The Debates and Unresolved Issues Surrounding Feminist Research and its Distinction from Mainstream Research

Abstract

There are many questions surrounding feminism. Since the Women's Movement of the 1960's, there hasbeen an ongoing debate concerning the inclusion of women in leadership roles as well as the role ofwomen in research. The most frequently asked questions concerning women's roles in research, whichparallel those of women's leadership roles and styles, are: Is feminist research typically distinct fromother more mainstream research within the Social Sciences? And are there specific feminist methods?There has been a long-standing debate addressing such questions. If one believes that feminist research isresearch about women, by women, and for women, then one may conclude that there are distinct methodsthat feminists use to study the oppression of women. Also, if one believes, as does Liz Stanley (1993),that there is a direct relationship between feminist consciousness and feminism, then there is research thatis distinctly feminist. However, one could argue that no matter what the political ideologies of theresearcher, the research methods remain the same.In trying to answer the above posed questions, we need to examine not only political ideologies assuggested by Stanley. We also need to examine the goals of research, the assumptions made by theresearcher, the methods utilized by the researcher, the methodology, and epistemology that lay thefoundation for research. All these criteria will assist us in making clear distinctions between feministresearch and mainstream research. Yet, we must keep in mind that many researchers, including feministresearchers, continue to struggle with the very issues presented in this paper, which remain unresolved.Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to grant the reader with an overview of the debates and unresolvedissues surrounding feminist research.