Feminist Research Methodologies - SOC00032M

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Module summary

This module is designed to equip students with a variety of different skills necessary to undertake and present feminist research at postgraduate level and to gain an understanding of key methodological, epistemological, ethical, and political issues in women’s studies. We address critical perspectives within women’s and gender studies research, with an emphasis on: a) comparative, cross-national, and culturally specific research methods; b) interdisciplinary practice; c) the critical use of textual and visual qualitative methods; d) issues of language and meaning in cross-cultural research; e) ethics and politics of identifying salient topics and appropriate methodologies; and (f) feminist ethics of care in research

Module will run

Occurrence	Teaching period
A	Semester 2 2024-25

Module aims

This module is designed to equip students with a variety of different skills necessary to undertake and present feminist research at postgraduate level and to gain an understanding of key methodological, epistemological, ethical and political issues in womens studies. We will address significant perspectives within womens studies research, with the emphasis on:

• cross-national, and culturally specific research methods;
• interdisciplinary practice;
• the critical use of textual, visual, qualitative and quantitative methods;
• issues of language and meaning in cross-cultural research;
• the identification of salient topics and appropriate methodologies;
• preparation for the IM (dissertation).

Module learning outcomes

After successfully completing this course students should:

• Have an awareness of the range of methodological and ethical issues entailed in researching women and gender
• Be attuned to the importance of both quantitative and qualitative data and methods in investigating gender issues
• Have developed competence in interpreting a variety of textual and visual representations
• Develop skills in interpreting diverse forms of data and be able to think critically about thestrengths and limitations of primary and secondary sources available to investigate gender in both historical and contemporary contexts
• Have gained literacy in up-to-date methods of information retrieval and bibliography (including on-line data bases) and in the use of the Internet for research purposes
• Have an understanding of the significance of interdisciplinarity for feminist enquiry
• Have an appreciation of the benefits and potential pitfalls of cross-cultural research.

Indicative assessment

Task	% of module mark
Essay/coursework	100

Special assessment rules

None

Additional assessment information

A sample from the portfolio will be read and commented on by teachers part-way through the module.

Indicative reassessment

Task	% of module mark
Essay/coursework	100

Module feedback

Provisional feedback (subject to external examiners' approval) is normally given by week 4 of the summer term.

Indicative reading

Roisin Flood-Ryan and Rosalind Gill (eds.) Silence and Secrecy in the Research Process: Feminist Reflections London: Routledge, 2009.

Gayle Letherby Feminist Research in Theory and Practice Buckingham: Open University Press, 2003.

Jennifer Mason Qualitative Researching London: Sage, 1996. Practical guide.

Mary Maynard and June Purvis (eds) Researching Women’s Lives from a Feminist Perspective London: Taylor & Francis, 1994.

Richard Johnson, Deborah Chambers, Parvati Raghuram, Estella Tincknell (eds.) The Practice of Cultural Studies London: Sage, 2004.

Richard Rogers, Digital Methods Cambridge, Massachusetts: MIT Press, 2013.

Beverly Skeggs (ed) Feminist Cultural Theory: Process and Production Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1995.