Feminist research and epistemologies

1. Feminist research and epistemologies SO 3066

2. lecture outline • feminist critique of sociological research and methods • counting or quoting?: debate over the appropriateness of quantitative or qualitative research methods in feminist research • tend to favour qualitative methods e.g. refer to Oakley’s (1981) study – transition to motherhood - and the idea of a ‘participatory model’ • is there a feminist method? • gendered nature of knowledge • feminist sociology of knowledge • feminist epistemologies: e.g. standpoint and empiricism • some final points to think about

3. feminist critique of research • challenge the myth of ‘hygienic research’: • question the ‘scientistic cloak’ - the idea of detached value-neutral researcher • research is not always orderly – messy • reflexivity - no account of researcher’s self and their relationship to/with those participating in the research project

4. ‘counting or quoting’? • debate about using quantitative and qualitative research methods in feminist research • quantitative methods regarded as incompatible and unsuitable for feminist research e.g. survey – positivistic, one-way - exploitative process, associated with male values of control – ‘rape’ analogy • qualitative methods = more compatible with carrying out ‘feminist’ research? e.g. un/semi-structured interviews – build rapport – two-way process

5. e.g. ‘participatory model’(e.g. Oakley 1981; Bryman 2001; Duncombe & Jessop 2002; Letherby 2003) • Oakley (1981) – conducted research - transition to motherhood • repeated interviews – 55 women twice pre and twice post birth – even attended the odd birth too! • her respondents would ask her questions – read quote • intense research context – increased personal involvement/rapport

6. BUT • cultivating rapport or ‘faking friendships’ – exploitative too? • assume shared womanhood - can rapport be forged between all women irrespective of class, ethnicity, sexuality etc? • feminist research – considered too subjective – issues of validity (led to a range of feminist epistemological positions – baseline to assess ‘truth claims’ – discuss shortly) • also some feminists argue that statistical research has an important role to play too – e.g. extent of discrimination – equal opportunities • Oakley and others have since advocated mixed-method (i.e. quantitative and qualitative) research designs • depend on research question(s)? – ‘it’s not what you do it’s how you do it’!

7. is there a feminist method? • method: research techniques/practices – e.g. ethnography, survey, interview (choice of recipe) • methodology: theories of how research is conducted – e.g. qualitative or quantitative (cooking process) • epistemology: theory of knowledge – (kind of meal produced) according to Stanley & Wise (in Stanley 1990:26): who can be a knower? what can be known? what counts as valid knowledge? what is the relationship between knowing and being (ontology) • what makes feminist research ‘feminist’ is the methodology and epistemology NOT the method

8. gendered knowledge?(e.g. Letherby 2003) • reason and the ‘gendered metaphor’ – dualistic, oppositional, and hierarchical: • men - women • culture - nature • reason - emotion • mind - body • public - private • ‘authorized knowledge’ - basis of academic knowledge (institutionalised and legitimate), scientific, reason, objective, associated with men? • ‘experiential knowledge’ – everyday, emotional, subjective, associated with women - dismissed? • feminists claim that knowledge is not gender neutral • ‘malestream knowledge has been used to control women, and feminist knowledge is an aid to the emancipation of women’ (Abbott et al 2005: 366)

9. ‘a feminist sociology of knowledge’(according to Lengermann & Niebrugge-Brantley in Ritzer 2000: 477) • claim that knowledge and understanding of the world: • from the standpoint of groups of people • is always partial and interest laden • varies within and between groups • power relations • ‘feminist standpoint epistemology’ – standpoint of women

10. feminist sociology and knowledge • ‘sociology for women’ (Smith 1987) • women’s ‘outsider status’ • ‘epistemic privilege’

11. feminist standpoint epistemology • sometimes called ‘women’s experience epistemology’- because experience is the considered the basis of knowledge • ‘standpoint’ – ‘what we do shapes what we know’ • builds on and adapts Marx’s insights of the proletariat / particular emphasis on the sexual division of labour – women are particularly aware of and responsible for the grounded responsibilities of everyday life • women – oppressed class – comprehend their own subordination and those who oppress them (men) – this affords a ‘truer’ understanding of social reality – not distorted by ideologies of power • claim that feminist knowledge is less biased than malestream knowledge

12. BUT • feminism motivated by political interests too? • are all women the same – is there a common basis of oppression – can some women share more in common with some men than with other women? • hierarchy of oppression? • are some women more oppressed than others e.g. Black women – hence do they produce truer or different version(s) of reality? • problem of relativism? • is it more accurate to speak of standpoints?

13. feminist empiricism • accepts the norms of positivist science – change ‘bad’ and ‘sexist’ practices instead (compatible with liberal feminism - reform) • ‘faulty science’ becomes more ‘accurate’ and ‘good science’ (assumes a realist ontology) • promote ‘non-sexist’ research e.g. language; concepts; implications of findings • research designs and samples include men AND women • correct androcentric biases in knowledge and research

14. BUT • perpetuates and leaves intact the myth of ‘hygienic research’ - many feminists reject this assumption i.e. notion of a neutral researcher who attempts to access and represent an objective reality • people are objects in such research • lacks reflexivity and transparency of research process?

15. summary of main issues • feminist critique of sociological research and methods • counting or quoting?: debate over the appropriateness of quantitative or qualitative research methods in feminist research • tend to favour qualitative methods e.g. refer to Oakley’s (1981) study – transition to motherhood - and the idea of a ‘participatory model’ • is there a feminist method?

16. summary of main issues • gendered nature of knowledge • feminist sociology of knowledge • feminist epistemologies: e.g. standpoint and empiricism • some final points to think about

17. final thoughts • feminist theory arose out of personal politics – importance of women’s everyday ‘lived experiences’ is it becoming disconnected from women’s experiences? • to what extent is feminist theory politically relevant today and for whom? • given the emphasis on diversity and differences between women – how effectively and legitimately can feminists from different cultural, religious, class, ethnic backgrounds etc theorise about ‘other’ women and their experiences?

18. final thoughts • does a researcher have to be working class to study working class women or of the same ethnic origin etc – infinite regress – if this is the case what are the implications for sociology? • when we talk about ‘gender’ and ‘sociology of gender’ – we tend to equate gender as a shorthand for women – why is this? Are men not gendered too? • the influence and impact of feminism and feminist theory has played a part in opening up a field referred to as ‘men’s studies’ whereby male researchers look at men and masculinity or masculinities – can men utilise feminist perspectives?