This text teaches students how standard methods can be adapted toward critical ends by thinking about the links between epistemology and methodology. Joey Sprague's treatment of qualitative and quantitative methods shows how both can be used effectively by progressive researchers. She traces how the social organization of the academy has produced a bias against feminist methodology and proposes a program to overcome these limitations.
The second edition of the Handbook of Feminist Research: Theory and Praxis, presents both a theoretical and practical approach to conducting social science research on, for, and about women. The Handbook enables readers to develop an understanding of feminist research by introducing a range of feminist epistemologies, methodologies, and methods that have had a significant impact on feminist research practice and women's studies scholarship. The Handbook continues to provide a set of clearly defined research concepts that are devoid of as much technical language as possible. It continues to engage readers with cutting edge debates in the field as well as the practical applications and issues for those whose research affects social policy and social change. It also expands on the wealth of interdisciplinary understanding of feminist research praxis that is grounded in a tight link between epistemology, methodology and method. The second edition of this Handbook will provide researchers with the tools for excavating subjugated knowledge on women's lives and the lives of other marginalized groups with the goals of empowerment and social change.
Exploring the breadth of contemporary feminist research practices, this engaging text immerses the reader in cutting-edge theories, methods, and practical strategies. Chapters review theoretical work and describe approaches to conducting quantitative, qualitative, and community-based research with participants; doing content or media analysis; and evaluating programs or interventions. Ethical issues are addressed and innovative uses of digital media highlighted. The focus is studying gender inequities as they are experienced by individuals and groups from diverse cultural, racial, and socioeconomic backgrounds, and with diverse gender identities. Delving into the process of writing and publishing feminist research, the text covers timely topics such as public scholarship, activism, and arts-based practices. The companion website features interviews with prominent feminist researchers. Pedagogical Features *Case examples of feminist research. *Running glossary of key terms. *Boxes highlighting hot topics and key points for practice. *End-of-chapter discussion questions and activities. *End-of-chapter annotated suggested reading (books, articles, and online resources). *Sample letters to research participants. *Appendix of feminist scholars organized by discipline.
This accessible text on social research methodology teaches students of sociology and related disciplines how standard methods can be adapted toward critical ends. The second edition has been updated throughout to incorporate the latest critical scholarship, enhanced discussion of qualitative methods, new material on global issues, sex/sexuality/gender, new discussion of intersectionality, how social media can shape research, and more. Author Joey Sprague describes and evaluates a wide array of methodological options—from quantitative to qualitative—and explores the links between epistemology and methodology. She proposes a program to overcome bias in standard methodologies and offers practical suggestions that can be used effectively by all progressive researchers. The second edition of Feminist Methodology for Critical Researchers is of value to scholars across disciplines and an essential text or supplement for methods classes.
`An accessible, clearly explained review of difficult concepts within this arena as well as relevant debates. Its strengths are in outlining possible considerations that need to be taken into account when making methodological choices. It also clearly explains how these choices impact knowledge production. This book would undoubtedly be of considerable use to anyone seeking to understand and get to grips with feminist methodological issues′ - Feminism and Psychology Who would be a feminist now? Contemporary ′political realism′ suggests that the essentials of the battle have already been won, and the current generation of women entering University is used to seeing feminism presented as ′old fashioned′, ′extreme′ and ′unrealistic′. Challenging such assumptions, this important new book argues for the value of empirical investigations of gendered life, and brings together the theoretical, political and practical aspects of feminist methodology. Feminist Methodology - demonstrates how feminist approaches to methodology engage with debates in western philosophy to raise critical questions about knowledge production - shows that feminist methodology has a distinctive place in social research - guides the reader through the terrain of feminist methodology and clarifies how feminists can claim knowledge of gendered social existence - connects abstract issues of theory with issues in fieldwork practice. This timely and accessible book will be an essential resource for students in women′s studies, gender studies, sociology, cultural studies, social anthropology and feminist psychology.
