Feminist methodologies for critical researchers : bridging differences / Joey Sprague.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Sprague, Joey, 1947- author.

Series:

Gender lens series

The gender lens series

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Women's studies--Methodology.

Women's studies.

Sociology--Research--Methodology.

Sociology.

Sociology--Statistical methods.

Physical Description:

xviii, 283 pages ; 24 cm.

Edition:

Second edition.

Place of Publication:

Lanham : Rowman & Littlefield, [2016]

Summary:

This accessible text on social research methodology illustrates how standard methods can be adapted towards critical ends. The second edition has been updated throughout to incorporate the latest critical scholarship, enhanced discussion of qualitative methods, new material on global issues and sex/sexuality/gender, new information on intersectionality and how social media can shape research, and more. Joey Sprague describes and evaluates a wide array of methodological options-from quantitative to qualitative-and explores the links between epistemology and methodology. She proposes a program to overcome bias in standard methodologies and offers practical suggestions that can be used effectively by all progressive researchers. This second edition of Feminist Methodologies for Critical Researchers is of value to scholars across disciplines and an essential text or supplement for methods classes. Book jacket.

Contents:

1 The Field of Vision 1

Why Feminists? 2

Who Am I? 3

What Is Methodology? 4

What's Keeping Sociology from Its Promise? 6

Knowing Choices 29

2 Seeing through Science: Epistemologies 33

Positivism: Do the Facts Speak for Themselves? 34

Radical Social Constructionism: Is Knowledge Illusion? 39

Critical Realism 43

Standpoint Theory 47

Critical Realism or Standpoint Theory? 53

Critically Seeking Reality 60

3 Authority and Power 63

Power and Authority, Ideology and Knowledge 64

The Subjectivist (Mis)interpretation of Standpoint Epistemology 68

Social Standpoint Epistemology 79

4 How Feminists Count: Critical Strategies for Quantitative Methods 95

Problems with Standard Quantitative Methodology 96

How Feminists Use Quantitative Methods 114

Conclusion 140

5 Qualitative Shifts: Feminist Strategies in Field Research and Interviewing 145

Feminist Critiques of Qualitative Methodology 147

Increasing the Researcher/Researched Connection 160

Compensating for the Researcher's Standpoint 167

Constructing Collaborations 185

Conclusion 191

6 Whose Questions? Whose Answers? 195

Asking Critical Questions 196

To Whom Are We Providing Answers? 210

7 Changing Sociology, Changing the World 229

Changing Research 234

Changing Our Discipline 236

Changing Ourselves 238.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9781442218710

1442218711

9781442218727

144221872X

OCLC:

935493598