DOING FEMINIST RESEARCH Annotated Bibliography (MAH, Revised January, 1992) Ann_Hall@mts.ucs.ualberta.ca How do we actually go about "doing feminist research"? It should be clear by now that there is no one kind of feminist research (or method) since feminist scholars are hard at work in all the traditional disciplines. There is also, as you have come to understand, significant debate over appropriate epistemologies. The literature is not extensive on how we, as feminists, should conduct our research, and most of what is available is from a social science perspective. Listed below are books and articles which appear to be useful in helping feminists sort out issues related specifically to methodology whether in their own subject areas or in topics common to all discussions of social science research methodology (e.g., to use quantitative or qualitative methods). The list is by no means complete. BOOKS Bowles, G., and R.D. Klein (eds.), Theories of Women's Studies (Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1983). (HQ 1180 T39 1983) ON RESERVE This is an edited collection of readings dealing with both women's studies and feminist research. The chapters dealing specifically with feminist methodology begin with Chapter 7 by Renate Duelli Klein. Her position is that feminist methodology is different from "patriarchal scholarship" (or male-dominated research) and that it is closely related to the development of feminist theory. Chapter 8 by Barbara DuBois raises the issue of subjectivity versus objectivity, and argues that feminist research cannot be value free. It must be grounded in female culture and experience. Maria Mies in Chapter 9 suggests that it is not possible to develop a useful link between women's studies, feminism and feminist research if we continue to use positivist, quantitative methodology as the basis for that research. Chapter 10 by Toby Epstein Jayaratne takes a different stance arguing that quantitative methodology, as well as qualitative methodology, can and should form part of feminist research, since the former can provide information not attainable through qualitative methods. Shulamit Reinharz in Chapter 11 discusses a particular qualitative method, experential analysis (e.g., oral history, textual analysis, and ethnography) that challenges conventional social science research methods and which sets out new procedures. Finally, in Chapter 12, Liz Stanley and Sue Wise (see also their book discussed below) argue that feminist methods must take on board the necessity to challenge the power relationship between researcher and researched (with the former being the more powerful). In sum, these articles set out a variety of viewpoints, but many emphasize the necessity for feminist research to be qualitative, action-oriented, and reflective of women's experience. Fonow, M.M., and J.A. Cook (Eds.), Beyond Methodology: Feminist Scholarship as Lived Research (Indiana University Press, 1991). Not in library but on order. The authors in this volume examine the efforts to apply feminist principles to the research act. Their essays address both abstract philosophical questions about the way feminists come to know or apprehend women's social realities and the more practical ways these assumptions are translated into feminist inquiry. Each stage of the research process is examined, from the newest knowledge of sampling strategies to insure racial and social diversity in the accounts of women's lives, to mass media packaging and marketing feminist research. This is an interdisciplinary collection of articles by internationally recognized feminist scholars who have contributed to the ongoing and often heated debate about the nature of feminist methodology in the social sciences. Eichler, M., Nonsexist Research Methods: A Practical Guide (Allen & Unwin, 1988). (HQ 1154 E342 1985) ON RESERVE Margrit Eichler has two major objectives: (1) to present an analysis of sexism in research that enlarges our understanding of the problem and sensitizes students and researchers to sexism and its various manifestations; and (2) to provide guidelines that offer clear and concise means of creating nonsexist alternatives. She identifies seven problems: androcentricity, overgeneralization and overspecificity, gender insensitivity, double standards, sex appropriateness, familism, and sexual dichotomism. Her book is organized around the explication of these seven problems, using examples from the research literature -- primarily from social science journals published in 1985. An accompanying checklist for conducting nonsexist research is provided in an Appendix. Harding, S.