This book focuses on feminist research methodology, exploring and analysing its constituting methods, theory, ontology, epistemology, ethics and politics, and research issues relating to women, gender and feminism in Sri Lanka. The book examines ways of meaning-making for the political, ideological and ethical purposes of promoting individual and social change, and constructs an example of feminist research praxis. Using this South Asian country as a case study, the author looks at the means by which researchers in this field inhabit, engage with and represent the multiple realities of women and society in Sri Lanka. In analysing what constitutes feminist research methodology in a transitional country, the book links local research practices with Western feminist approaches, taking into account the commonalities, distinctions and specificities of working in a South Asian context. Engaging with and re-conceptualising three traditionally different types of research - women’s studies, gender studies and feminist studies - from a methodological perspective, Feminist Research Methodology provides a framework for researching feminist issues. Applicable at both a local and global level, this original methodological framework will be of value to researchers working in any context.
Feminist inquiry has affected the nature of research in ail the social and natural sciences over the past decade, but much contemporary writing on feminist methods simply offers a critique of traditional methods. This book, one of the first to offer a practical guide to conducting research informed by feminist methods, is based on the premise that abstract discussion of methodological issues is most meaningful and instructive in conjunction with examples of actual research. A comprehensive and far-reaching introduction defines feminist research and explains how it differs from traditional methodology in the social and natural sciences. In a beautifully clear style, Dr. Nielsen guides the reader through a number of philosophy of science, history of science, and sociology of knowledge issues that are fundamental to understanding the nature of scientific method in its traditional sense and the role of feminist scholarship in the larger intellectual movement that is transforming and redefining scientific methodology. Part One presents the best of feminist commentary on both feminist and traditional methods. Part Two consists of readings that illustrate particular feminist methods, including oral history, linguistic analysis, feminist anthropology informed by feminist literary criticism, and reinterpretation and reanalysis of empirical data from a feminist perspective. Substantive issues addressed in the readings include women's suffrage in the United States, women as shamans, sex differences in suicide rates, sex differences in cognitive abilities, gender dominance through conversation, gender and public policy, and public-private sphere dichotomies.
Cover -- Title -- Copyright -- Dedication -- Contents -- Contributors -- Acknowledgements -- Introduction: re-presenting feminist methodologies -- Part I Mapping terrains -- Section 1: Feminist journeys -- 1 Studying women and the women's movement in India: methods and impressions -- 2 'To bounce like a ball that has been hit': feminist reflections on the family -- 3 Masculinities in fieldwork: notes on feminist methodology -- 4 Real-life methods: feminist explorations of segregation in Delhi -- Section 2: Unpacking disciplines -- 5 Stories we tell: feminism, science, methodology -- 6 Researching online worlds through a feminist lens: text, context and assemblages -- 7 The erotics of risk: feminism and the humanities in flagrante delicto -- 8 Impractical topics, practical fields: notes on researching sexual violence in India -- Part II Exploring themes -- Section 3: Development -- 9 Planning for modernization? feminist readings of plans and planned development in India -- 10 Unpacking 'win-win': how feminists interrogate microfinance -- 11 Globalizations, mobility and agency: understanding women's lives through women's voices -- 12 'Ladkiyaan phir aage?' towards understanding the formal school system -- Section 4: Health -- 13 Researching assisted conception from a feminist lens -- 14 RUWSEC Clinic: challenges faced by a grassroots feminist clinic -- 15 Feminist critical medical anthropology methodologies: understanding gender and health care in India -- Index
Feminist Research in Practice is a supplementary text for undergraduate and graduate research methods courses. The book opens with a detailed examination of feminist methodologies and sociological research methods, followed by twelve chapters offering an in-depth analysis of six research projects. Invited scholars have each contributed two paired chapters: the first is data-driven and includes a description of methods and findings as well as analysis, allowing contributors to highlight their application of feminist methods and approaches in their work. In the second of each pair, contributors offer a close reflection on the research process, including obstacles and the emergence of new inquiries, allowing readers to deepen their own understanding of feminist research as it is practiced. The projects themselves are diverse in focus and approach with both large and small research teams working in varied communities and using an assortment of methods. Feminist Research in Practice closes with an extensive bibliography of recent and established research literature for further consideration.
"Feminist community research is a collaborative, policy-oriented methodology that holds the promise of empowering the disadvantaged and building a more just society. But in the absence of critical analysis and the responsible use of power, this approach can lead to naèive or even harmful practices.
