ardent Red Sox fan, adores her cats Westley
and Buttercup, takes joy in being an aunt, enjoys water
aerobics and scrapbooking, and believes that chocolate is a
major food group.
http://www.amazon.com/Laura-L.-Ellingson/e/B001JRZPEO
 Topic: Subjective and positioned nature of the researcher in
ethnography
 Method: Introspection by examining how a cancer survivor
conducting filed work fieldwork in an oncology clinic shapes and is
shaped by the experience.(Auto ethnographic)
 Target: Cancer patient and survivor
 Theme: Learning multiple viewpoints.
 Goal: Understanding clinic by multiple view point.
“Although I am cured, I still struggle with
chronic pain and limited use of my right leg due
to the surgeries to remove the tumor and
rebuild my leg. For the first time, I now enter
the oncology context with no immediate
implications for my own health or for that of a
loved one. Yet, I do not study the patients and
staff of the clinic with detachment; my own
experiences as a patient filter what I see, hear,
and feel” (Ellingson, Laura L 1998, 494).
What
does
she
trying
to
say?
How important is relating to another in field work? Would it make better field work?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=vwojXIf-wmY
“Any researcher could prepare him or herself by
doing library research on effects of and treatments
for cancer. However, having the knowledge
embedded in my mind is different. I learned the
information gradually and painfully as I progressed
through my treatment; my body remembers the
drug Adriamycin, not just my brain” (Northrup,
1994;
Ellingson,
Laura
L
1998,
496).
What are some benefits of self-relating and false?
If you are diagnose with cancer, which advice
would you take it more seriously? A doctor? or A
Cancer survivor ?
“One patient, upon being told that I
am a cancer survivor, looked me in
the eyes and said simply, “then you
know how I feel.” Another patient, a
woman with a recurrence of breast
cancer, responded similarly: "then
you’ve been there yourself, you
know,” she said to me intently.
Empathy
is
an
incredible
responsibility” (Ellingson, Laura L
1998, 500). Does personal experience
always works the best in research
studies? How important is ‘Empathy’ in fieldwork? Is it
always better to experience it and what are some biases?