The inclusion of quantitative techniques and diversity in the mainstream of feminist research
Abstract
Much is written about quantitative techniques and feminist and gender studies. Despite convincing arguments in favour of utilizing these methods, they are still largely absent in the heartland of gender studies. In this article, this is related to the observation that methods are tied to epistemological positions and consequently quantitative studies are a priori associated with overgeneralization. A new perspective – the diversity continuum – is presented in order to contextualize research and make it possible to judge it relatively. This shows that quantitative research can increase the understanding of differences and similarities. Subsequently, it is discussed how quantitative research can be utilized to understand differences between people using existing basic techniques. In line with the conceptualization of diversity, this includes techniques to study intersectionality and how developments have different effects on men and women. The continuum and techniques are illustrated by an example of political interest (in the Dominican Republic).
Get full access to this article
View all access and purchase options for this article.
References
Allison P (1999) Multiple Regression: A Primer. Thousand Oaks, CA: Pine Forge Press.
Almeida-Filho N, Lesse I, Magalhães L, et al. (2004) Social inequality and depressive disorders in Bahia, Brazil: Interactions of gender ethnicity, and social class. Social Science and Medicine 59(7): 1339–1353.
Andermahr S, Lovell T, Wolkowitz C (1997) A Concise Glossary of Feminist Theory. London: Arnold.
Bernard J (1975) Women, Wives and Mothers: Values and Options. Chicago, IL: Aldine Publishing.
Browne K (2008) Selling my queer soul or queerying quantitative research? Sociological Research Online 13.
Davidson A (2008) The Gargoyle. Edinburgh: Canongate.
Ferree MM (2009) Inequality, intersectionality and the politics of discourse: Framing feminist alliances. In: Lombardo E, Meier P, Verloo M (eds) The Discursive Politics of Gender Equality: Stretching, Bending and Policymaking. London: Routledge, pp. 86–104.
Gerring J (2007) Case Study Research: Principle and Practices. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Goertz G, Hewitt JJ (2006) Concepts and choosing populations. In: Goertz G (ed.) Social Science Concepts: A User’s Guide. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, pp. 159–176.
Hancock AM (2007) When multiplication doesn’t equal quick addition: Examining intersectionality as a research paradigm. Perspectives on Politics 5(1): 63–79.
Hankivsky O, Christoffersen A (2008) Intersectionality and the determinants of health: A Canadian perspective. Critical Public Health 18(3): 271–283.
Harding S (1986) The Science Question in Feminism. New York: Cornell University Press.
Harding S (1997) Is there a feminist method? In: Kemp S, Squires J (eds) Feminisms. Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 160–170.
Hardy MA (1993) Regression with Dummy Variables. Thousand Oaks, CA and London: Sage.
Huisman J, Smits J (2009) Effects of household- and district-level factors on primary school enrolment in 30 developing countries. World Development 37(1): 179–193.
Inglehart R, Norris P (2003) Rising Tide: Gender Equality and Cultural Change Around the World. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Jaccard J, Turrisi R (2003) Interaction Effects in Multiple Regression, 2nd edn. Thousand Oaks, CA and London: Sage.
Jayaratne TE (1983) The value of quantitative methodology for feminist research. In: Bowles G, Klein RD (eds) Theories of Women’s Studies. Boston, MA: Routledge and Kegan Paul.
Jones K, Duncan C (1998) Modelling context and heterogeneity: Applying multilevel models. In: Scarbrough E, Tanenbaum E (eds) Research Strategies in the Social Sciences. Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 95–123.
Kemp S, Squires J (1997) Feminisms. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
King G, Keohane RO, Verba S (1994) Designing Social Inquiry: Scientific Inference in Qualitative Research. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Koch J (1997) Candidate gender and women’s psychological engagement in politics. American Politics Research 25(1): 118–133.
Landman T (2008) Issues and Methods in Comparative Politics: An Introduction, 3rd edn. London: Routledge.
Lorber J (2006) Shifting paradigms and challenging categories. Social Problems 53(4): 448–453.
