At the most basic level reflexivity means reflecting on how the researcher influences the research , and how that influence impacts how the knowledge is being created . It acknowledges that the researcher ' s presence , worldview , biases and personal cultural context impact interpretation . For example , if you and I both look at the same photograph , we ' ll both create different bodies of knowledge from it due to having different background experiences , and using a reflexive method helps analyze how those background experiences impact how we ' re creating that knowledge from what we ' re seeing . It ' s a popular method in ethnography because the researcher in those kinds of studies usually isn ' t a member of the culture they ' re studying , so has to account for their own cultural context when interpreting the data they look at the impact of that context on the knowledge they ' re creating about a group they don ' t belong to . Think of it as a circular causeandeffect . The researcher influences the study , and is influenced by it . It ' s thinking about thinking .