Synopses & Reviews
As feminist scholarship has developed, it has become increasingly evident that the practice of feminist research is interdisciplinary. Yet there are very few books that address the methodological and theoretical issues raised in doing feminist research from an interdisciplinary standpoint.
Feminist Perspectives on Social Research addresses this need by focusing on the theory and research methods that feminist scholars use to study women and gender from the humanities and social and behavioral science perspectives.
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. Part Three: Applications and Methods outlines a practical approach to feminist research. Each theoretical reading about a particular method (interviewing, focus groups, survey research, experimental research, field research, and oral history) is paired with research examples using that method. Feminist Perspectives on Social Research is ideal for courses in research methods, feminist methods, qualitative research methods, feminist theory, and women's studies. It is also an excellent companion volume to Sharlene Nagy Hesse-Biber and Patricia Leavy's Approaches to Qualitative Research (OUP, 2004).
Table of Contents
PART I. METHODS, METHODOLOGY, EPISTEMOLOGY
Feminist Approaches to Research as a Process: Reconceptualizing Epistemology, Methodology and Method, Sharlene Nagy Hesse-Biber, Patricia Leavy, and Michelle L. Yaiser
Women's Perspectives as Radical Critique of Sociology, Dorothy Smith
Rethinking Standpoint Epistemology: What Is Strong Objectivity?, Sandra Harding
Tracing the Contours: Feminist Research and Feminist Objectivity, Kum-Kum Bhavnani
A Feminist Epistemology, Joey Sprague and Diane Kobrynowicz
PART II. STRATEGIES ON ISSUES OF RACE, CLASS, GENDER, and SEXUALITY
Difference Matters: Studying Across Race, Class, Gender and Sexuality, Sharlene Nagy Hesse-Biber and Michelle L. Yaiser
A Conceptual Framework for Understanding Race, Class, Gender, and Sexuality, Lynn Weber
Rethinking Social Class: Qualitative Perspectives on Class and Gender, Diane Reay
Parenting in Black and White Families: The Interaction of Gender with Race and Class, Shirley Hill and Joey Sprague
Can Men Be Subjects of Feminist Thought?, Sandra Harding
Fieldwork in Lesbian and Gay Communities, Kathleen Weston
PART III. APPLICATIONS AND METHODS
How Feminists Practice Social Research, Sharlene Nagy Hesse-Biber, Denise Leckenby, and Michelle L. Yaiser
Talking and Listening from Women's Standpoint: Feminist Strategies for Interviewing and Analysis, Marjorie DeVault
Gendering Violence: Masculinity and Power in Men's Accounts of Domestic Violence, Kristin Anderson and Debra Umberson
Focus Groups: A Feminist Method, Sue Wilkinson
Vulnerability and Dangerousness: The Construction of Gender through Conversation about Violence, Jocelyn Hollander
Some Thoughts by an "Unrepentant Positivist" Who Considers Herself a Feminist Nonetheless, Janet Saltzman Chafetz
The Blacker the Berry: Gender, Skin Tone, Self-Esteem, and Self-Efficacy, Maxine Thompson and Verna Keith
Inferences Regarding the Personality Traits and Sexual Orientaton of Physically Androgynous People, Laura Madson
The Outsider Phenomenon, Nancy Naples
The Social Organization of Sexuality and Gender in Alternative Hard Rock: An Analysis of Intersectionality, Mimi Schippers
What's So Feminist About Women's Oral History?, Susan Geiger
But Sometimes You're Not Part of the Story: Oral Histories and Ways of Remembering and Telling, Antoinette Errante