Friendships in the field: Methodological recommendations for autoethnographic context

Abstract This autobiographically based article aims to consider the practical application of Anderson’s conception of analytic autoethnography under particular circumstances and requirements for its use. It reflects on the friendships that developed between me and my key informants during ethnographic research. In this context I refer to autoethnography as a method that allows researchers to identify aspects of their lives that have relevance beyond the personal and deal analytically with friendships in the field. Moreover, I consider how the researcher can analytically handle friendships in the field using analytic autoethnography, even when he is not a complete member of the community under investigation.