ABSTRACT
The paper discusses the development and application of a survey questionnaire for researching domestic violence in same sex relationships. A feminist epistemological approach was used to construct an instrument geared to explore how processes of gendering and power might operate in similar or different ways in abusive lesbian, gay male or heterosexual relationships, while taking into account a range of domestically abusive behaviour, context and impact, experiences of abuse from partners and use of such behaviour against partners. The survey was part of a detailed multi-method study of love and domestic violence by intimate partners in same sex and heterosexual relationships (funded by the ESRC, award RES-000-23-0650), and also included focus groups and interviews. The paper outlines the development of the survey methodology, the high degree of reliability of the resulting instrument and shows the importance of the instrument and approach in providing a means for assessing ‘severity of impact’.
