ABSTRACT

Feminist social scientists often find that carrying feminism into practice in their research is neither easy nor straightforward. Designed precisely with feminist researchers in mind, Feminist Praxis gives detailed analytic accounts of particular examples of feminist research, showing how feminist epistemology can translate into concrete feminist research practices.

The contributors, all experts in their field, give practical examples of feminist research practices, covering colonialism, child-minding, gay men, feminist social work, cancer, working with young girls using drama, Marilyn Monroe, statistics – even the writing and reading of research accounts. These detailed accounts are located in relation to the position of feminism and of women generally in the academic world, and looked at in the light of discussions, debates, and controversies about feminist methodology across several disciplines.

Feminist Praxis is unique in combining theoretical discussion of feminist methodology with detailed accounts of practical research processes. This blend of the practical and the theoretical will make it an invaluable text for feminists carrying out research at all levels, and it will also appeal to those interested in the relationship between theory, method and feminist epistemology.

part one|60 pages

Feminism and the Academic Mode

part two|213 pages

Feminist Research Processes

chapter Chapter three|2 pages

Introduction

part Section A|24 pages

Beginning and Finishing Research

chapter Chapter five|9 pages

The history of a ‘failed' research topic

The case of the childminders

part Section B|34 pages

Demolishing the ‘Quantitative v. Qualitative' Divide

chapter Chapter six|12 pages

‘Seeking Susan'

Producing statistical information on young people's leisure

chapter Chapter seven|10 pages

My statistics and feminism - a true story

chapter Chapter eight|10 pages

‘A referral was made'

Behind the scenes during the creation of a Social Services Department ‘elderly' statistic

part Section C|33 pages

Recognising the Role of Auto/Biography

chapter Chapter ten|11 pages

From butch god to teddy bear?

Some thoughts on my relationship with Elvis Presley 1

chapter Chapter eleven|11 pages

The professional and the personal

A study of women quantity surveyors

part Section D|93 pages

Analytically Using Experience

chapter Chapter twelve|13 pages

Breaking the rules

Assessing the assessment of a girls' project

chapter Chapter thirteen|17 pages

The mastectomy experience

chapter Chapter fourteen|16 pages

At the Palace

Researching gender and ethnicity in a Chinese restaurant

chapter Chapter fifteen|16 pages

Counter-arguments

An ethnographic look at ‘Women and Class'

chapter Chapter sixteen|15 pages

Using drama to get at gender

chapter Chapter seventeen|14 pages

Becoming a feminist social worker

part Section E|23 pages

Analysing Written and Visual Texts

chapter Chapter eighteen|9 pages

Reading feminism in fieldnotes

chapter Chapter nineteen|12 pages

Analysing a photograph of Marilyn Monroe