Fem,inist Research Methods About the Book and Editor Feminist inquiry has affected the nature of research in all the social and natural sciences over the past decade, but much contemporary writing on feminist methods simply offers a critique of traditional methods This book, one of the first to offer a practical guide to conducting research informed by feminist methods, is based on the premise that abstract discussion of methodological issues is most meaningful and instructive in conjunction with examples of actual research A comprehensive and far-reaching introduction defines feminist research and explains how it differs from traditional methodology in the social and natural sciences In a beautifully clear style, Dr Nielsen guides the reader through a number of philosophy of science, history of science, and sociology of knowledge issues that are fundamental to understanding the nature of scientific method in its traditional sense and the role of feminist scholarship in the larger intellectual movement that is transforming and redefining scientific methodology Part One presents the best of feminist commentary on both feminist and traditional methods Part Two consists of readings that illustrate particular feminist methods, including oral history, linguistic analysis, feminist anthropology informed by feminist literary criticism, and reinterpretation and reanalysis of empirical data from a feminist perspective Substantive issues addressed in the readings include women's suffrage in the United States, women as shamans, sex differences in suicide rates, sex differences in cognitive abilities, gender dominance through conversation, gender and public policy, and public-private sphere dichotomies Joyce McCarl Nielsen is associate professor of sociology at the University of Colorado-Boulder She is the author of Sex and Gender in Society: Perspectives on Stratification Feminist Research Methods Exemplary Readings in the Social Sciences EDITED BY · Joyce McCarl Nielsen University of Colorado-Boulder I~ ~~o~;~;n~~;up LONDON AND NEW YORK First published 1990 by Westview Press, Inc Published 2018 by Routledge 52 Vanderbilt Avenue, New York, NY 10017 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business Copyright © 1990 Taylor & Francis All rights reserved No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers Notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Feminist research methods : exemplary readings in the social sciences I edited by Joyce McCarl Nielsen p em Contents: Gender and science I Evelyn Fox Keller - Feminist criticism of the social sciences I Marda Westkott - Knowledge and women's interests Judith A Cook and Mary Margaret Fonow Beginning where we arc : feminist methodology in oral history I Kathryn An