An investigation into the phenomena and practices of spiritual ...

To remedy these gaps in the discourse of health promotion, looking at a white majorityculture as well as Afro-Caribbean culture, it was decided to use an ethnographic approach.Two specific congregations were chosen for the investigation, one belonging to the Churchof God in Christ (COGIC) and one to the United Reform Church (URC). The researchmethod set out to interrogate the perceptions of church attendees, through semi-structuredinterviews, and through participant and non-participant observation. Since I was bringingmuch of my own experience to the work, I realised it was necessary to be rigorous inapplying autobiographical method as emphasised most recently by Muncey (2010) . I havetherefore used my life experiences as evidence, and in discerning and shaping theformulation of the hypotheses.Section1.3 below is included to illustrate the personal journey to the beginning of research,contextualising what follows. The journey through the data collection, and the writing ofthe thesis have also had a profound effect on my view of the world, both spiritual andacademic. I am not, however, using my own experience as my primary data as Muncey‟s(2010) autobiographical approach to auto-ethnography suggests, as it was important for meto try step outside my own world in order to create a distance from the data during thecollection process as well as during the writing up phase.Although I share the common bond of socio-cultural and spiritual identity with theresearch topic and the respondents, the methodology chosen is not dependent onautobiography. I also share the ambivalence towards biographical enterprise as scientificmethod in itself as expressed by McAdams and West (1997). The methodologicalprinciples of auto-ethnography guide, it is to be hoped, my critical reflection throughoutthe process (c.f. Spry 2001). The methodological approach of observation, interview and5