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The Effects of Feminist Approaches on Research Methodologies is about feminist approaches to research in twelve disciplines. The authors look at whether there is something called feminist methodology, whether there are several feminist methodologies, or whether feminists use existing methodologies from a feminist perspective. The answers vary according to individuals and disciplines. The anthology shows that feminist perspectives used in any discipline include an interdisciplinary approach. Feminist use methods which take into account the effect of social and cultural values on academic research. The influence of the social relations of the sexes on research in the sciences, social sciences, dance, and humanities is discussed. The aim of feminist research is to overcome the widespread sexism in the selection, interpretation, and communication of research data by focusing on issues concerning women, reinterpreting historical theories, reconstitution the meaning of knowledge, and communicating new understandings. These feminist authors look at the purpose of knowledge, and communicating new understandings. These feminist authors look at the purpose of knowledge and the issue of whose knowledge is communicated in academic research., The methods they use are designed to shed light on otherwise dark areas and to critique those areas of academic knowledge that have been in the spotlight for centuries.

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Publié par	Wilfrid Laurier University Press
Date de parution	01 janvier 2006
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9781554588039
Langue	English

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THE EFFECTS OF FEMINIST APPROACHES ON RESEARCH METHODOLOGIES
THE EFFECTS OF FEMINIST APPROACHES ON RESEARCH METHODOLOGIES
Edited by Winnie Tomm
Essays by Margaret Lowe Benston Jeanne Lapointe Naomi Black Hilary M. Lips Kathleen Driscoll Pamela McCallum and Joan McFarland Thelma McCormack Micheline Dumont Rosemary Nielsen and Anne Flynn E. D. Blodgett Marsha Hanen Lynn Smith

Published by Wilfrid Laurier University Press for The Calgary Institute for the Humanities
Canadian Cataloguing in Publication Data
Main entry under title: The Effects of feminist approaches on research methodologies
Papers presented at a conference held on Jan. 22-24, 1987 at the University of Calgary. Bibliography: p. Includes index. ISBN 0-88920-986-3
1. Women s studies - Research - Congresses. 2. Feminism - Research - Congresses. 3. Research - Methodology - Congresses. I. Tomm, Winnie, 1944- II. Calgary Institute for the Humanities.
HQ1180.E44 1989 305.4 2 072 C88-095228-8

