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We argue here that auto/biography is an epistemological approach challenging traditional claims to objectivity, recognising the personhood of researchers as well as respondents and the complex relationship between the self and other (in both face-to-face encounters and ‘texts’ of various kinds). After outlining some of the fundamental benefits of an auto/biographical approach – within the social sciences generally, and death studies specifically – we, with reference to some of our research and writing experiences, reflect on each of our positions on the auto/biographical continuum. We explore the differences and the similarities in our epistemological approach and make the case for the significance of auto/biography.
Brennan et al. (Tue,) studied this question.