Feminist Methodology: Challenges and Choices

Aware that methodology is not generally considered a sexy area, the authors address challenges to feminist knowledge claims, issues in defining "gender," feminism in the 21st century, and general issues of methodology in the social sciences. The challenges referred to are criticisms of feminist methodology as not being adequately scientific or aware of race and other differences among women, and postmodern/poststructuralist questioning of the validity of any methodology to describe reality. They also discuss what makes social research feminist, and issues and choices involved in doing a feminist research project. A glossary includes such terms as "feminist standpoint" and "knowing feminist." The authors' professional backgrounds are not stated, though both have scholarly works cited in the bibliography. Annotation (c)2003 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR