Feminist Methodology: New Applications in the Academy and Public Policy.

Feminism; Feminists; Political planning; Policy sciences

Feminists writing on methodology focused mostly on epistemological issues and their relationship to the conduct of inquiry. Epistemology was seen as the general framework or theory for specifying the generation of knowledge. The original analysis of feminist approaches to social science research in women's studies revealed some commonalities, which are articulated as guiding principles of feminist methodology. This article seeks to revisit some of the earlier ideas about feminist methodology and identify newer trends and debates. It provides a selection of examples that serve to illustrate points about the dilemmas that one encounters not only in the literature but also in their work as researchers and teachers.