McCall L (2005) The complexity of intersectionality. SIGNS: Journal of Women in Culture and Society 30(3): 1771–1800.
McCloskey DN, Ziliak ST (1996) The standard error of regressions. Journal of Economic Literature 34(1): 97–114.
Mahoney J, Goertz G (2006) A tale of two cultures: Contrasting quantitative and qualitative research. Political Analysis 14(3): 227–249.
Maynard M (1994) Methods, practice and epistemology: The debate about feminism and research. In: Maynard M, Purvis J (eds) Researching Women’s Lives from a Feminist Perspective. London: Taylor and Francis, pp. 10–26.
Mazur AG, Goertz G (2008) Introduction. In: Goertz G, Mazur AG (eds) Politics, Gender, and Concepts: Theory and Methodology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 1–13.
Miller JE, Van der Meulen Rodgers J (2008) Economic importance and statistical significance: Guidelines for communicating empirical research. Feminist Economics 14(2): 117–149.
Millman M, Kanter RM (1975) Another Voice: Feminist Perspectives on Social Life and Social Science. New York: Anchor Press.
Morgan J, Espinal R, Hartlyn J (2008) Gender politics in the Dominican Republic: Advances for women, ambivalence from men. Politics and Gender 4(1): 35–63.
Nieuwenhoven L, Klinge I (2010) Scientific excellence in applying sex- and gender-sensitive methods in biomedical and health research. Journal of Women’s Health 19(2): 313–321.
Oakley A, Oakley R (1979) Sexism in official statistics. In: Irvine J, Miles I, Evans J (eds) Demystifying Social Statistics. London: Pluto.
Painter J (n.d.) Designing multilevel models using SPSS 11.5 mixed model. Available at: www.unc.edu/~painter/SPSSMixed/SPSSMixedModels.PDF.
Phoenix A, Pattynama P (2006) Editorial: Intersectionality. European Journal of Women’s Studies 13(3): 187–192.
Pollock PH (2009) An SPSS Companion to Political Analysis, 3rd edn. Washington, DC: CQ Press.
Ramazanoğlu C, Holland P (2002) Feminist Methodology: Challenges and Choices. London: Sage.
Reinharz S (1992) Feminist Methods in Social Research. New York: Oxford University Press.
Sapiro V (1998) Feminist studies and political science and vice versa. In: Phillips A (ed.) Feminism and Politics. Oxford: Oxford University, pp. 67–89.
Sen G, Iyer A, Mukherjee C (2009) A methodology to analyse the intersections of social inequalities in health. Journal of Human Development and Capabilities 10(3): 397–415.
Smith DE (2009) Categories are not enough. Gender and Society 23(1): 76–80.
Soper K (1997) Feminism, humanism, postmodernism. In: Kemp S, Squires J (eds) Feminisms. Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 286–292.
Spierings N, Smits J, Verloo M (2010) Micro and macro-level determinants of women’s employment in six MENA countries. Journal of Marriage and Family 72(5): 1391–1407.
Sprague J (2008) Sociology: The good, the bad, and the public. Gender and Society 22(6): 697–704.
Verba S, Burns N, Schlozman K (1997) Knowing and caring about politics: Gender and political engagement. Journal of Politics 59(4): 1051–1072.
Verloo M (2006) Multiple inequalities, intersectionality and the European Union. European Journal of Women’s Studies 13(3): 211–229.
Völke K, Van der Haar M, Yanow D (2010) Trouble taxonomies: ‘Types of women’, ‘continent of birth’, and ‘race’. Working Paper, ECPR Joint Sessions, Workshop 15, Category-making and public policy, Münster, 22–27 March.
Wall S (2008) Of heads and hearts: Women in doctoral education at a Canadian university. Women’s Studies International Forum 31(3): 219–228.
Warner LR (2008) A best practices guide to intersectional approaches in psychological research. Sex Roles 59(6): 454–463.
Wekker G, Lutz H (2001) Een Hoogvlakte met koude winden. De geschiedenis van het gender- en etniciteitsdenken in Nederland. In: Botman M, Jouwe N, Wekker G (eds) Caleidoscopische Visies – de zwarte, migranten- en vluchtelingen vrouwenbeweging in Nederland. Amsterdam: KIT Publishers, pp. 25–50.
