All the techniques of gathering evidence are basically there, whether feminist or non-feminist, listening to informants, observing behaviour, consulting written records.
The feminist method is not a new method or methodology but by and large a new way of looking at established way of asking new questions;
detecting relationships, linkages where none was suspected, discovering new sources of data; designing research that tells a better story like oral history or case study, forging new conceptual tools like new attempts in economics.
Our methodologies are drawn from our academic discipline each of which invents a language and a set of conceptual tools unique to it. This compartmentalizes our life experience yet to bring in inter-disciplinarity is not easy.
There is often a confusion between inter-disciplinary and multidisciplinary. It is multi-disciplinary when a topic is addressed by different disciplines. 'Inter disciplinary' on the other hand means that we integrate the conceptual tools into analysis.
Qualitative methods are difficult, biased and unauthentic unless done with care. They do not have built-in checks to ensure validity and reliability rather there may be gaps, exaggerations and distortions.
The 'significant' informant may not be representative. Quantitative and qualitative methods are not mutually exclusive categories. The bird's eye view and the women's eye view are both needed.
What is correct about feminist methods?
(a) It relies more on multi-disciplinary approach
(b) It is a new way of looking at the established ways of research
(c) It uses conceptual tools of other disciplines
(d) It discovers new sources of data
Choose the correct option:
