ABSTRACT
The fundamental observational datum is essentially a complex, dynamic relationship whereby mutual inferences are negotiated, and this is as truer for observations of behavior as it is for the various forms of self-observation. One of the most basic negotiations involved in self-observation research concerns decisions about the trustworthiness of both researchers and self-observers. The self-observation researcher, then, must exercise at least a modicum of trust to even begin the research process, but the self-observer must also make the choice to trust the researcher. The development of a reliable interpretive relationship is, of course, the practical core of self-observation research. The self-contextualization is also important for the researcher or interpreter, as his or her experiences and frames of reference codetermine the meaning of a self-observation—“the knowledge of the other progresses together with the knowledge of the self”. Implicit in the way of conceptualizing self-observation is a kind of radical reconceptualization of the self that is being observed.
