Naples draws on different research topics, such as welfare, poverty, sexual identity, and sexual abuse, to illustrate some of the most salient dilemmas of feminist research: the debate over objectivity, the paradox of discourse, the dilemma of "standpoint," and the challenges of activist research. By linking important feminist theoretical debates with case studies, Naples illustrates the strategies she developed for resolving the challenges posed be postmodern, Third World, postcolonial, and queer studies.

Appearing in the feminist social science literature from its beginnings are a series of questions about methodology. In this collection, Sandra Harding interrogates some of the classic essays from the last fifteen years in order to explore the basic and troubling questions about science and social experience, gender, and politics.

`An accessible, clearly explained review of difficult concepts within this arena as well as relevant debates. Its strengths are in outlining possible considerations that need to be taken into account when making methodological choices. It also clearly explains how these choices impact knowledge production. This book would undoubtedly be of considerable use to anyone seeking to understand and get to grips with feminist methodological issues′ - Feminism and Psychology Who would be a feminist now? Contemporary ′political realism′ suggests that the essentials of the battle have already been won, and the current generation of women entering University is used to seeing feminism presented as ′old fashioned′, ′extreme′ and ′unrealistic′. Challenging such assumptions, this important new book argues for the value of empirical investigations of gendered life, and brings together the theoretical, political and practical aspects of feminist methodology. Feminist Methodology - demonstrates how feminist approaches to methodology engage with debates in western philosophy to raise critical questions about knowledge production - shows that feminist methodology has a distinctive place in social research - guides the reader through the terrain of feminist methodology and clarifies how feminists can claim knowledge of gendered social existence - connects abstract issues of theory with issues in fieldwork practice. This timely and accessible book will be an essential resource for students in women′s studies, gender studies, sociology, cultural studies, social anthropology and feminist psychology.

Liberating Method reflects the conviction that feminist insights can and should contribute to a sounder, more rigorous social science. In this book, one of the leading practitioners and teachers of feminist methodology examines profound questions about traditional and customary practices of social research. Marjorie DeVault argues that established methods too often ignore social oppression as she charts her quest for approaches that will more adequately represent marginalized groups.

This book focuses on feminist research methodology, exploring and analysing its constituting methods, theory, ontology, epistemology, ethics and politics, and research issues relating to women, gender and feminism in Sri Lanka. The book examines ways of meaning-making for the political, ideological and ethical purposes of promoting individual and social change, and constructs an example of feminist research praxis. Using this South Asian country as a case study, the author looks at the means by which researchers in this field inhabit, engage with and represent the multiple realities of women and society in Sri Lanka. In analysing what constitutes feminist research methodology in a transitional country, the book links local research practices with Western feminist approaches, taking into account the commonalities, distinctions and specificities of working in a South Asian context. Engaging with and re-conceptualising three traditionally different types of research - women’s studies, gender studies and feminist studies - from a methodological perspective, Feminist Research Methodology provides a framework for researching feminist issues. Applicable at both a local and global level, this original methodological framework will be of value to researchers working in any context.

Examining the wide range of feminist research methods, Shulamit Reinharz explains the relationship between feminism and methodology, and challenges existing stereotypes. Concluding that there is no one correct feminist method, but rather a variety of perspectives, Reinharz argues that this diversity of methods has been of great value to feminist scholarship. With an extensive bibliography cataloguing the important work accomplished over the last two decades, Feminist Methods in Social Research is an essential resource for students of sociology and women's studies.

The second edition of the Handbook of Feminist Research: Theory and Praxis, presents both a theoretical and practical approach to conducting social science research on, for, and about women. The Handbook enables readers to develop an understanding of feminist research by introducing a range of feminist epistemologies, methodologies, and methods that have had a significant impact on feminist research practice and women's studies scholarship. The Handbook continues to provide a set of clearly defined research concepts that are devoid of as much technical language as possible. It continues to engage readers with cutting edge debates in the field as well as the practical applications and issues for those whose research affects social policy and social change. It also expands on the wealth of interdisciplinary understanding of feminist research praxis that is grounded in a tight link between epistemology, methodology and method. The second edition of this Handbook will provide researchers with the tools for excavating subjugated knowledge on women's lives and the lives of other marginalized groups with the goals of empowerment and social change.