Badacz i jego ciało w procesie zbierania i analizowania danych – na przykładzie badań nad społecznym światem wspinaczki

The article considers the problem of researcher’s embodiment in the process of data gathering and analysis in an ethnographic study on social world of climbing. In author’s opinion, presented reflections go beyond described case and remain applicable to every ethnographic research interested in embodied experiences of human beings, especially these in which the main research topic is physical, e.g., sport activity, bodywork, and work with the body. The author analyses relations between embodiment of particular actions taken by the researched subjects and embodiment of the research process. She raises the problem of transition between the researcher’s identity and the social world participant’s identity – searching for the possibility of using autoethnography in the process of data gathering and analyzing. Finally, she presents three aspects of the body/embodiment in the ethnographic research, referring them to the studied subjects (climbers) and to the researcher: (a) the body as an agent, (b) the embodied experience, (c) the body as a subject of theorizing and reflections. The author emphasizes the embodied nature of research process – especially in the ethnographic studies – and suggests taking into consideration the embodiment of the researcher and the role of the body in the process of knowledge production.