(Ed.), Feminism & Methodology (Indiana University Press, 1987). (H 61 F329 1987) ON RESERVE, ALSO 2 COPIES IN ST. STEPHENS In this collection, Sandra Harding interrogates some of the classic essays from the last fifteen years in order to explore the basic and troubling questions about science and social experience, gender, and politics. Some of the essays report the uses of familiar research techniques to answer new questions or to rethink old ones. Some borrow concepts and theories from one field to illuminate another. All bring into focus new issues about social relations between women and men, about the causes and consequences of social change and social stability, about our sexual identities, and about the obscuring effects of culture-wide gender symbolisms. Thay also reveal serious problems with the assumptions about scientific method in the existing social science and philosophy literature. This collection provides a valuable introduction to the crucial methodological and epistemological issues feminist inquiry raises for scholars in all fields. Kirby, S., and K. McKenna. Experience, Research and Social Change: Methods from the Margins (Garamond, 1989). Not in library, on order This is a "how to" book about doing your own feminist action research, creating your own knowledge and researching from your own experience. Its major point is that the majority of people are excluded from participating as either producers or participants in the creation of knowledge. The "margins", therefore, refer to the context in which those who suffer injustice, inequality, and exploitation live their lives. It goes through a fairly logical progression of doing research: getting ready, getting focussed, gearing up for data gathering, planning for data gathering, gathering data, preparing for analysis and analysis introduction, and presenting the analysis. The methods stressed (and described) are all qualitative (e.g., interviews, participant observation, life histories, unobtrusive measures). The book contains examples of research by students in a Feminist Methods course at Mount Saint Vincent University. Nebraska Sociological Feminist Collective, A Feminist Ethic for Social Science Research (Edwin Mellon Press, 1988). (HQ 1154 F33167 1988) This book presents a discussion of feminist methodology from a radical perspective. For instance, alternative spellings for woman (womon) and women (wimmim) are used throughout the text which strengthens their argument that language is a powerful tool and women should control some of that power. The essays in this book are divided into four areas. Part One discusses the objectification of women including critiques of patriarchy and capitalism, the problems involved in feminist research of prostitution, lesbian research ethics, and ethics of research on Black American women. Part Two examines research for and about women focussing on a critique of the male positivist social science model, research and the reality of women's lives, research as critical reflection, and the evaluation and measurement of feminist projects. In Part Three, the essays focus on feminism, language and ideas. Part Four examines gatekeeping in employment, publication, and research. The women of the collective, through the text, challenge all of us to halt the objectification of women, confront sexism in language, empower feminist research, and create new forms of feminist criticism. Lather, P., Getting Smart: Feminist Research and Pedagogy Within/in the Postmodern (Routledge, 1991). Not in library, on order. In Getting Smart, Patti Lather makes use of her unique integration of feminism and post-modernism into critical education theory to address some of the most vital questions facing education researchers and teachers. She begins her inquiry by asking the question: What is an empowering approach to generating knowledge? She presents a wide-ranging exploration of the implications of emancipatory theory and practice. Paying close attention both to research and to teaching, her approach looks to a model that will both produce emancipatory knowledge and empower the researched. Lather, P., Feminist Research in Education: Within/Against (Deakin University, 1991). Not in Library. This is a small monograph comprised of an introductory essay written by Patti Lather followed by a series of readings. The purpose of the monograph is to explore how the two movements of qualitative research and feminist inquiry are configuring educational research. Rather than a survey of empirical work, it is more a methodological meditation. It is also a good introduction to her book listed above which is more difficult. Nielsen, J.M., Feminist Research Methods: Exemplary Readings in the Social Sciences (Westview Press, 1990). (HQ 1180 F332 1990) ON RESERVE The goal of this book is "to represent as many different disciplines in the social sciences and as many different methodological strategies as possible; and to include articles that would be readable by students who may not necessarily have a background in the discipline represented by the chapter" (Preface, p. x). The Introduction (written by Joyce Nielsen) to this text is an excellent overview of what traditional social scientists mean by methods. She then goes on to show that there is an identifiable feminist approach to research that is grounded in an older positivist - empirical