Collaborative Feminist Research and the Myth of Objectivity (From Feminist Perspectives on Wife Abuse, 1988, P 269-281, Kersti Yllo and Michele Bograd, eds. -- See NCJ- 142227)

• NCJ Number: 142240
• Author(s): L A Hoff
• Date Published: 1988
• Length: 13 pages
• Sale Source: Sage Publications, Inc
• Publication Type: Survey
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

Methodological issues that arose during a one-year field study on violence against women are examined.

Abstract

Several methodological problems hinder efforts to develop a fuller understanding of wife abuse: the problem of access and the secondary effects of the research process. The problem of access to battered women could not have been resolved through such traditional methods as survey research or single interviews. Instead, a nonexploitative methodology was developed and the women participants as well as their radical feminist advocates were convinced of the ethical basis of the research. To distinguish possible research effects from all other factors in the lives of the battered women participants was a significant part of the research process and touched on the political aspect of studying this topic, the antagonism between some feminist activists and researchers, and the methodology used. Various measures were pursued to both document and clarify these interacting factors. 26 references