Young RJC (2003) Postcolonialism: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Yuval-Davis N (2006) Intersectionality and feminist politics. European Journal of Women’s Studies 13(3): 193–209.
Cite article
Cite article
Cite article
OR
Download to reference manager
If you have citation software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice
Information, rights and permissions
Information
Published In
Article first published online: July 25, 2012
Issue published: August 2012
Keywords
Authors
Metrics and citations
Metrics
Journals metrics
This article was published in European Journal of Women's Studies.
VIEW ALL JOURNAL METRICSArticle usage*
Total views and downloads: 2659
*Article usage tracking started in December 2016
Articles citing this one
Receive email alerts when this article is cited
Web of Science: 47 view articles Opens in new tab
Crossref: 41
-
Religion works in different ways: an intersectional approach to Muslim...
-
Youth dis/comforts in everyday spaces: an intersectional and mixed met...
-
The Role of Intersectionality and Context in Measuring Gender-Based Vi...
-
Intersectional analysis of inequalities in self-reported breast cancer...
-
Passion is key: High emotionality in diversity statements promotes org...
-
Sex/gender differences in cognitive abilities
-
Gendered fear of crime in the urban context: A comparative multilevel ...
-
Concern for Self-Health During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Canada: How to...
-
Perceived knowledge gained from school-based sexuality education – res...
-
Intersections and Commonalities: Using Matching to Decompose Wage Gaps...
-
Exploring the Role of Privilege in Migrant Women’s Self-Employment
-
Bullying and Harassment in the British Rail Sector: An Intersectional ...
-
Youth intimate partner violence: prevalence, characteristics, associat...
-
Feminist research in a female-dominated profession: How can this lens ...
-
Black Women Principals in American Secondary Schools: Quantitative Evi...
-
Cybervictimization in Chilean Schools: An Intersectional Multilevel St...
-
Intersectionality in quantitative research: A systematic review of its...
-
Intersectional patterns of social assistance eligibility in Sweden
-
Exploring Intersectionality Through Artful Critical Qualitative Method...
-
Intersectional migration-related health inequalities in Europe: Explor...
-
Self-rated health inequalities in the intersection of gender, social c...
-
The Intersection of Gender, Social Class, and Cultural Context: a Meta...
-
Gender, Feminist, and Intersectional Perspectives on Families: A Decad...
-
Exploring Intersectionality Through Artful Critical Qualitative Method...
-
Sexual Identities and Racial Attitudes among Black, Latinx, and White ...
-
The contribution of intersectionality to quantitative research into ed...
-
Understanding the micro and macro politics of health: Inequalities, in...
-
Digital skills gaps: A pending subject for gender digital inclusion in...
-
Intersectionality and quantitative methods: assessing regression from ...
-
A Feminist Quality Appraisal Tool: exposing gender bias and gender ine...
-
Thai women entrepreneurs in Sweden: Critical perspectives on migrant s...
-
Introduction: Gender and Comparative Methods
-
Qualitative Comparative Analysis as a Tool for Concept Clarification, ...
-
Multilevel Analysis as a Tool to Understand the Spatio-Temporality of ...
-
The Virtues of Engendering Quantitative Methods Courses
-
Intersectionality in Quantitative Psychological Research...
-
Les méthodes mixtes dans la recherche féministe : enjeux, contraintes ...
-
Doctoral research from a feminist perspective: Acknowledging, advancin...
-
Intersections of gender, age and occupational group in the Finnish def...
-
An examination of barriers to physical education for Christian and Mus...
-
Gendering social mobility: a comparative perspective on the nexus of e...
Figures and tables
Figures & Media
Tables
View Options
Get access
Access options
If you have access to journal content via a personal subscription, university, library, employer or society, select from the options below:
loading institutional access options
Alternatively, view purchase options below:
Purchase 24 hour online access to view and download content.
Access journal content via a DeepDyve subscription or find out more about this option.
