Feminist Perspectives on Social Research

by Hesse-Biber, Sharlene Nagy; Yaiser, Michelle L.

• ISBN13: 9780195158113
• ISBN10: 0195158113
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2003-08-28
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

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 intothree 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 thecontributions 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 andwomen'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 andPatricia Leavy's Approaches to Qualitative Research (OUP, 2004).

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	xi
Contributors	xiii
Credits	xiv
I EPISTEMOLOGY, METHODOLOGY, METHOD
1 Feminist Approaches to Research as a Process: Reconceptualizing Epistemology, Methodology, and Method	3	(24)
Sharlene Nagy Hesse-Biber, Patricia Leavy, and Michelle L. Yaiser
2 Women's Perspective as a Radical Critique of Sociology	27	(12)
Dorothy E. Smith
3 Rethinking Standpoint Epistemology: What Is "Strong Objectivity"?	39	(26)
Sandra Harding
4 Tracing the Contours: Feminist Research and Feminist Objectivity	65	(13)
Kum-Kum Bhavnani
5 A Feminist Epistemology	78	(23)
Joey Sprague and Diane Kobrynowicz
II STRATEGIES ON ISSUES OF RACE, CLASS, GENDER, AND SEXUALITY
6 Difference Matters: Studying Across Race, Class, Gender, and Sexuality	101	(20)
Sharlene Nagy Hesse-Biber and Michelle L. Yaiser
7 A Conceptual Framework for Understanding Race, Class, Gender, and Sexuality	121	(19)
Lynn Weber
8 Rethinking Social Class: Qualitative Perspectives on Class and Gender	140	(15)
Diane Reay
9 Parenting in Black and White Families: The Interaction of Gender with Race and Class	155	(22)
Shirley A. Hill and Joey Sprague
10 Can Men Be Subjects of Feminist Thought?	177	(21)
Sandra Harding
11 Fieldwork in Lesbian and Gay Communities	198	(11)
Kath Weston
III APPLICATIONS AND METHODS
12 How Feminists Practice Social Research	209	(18)
Sharlene Nagy Hesse-Biber and Denise Leckenby
13 Talking and Listening from Women's Standpoint: Feminist Strategies for Interviewing and Analysis	227	(24)
Marjorie L. DeVault
14 tendering Violence: Masculinity and Power in Men's Accounts of Domestic Violence	251	(20)
Kristin L. Anderson and Debra Umberson
15 Focus Groups: A Feminist Method	271	(25)
Sue Wilkinson
16 Vulnerability and Dangerousness: The Construction of Gender through Conversation about Violence	296	(24)
Jocelyn A. Hollander
17 Some Thoughts by an Unrepentant "Positivist" Who Considers Herself a Feminist Nonetheless	320	(10)
Janet Saltzman Chafetz
18 The Blacker the Berry: Gender, Skin Tone, Self-Esteem, and Self-Efficacy	330	(21)
Maxine S. Thompson and Verna M. Keith
19 Inferences Regarding the Personality Traits and Sexual Orientation of Physically Androgynous People	351	(22)
Laura Madson
20 The Outsider Phenomenon	373	(9)
Nancy A. Naples
21 The Social Organization of Sexuality and Gender in Alternative Hard Rock: An Analysis of Intersectionality	382	(17)
Mimi Schippers
22 What's So Feminist about Women's Oral History?	399	(12)
Susan Geiger
23 But Sometimes You're Not Part of the Story: Oral Histories and Ways of Remembering and Telling	411
Antoinette Errante