Research for Women: Feminist Methods

Research is not a single activity, nor is it a specific set of procedures. Even the scientific method is not one way of conducting research, but a set of assumptions about how we can come to "know" about the universe (see Tables 2.1 and 2.2). For some, research means the "discovery of truth," whereas for others it is the creation or production of knowledge, or even the collection and telling of stories. Similarly, feminist research is hard to delineate or even to describe. Feminist research is not a single method or set of procedures, or even a unitary approach to the discovery or creation of knowledge. This chapter is an extended description of the diverse approaches to research taken by feminists.