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The latter position is non-foundational, with the emphasis on the social construction of reality, primarily through discursive means.
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However, the discussion of qualitative methods in this chapter is primarily based on two epistemological orientations within feminist psychology: a feminist standpoint position and a postmodern/social constructionist one (Gergen, 2001).
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In addition to varieties of styles of research, there are theoretical variations as well. The precise formulations of qualitative methods, the interpretations of research outcomes, and the presentational forms have produced many styles of feminist research (Chrisler and McCreary, 2010 Fonow and Cook, 1991). With a focus on these issues, the methodological choice of qualitative research has been very important in that it allows for explorations of lives and institutions in their rich diversity and wholeness, rather than supporting research that elicits and dissects data in the service of a statistical plan based on group scores (Reinharz, 1992). With the caveat that tensions exist within feminist research circles, I would advance the view that, at its core, feminist research is designed to seek social justice, to enhance women's voice and influence in society, and to explore alternative ways of understanding the world through women's experiences (Baker, 2006 Harding, 1987). At the same time, many of the opinions emerging from these debates have shaped the support for qualitative methods in feminist psychology (Gergen, 2010 Hesse-Biber, 2007 Olesen, 1994 Wertz et al., 2011).
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Many questions have been raised as it has developed: Is feminist research simply a recipe in which we add ‘women’ to existing paradigmatic forms, then stir? Or should an entirely new discipline be forged? How far can one deviate from traditional empirical methods, and not be ghettoized? How free are we to explore our research interests using qualitative methods? How can qualitative methods enhance our feminist pursuits? These questions, among others, have been hotly debated and as yet remain unresolved within the feminist community. Among those identified as feminist psychologists, the receptivity to qualitative methods has been greater than it has in most other areas of psychology, but still these methods are viewed with some caution, given the centrality of more mainstream empirical methods, such as those related to hypothesis testing and experimentation.įeminist psychology has always been a field in transition. In general they have been seen in contrast to quantitative methods, and, in psychology, as a mode of discovery in the initial phases of a research process, or as an adjunct to quantitative methods of research. Qualitative Methods have become prominent in a variety of social science areas since the 1980s.