tradition and in a newer postempirical one. She argues that feminist methods (in the broadest sense of the term) is part -- perhaps the best part -- of a larger intellectual movement that represents a fundamental shift away from traditional social science methodology. Part 1 (Feminist Research Methods) contains contributions that elaborate and develop some of the themes Nielsen introduces in the Introduction. In Part 2 (Exemplary Readings), various contributors focus, for example, on feminist inquiry through oral history; a combination of anthropological field work and feminist literary analysis; some unusual survey and interview work with women workers; several reanalyses and reinterpretations of existing data; and two kinds of linguistic analyses. Roberts, H. (Ed.), Doing Feminist Research (Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1981). (HQ 1206 D65 1981) ON RESERVE This is one of the very early books which attempted to address the topic of "what is feminist research?". The aim of the collection is to present a number of accounts of sociological work undertaken by sociologists who have been influenced by feminism, or by the feminist critique of sociology, or both. The accounts point to the theoretical, methodological, and practical and ethical issues raised in specific research projects where the investigator has adopted, or at least become aware of, a feminist perspective. For instance, Ann Oakley's now classic paper addresses itself to the problems raised for feminist social scientists adopting the standard criteria of interviewing as laid down in methods texts. David Morgan, the only contribution by a male, looks reflexively at his own work and his position as a male sociologist in light of the critique of normal sociological practice that originates from the women's movement. Other contributors underly the importance (only being articulated at the time the book was written) of a feminist perspective on mainstream sociological research. Stanley, L., and S. Wise. Breaking Out: Feminist Consciousness and Feminist Research (Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1983). (HQ 154 S78 1983) ON RESERVE The basic theme of this book is that the authors want feminist social science research to be constructed out of feminism. Their major complaints against present day (i.e., early 1980s and British) feminist research and theory represent their own views which are anti-positivist, ant-marxixt, anti-heterosexism, and anti-structural. Their starting point is that we need to know how women's oppression occurs and where it occurs in the context of differing everyday life experiences as women. They posit the absolute importance of "feminist consciousness" which means that women's experiences constitute a different ontology or way of going about making sense of the world. Methodologically they argue for ethnomethodology because, in their view, "doing feminism" in any given situation disturbs the taken-for-granted quality of that situation. Therefore, according to the authors, "doing feminism" and "doing feminist research" are identical. Stanley, L. (Ed.), Feminist Praxis: Research, Theory and Epistemology in Feminist Sociology (Routledge, 1990). (HQ 1180 F3318) ON RESERVE Feminist Praxis gives detailed accounts of particular examples of feminist research, showing how feminist epistemology can translate into concrete research practices. The blend of practical accounts of processes of inquiry with theoretical discussion of feminist methodology makes the book an invaluable text for feminists carrying out research at all levels and across many disciplines. Warren, C.A.B., Gender Issues in Field Research (Sage Publications, 1988).(H 62 W287 1988) ON RESERVE The major focus of this little book is "the impact of gender on fieldwork relationships and the production of ethnography" (p. 7). It is based on both sociological and anthropological sources including her own fieldwork experiences. Carol Warren divides the book into four areas: the ways that gender shapes social life and social science; the process of doing fieldwork; data analysis and feminist theory; and finally, warning and advice to novice field researchers. ARTICLES General Issues Acker, J., et al. (1983). Objectivity and truth: problems in doing feminist research. Women's Studies International Forum, 6(4), 423-435. Blau, F.D. (1981). On the role of values in feminist scholarship. Signs, 6, 538-540. Clegg, S. (1985). Feminist methodology: Fact of fiction? Quality and Quantity, 19(1), 83-97. Cook, J.A., and M.M. Fonow. (1986). Knowledge and women's interests: Issues of epistemology and methodology in sociological research. Sociological Inquiry, 56(1), 2 -29. (Also reprinted in Nielsen discussed above). Gorelick, S. (1989). The changer and the changed: Methodological reflections on studying Jewish feminists. In A. M. Jaggar and S.R. Bordo (Eds.), Gender/Body/Knowledge (pp. 336-358). New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press. Hall, M.A. (1987). Knowledge and gender: Epistemological questions in the social analysis of sport. In G.H. Nemiroff (Ed.), Women and Men: Interdisciplinary Readings on Gender (80-102). Toronto: Fitzhenry & Whiteside. Lather, P. (1986). Research as praxis. Harvard Educational Review, 56(3), 257-277. McCormack, T. (1989). Feminism and the new crisis in methodology. In W. Tomm (Ed.), The Effects of Feminist Approaches on Research Methodologies (pp. 13-30). Calgary: The Calgary Institute for the Humanities. McRobbie, A. (1982). The politics of feminist research: Between talk, text, and action. Feminist Review, 12, 46-58. Patai, D. (1983) Beyond defensiveness: Feminist research and strategies. Women's Studies International Forum, 6(2), 177-189. Qualitative Methods General Bowles, G. (1984). The uses of hermeneutics for feminist scholarship. Women's Studies International Forum, 7(3), 185-188. Scott, S. (1985). Feminist research and qualitative methods: A discussion of some of the issues. In R. Burgess (Ed.), Issues in Educational Research: Qualitative Methods (pp. 67-85). London: Falmer press, 1985. Interviewing Finch, J. (1984). "It's great to have someone to talk to": The ethics and politics of interviewing women. In C. Bell and H. Roberts (Eds.), Social Researching: Politics, Problems, Practice (pp. 70-87). London: Routledge & Kegan Paul. Malseed, J. (1987). Straw men: A note on Ann Oakley's treatment of textbook prescriptions for interviewing. Sociology, 21(4), 629-631. (Followed by Ann Oakley's rejoinder, p. 632). Oakley, A. (1981). Interviewing women: A contradiction in terms. In H. Roberts (Ed.), Doing Feminist Research (pp. 30-61). London: Routledge & Kegan Paul. Ribbens, J. (1989). Interviewing - an "unnatural situation"? Women's Studies International Forum, 1989, 12(6), 579-592. Ethnography Abbott, S. (1983). `In the end you will carry me in your car': Sexual politics in the field. Women's Studies, 10, 161-178. Stacey, J. (1988). Can their be a feminist ethnography? Women's Studies International Forum, 11(1), 21-27. Life Histories Barry, K., (1989). Biography and the search for women's subjectivity. Women's Studies International Forum, 12(6), 561-577. Geiger, S.N.G. (1986). Women's life histories: Method and content. Signs, 11(2), 334-351. Quantitative Methods Graham, H. (1983). Do her answers fit his questions?: Women and the survey method. In E. Gamarnikow et al (Eds.), The Public and the Private (pp. 132-146). London: Heinemann. Linton, R. (1989). Toward a feminist research method. In A.M. Jaggar and S.R. Bordo (Eds.), Gender/Body/Knowledge (pp. 273-292). New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press. Teitelbaum, P. (1989). Feminist theory and standardized testing. In A.M. Jaggar and S.R. Bordo (Eds.), Gender/Body/Knowledge (pp. 324-335). New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press. Specific Discipline Areas Classics Skinner, M. (1987). Rescuing Creusa: New Methodological Approaches to Women in Antiquity. A special issue of Helios, 13(2). Nielsen, R.M., and E.D. Blodgett. (1989). "on the far side of language": Finding the Woman in Classics. In W. Tomm (Ed.), The Effects of Feminist Approaches on Research Methodologies (pp. 143-158). Calgary: Calgary Institute for the Humanities. History Daniels, K. (1985). Feminism and social history. Australian feminist Studies, 1 (Summer), 27-40. Dauphin, C., et al. (1989). Women's culture and women's power: An attempt at historiography. Journal of Women's History, 1(1), 63-87. Dumont, M. (1989). The influence of feminist perspectives on historical research methodology. In W. Tomm (Ed.), The Effects of Feminist Approaches on Research Methodologies (pp. 111-129). Calgary: The Calgary Institute for the Humanities. Scott, J. (1986). Gender: a useful category of historical analysis. American Historical Review, 91(5), 1053-1075. Philosophy Culpepper, E.E. (1987). Philosophia: feminist methodology for constructing a female train of thought. Journal of Feminist Studies in Religion, 3(2), 7-16. Sherwin, S. (1988). Philosophical methodology and feminist methodology: Are they compatible? In L. Code, S. Mullet, and C. Overall (Eds.), Feminist Perspectives: Philosophical Essays on Method and Morals. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. Psychology Psychology of Women Quarterly. (1989). Special issue in theory and method in feminist psychology, 13(4). Religious Studies Christ, C.P., (1989). Embodied thinking: Reflections on feminist theological thought. Journal of Feminist Studies in Religion, 5(1), . Roundtable discussion: On feminist methodology. (1985). Journal of Feminist Studies in Religion, 1(2), 73-88. Sociology/Anthropology Cook, J.A. (1983). An Interdisciplinary look at feminist methodology: Ideas and practice in sociology, history and anthropology. Humboldt Journal of Social Relations, 10(2), 127-152. Ladner, J.A. (1987). Introduction to tomorrow's tomorrow: The Black woman. In S. Harding (Ed.), Feminism and Methodology (pp. 74-83). Bloomington: Indiana University Press.