Copyright 1989 Wilfrid Laurier University Press Waterloo, Ontario, Canada N2L 3C5 89 90 91 92 4 3 2 1
Cover design by Rachelle Longtin
Printed in Canada
The Effects of Feminist Approaches on Research Methodologies has been produced from a manuscript supplied in camera-ready form by The Calgary Institute for the Humanities.
No part of this book may be stored in a retrieval system, translated or reproduced in any form, by print, photoprint, microfilm, microfiche, or any other means, without written permission from the publisher.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
From the Director
Acknowledgments
Introduction
Winnie Tomm, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta
1. Feminism and the New Crisis in Methodology
Thelma McCormack, York University, Downsview, Ontario
2. Feminism, Reason, and Philosophical Method
Marsha Hanen, The University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta
3. Toward a New Science of Human Being and Behavior
Hilary M. Lips, University of Winnipeg, Winnipeg, Manitoba
4. What is Feminist Legal Research?
Lynn Smith, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, B.C.
5. The Influence of Feminist Perspectives on Historical Research Methodology
Micheline Dumont, Universit de Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, P.Q.
6. Feminist Revisions to the Literary Canon: An Overview of the Methodological Debate
Pamela McCallum, The University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta
7. "On the Far Side of Language": Finding the Woman in Classics
Rosemary M. Nielsen and E.D. Blodgett, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta
8. A Feminist Perspective in Literature
Jeanne Lapointe, Universit Laval, Quebec, P.Q.
9. Dualism and Dance
Anne Flynn, The University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta
10. The Impact of a Feminist Perspective on Research Methodologies: Social Sciences
Kathleen Driscoll, Toronto, Ontario and Joan McFarland, St. Thomas University, Fredericton, New Brunswick
11. Feminism and System Design: Questions of Control
Margaret Lowe Benston, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, B.C.
12. "The Child is Father to the Man": The Impact of Feminism on Canadian Political Science
Naomi Black, York University, Downsview, Ontario
Name Index
Subject Index
FROM THE DIRECTOR
The Calgary Institute for the Humanities was established at The University of Calgary in 1976 for the purpose of fostering advanced study and research in a broad range of subject areas. It supports work in the traditional humanities disciplines such as languages and literatures, philosophy, history, etc., as well as the philosophical and historical aspects of the social sciences, sciences, arts, and professional studies.
The Institute s programs in support of advanced study attempt to provide scholars with time to carry out their work. In addition, the Institute sponsors formal and informal gatherings among persons who share common interests, in order to promote intellectual dialogue and discussion. Recently, the Institute has moved to foster the application of humanistic knowledge to contemporary social problems.
The Calgary Institute for the Humanities was pleased to sponsor "The Effects of Feminist Approaches on Research Methodologies" conference (January 22-24, 1987). Credit for the idea and organization of this conference is due to Winnifred Tomm. To study this issue further, the papers given in the conference are now published by the Institute through Wilfrid Laurier University Press.
Harold Coward, Director, The Calgary Institute for the Humanities.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Dr. Harold G. Coward, Director of The Calgary Institute for the Humanities, The University of Calgary, is gratefully acknowledged for his unqualified support of the conference on "The Effects of Feminist Approaches on Research Methodologies" from which this anthology follows.
Mrs. Geraldine Dyer, Mrs. Jennifer Bailey, Mrs. Paty Poulton and Mrs. Cindy Atkinson have graciously worked with efficiency and supportive attitudes in the preparation of this volume. It was always a pleasure to work with them and I thank each one for that.
Professor Terence Penelhum s comments, in his response to Thelma McCormack s keynote address, provided a useful perspective in regard to the difficulties involved in reformulating the relation between objectivity and subjectivity in a theory of knowledge. I wish to express our appreciation for his generous contribution.
The task of selecting specialists from various disciplines in different parts of Canada was made possible through the assistance of several people. I wish especially to thank Gisele Thibault, who was a Post-doctoral Fellow in General Studies at The University of Calgary.
I am indebted to Karl, Jill, and Karma for their unfailing interest and supportive corrective feedback.
INTRODUCTION
Winnie Tomm
What difference does feminist methodology make to other methodologies? Is there a single feminist methodology or a multiplicity of feminist methodologies? Or are feminists simply adding new perspectives to existing approaches, rather than developing a separate feminist methodology or several distinct feminist methodologies? The papers in this volume address these issues. They were presented at a conference, held at The University of Calgary, which was organized for the purpose of responding to these questions. The authors explore ways in which feminist scholars conduct their research, paying particular attention to the gender factor and gender relations in the selection, interpretation, and communication of their material.
Since feminism emerged on the horizons of academe in the 1960s many critical paths have been laid across the landscape of academic research. Feminist hermeneutics begins with a guarded approach regarding "received wisdom" passed down to us through the ages since the beginning of recorded history. Received wisdom has been characterized by pervasive cultural assumptions including those made about the different roles men and women play in the symbol-making processes which give meaning to historical occurrences. It has informed us about which topics are important to research, who the appropriate subjects of research are, the kinds of people who are suitable for conducting research, the kinds of interpretations to be applied to the material selected for research, and the implications of the research to be communicated to the public. This received wisdom has, for the most part, been formulated by men. Hence, there is good reason for feminists in academia to proceed with caution.
Historically there has been a fairly close connection between the values which shape the nature of research and the dominant values of the society in which the research is conducted. That is, there is a reciprocal relation between social context and academic research. The notion of pure research which is free from value-laden theories is viewed with a skeptical eye by feminists. However, this skepticism is not unique to feminism. It is widespread in other approaches as well, especially in phenomenology-a perspective with which feminism has much in common. The distinguishing feature of feminism is the focus on gender-related values which have tended to privilege males in both the society at large and in academic research.
Two influential and apparently contradictory beliefs about the relation between men and women have co-existed throughout history. These two beliefs are: (1) men s and women s natures are complementary and equal to each other; and (2) men are more representative of the essential characteristic of human nature (i.e., rationality) and thus women s difference from men is associated with inferiority. The prejudice inherent in the second belief is now widely recognized. However, the fact that there is a slippery slope between the "different but equal" view of the sexes and the inferior status of women is not so obvious. Even when the "different but equal" view is maintained, the different spheres of male and female activities have usually been unequally valued. The domestic sphere of women s activities in which feminine qualities are extolled is still given less value than the public sphere in which masculine qualities are rewarded. These separate spheres of activity, involving different psychological attributes, have generally been argued for in terms of biological differences. These arguments have appeared in contrasting guises ranging from scientific fact (e.g. Aristotle) to romantic idealism (e.g. Rousseau). Traditional academic research has often added the influential weight of research authority to common sense opinion about the differential nature of males and females and the hierarchical relat