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In:Reflexive and Reflective Research Approaches in Applied Linguistics
Edited by Pejman Habibie and Richard D. Sawyer
[Research Methods in Applied Linguistics 8] 2025
► pp. 1–19

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Chapter 1
Reflectivity and reflexivity in qualitative research and scholarship

ORCiD logo with link | Washington State University
ORCiD logo with link | University of Western Ontario
Published online: 3 March 2025
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/rmal.8.01saw
Abstract
In this chapter, we first introduce four reflexive methodologies: autoethnography, duoethnography, narrative inquiry, and currere. Although these four approaches vary, they all involve inquirers telling stories about self and culture. Researchers working with these methodologies explore subjective yet socially situated, personal yet relational, and discursive yet emancipatory questions and topics. Describing these methodologies, we refer both to published accounts and literature and to specific chapters in this book. Central to these methodologies are the related concepts of reflection and reflexivity. Given their multiple levels, reflection and reflexivity assume a range of profiles, both individually and collectively. As a framework for “reading” reflection and reflexivity in this chapter, we consider the following structure: (a) what they are, (b) how they are enacted and mobilized within inquiry, and (c) what they yield within and from inquiry. Finally, we present an overview of the subsequent chapters in this volume.
Article outline
  • Introduction
  • A brief introduction to narrative, autoethnography, currere, and duoethnography
  • Identifying reflection and reflexivity
  • How are they utilized: Iterative dynamics
    • A lived critical stance: Self, others, and society
    • Difference as heurism
    • Dialogue and heteroglossia
    • Criticality
    • Interaction/transactions with reader
  • What do they yield: Subjectivity, transactive knowledge, and praxis
  • Overview of the book
    • Part I.Reflectivity and reflexivity in research
    • Part II.Reflectivity and reflexivity and Applied Linguistics Research
    • Part III.Reflective and reflexive studies
  • Coda
  • References
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