Research

The Intersection of Research and Theory

Research is a critical part of feminism, particularly feminist theory. The development of feminist theory allows feminist research to be conducted on the hypotheses that theory proposes. In return, research can also inform the production of feminist theory. This reciprocal relationship stresses how important theory and research are to one another.

What Makes Good Research?

Develop good research questions

This is a broad idea, but there are steps you can take to make sure you’re asking the right questions. Firstly, remember that feminist research engages with knowledge that is already known. You can question this knowledge, critique the social construction of it, or look at how intersectionality plays a role in it.

research up!

Research up! This means researching questions that revolve around people of the same, or higher, social hierarchies as you. This ensures that the power you hold as a researcher over those in lower social hierarchies will not sway your research.

do reflexive work!

This means analyzing how your own life experiences and role in society may affect the topic you're researching. This will help you to come across any potential blinders that may affect your research.

Personal Research statement

As I think about conducting feminist research in the future, these tenets are definitely something that I want to keep in mind. I’m also committed to making sure that my research is beneficial in some way to some community. I don’t want to conduct research that doesn’t have a purpose. I want to always make sure that my research is representative of whatever, or whoever, I’m researching; which involves me reflecting on my own biases. I also want my work to be accessible, which I think is an important part of feminist research. I don’t want those who don’t belong to academic institutions to be put off by my work because it is too inaccessible to an average audience.

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