Examining the wide range of feminist research methods, Shulamit Reinharz explains the relationship between feminism and methodology, and challenges existing stereotypes. Concluding that there is no one correct feminist method, but rather a variety of perspectives, Reinharz argues that this diversity of methods has been of great value to feminist scholarship. With an extensive bibliography cataloguing the important work accomplished over the last two decades, Feminist Methods in Social Research is an essential resource for students of sociology and women's studies.

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.

`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.

"Paying attention to the important link between epistemology, methodology, and methods, the editors have chosen readings from a range of fields - including history, sociology, literature, and philosophy - that have proven to be most useful and accessible to their students. The book is divided into three sections. Each section begins with an original chapter, written by the editors, that discusses the overall theme and integrates the range of articles presented. Part One: Method, Methodology, Epistemology presents the theoretical ideas and arguments surrounding feminist research; it covers the contributions made by feminist research, the debates surrounding objectivity and positivism, and the question of whether or not there is 'a' feminist method. Part Two: Issues of Race, Class, Gender, and Sexuality explains why researchers must pay attention to the variety and plurality of women and women's experiences, both theoretically and practically.

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.

Liberating Method reflects the conviction that feminist insights can and should contribute to a sounder, more rigorous social science. In this book, one of the leading practitioners and teachers of feminist methodology examines profound questions about traditional and customary practices of social research. Marjorie DeVault argues that established methods too often ignore social oppression as she charts her quest for approaches that will more adequately represent marginalized groups.

This is an important and timely text that provides a unique overview of contemporary quantitative approaches to gender research. The contributors are internationally recognised researchers from the UK, USA and Sweden who occupy a range of disciplinary locations, including historical demography, sociology and policy studies. Their research includes explorations of heterosexual and same sex violence, media responses to feminist research, data sources for the study of equalities, approaches for analysing global and local demographic change and intersectional concerns in respect of work and employment. Through detailed, sophisticated and thoughtful considerations of the place of quantification within gender studies, and the place of feminist approaches to quantification, each contributor overturns the stereotype that quantitative research is antithetical to feminism by demonstrating its importance for challenging continuing global inequalities associated with gendered outcomes. An introductory chapter illustrates the significance of geography and discipline in the take-up of methodological preferences. Feminism Counts: Quantitative Methods and Researching Gender makes an important contribution to the ways in which feminists respond to contemporary methodological and interdisciplinary challenges, and is essential reading for all research students in gender studies. This book was originally published as a special issue of the International Journal of Social Research Methodology.