ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the position that feminist and participative research approaches provide particularly appropriate means of developing anti-oppressive research. It aims to describe how the research was designed and carried out informed by a feminist/participative framework; to evaluate the research process in terms of the participative dimension. Framework provides all the more reason for developing a means of evaluating the participative process and identifying its strengths and limitations. The discussion raises a number of issues about research as an imperfect process drawing attention to the myriad factors in the research context that mitigate against participation and empowerment. S. Reinharz holds that feminist research within a participative framework should take place within the natural setting of the subjects of the research, whether this is within the organisational 'home' of the subjects or within the homes of individuals or groups. This provides the researcher with the opportunity to become involved in the everyday environment of the researched.
