Feminist Research Methods
Exploring Feminist Research Methods: Qualitative and Quantitative Methods*

*Please note, due to a technical error the first 10 minutes of the recording is missing, please see the associated PowerPoint slides below for additional information.

Ennio Rodriguez and Heather Williams
Tuesday 26th September 16:00 UK Time 

Professor Ennio Rodriguez is chair of the IDS Alumni Advisory Committee, completed his Doctor of Philosophy, at the Institute of Development Studies, in 1984 and he has published extensively on issues of development.

He has been a member of the economic cabinet of Costa Rica and other senior positions such as in the housing sector. Has worked for multilateral institutions (Inter-American Development Bank and CEPAL). Has led professional organisations including the Costa Rican Economic Association and has been a CEO in the social sector (Coopesa, the only cooperative in the world which does aeroplane maintenance, repair and overhaul) and the private sector.

He will be sharing his thoughts on quantitative research methods using a feminist approach and his case study. A paper titled ‘Gender Labour Earnings Gap in Costa Rica Over the Last Decade: What Drives It and the Effect of the Covid-19 Pandemic’, which I shared with you all before this session. Welcome Ennio.

Heather Williams is a PhD researcher at the Institute of Development Studies, Sussex University. Heather’s professional experience and research interests span homelessness, social housing and health, gender, asbestos diseases, and digital inclusion for healthcare for marginalised people. She has a 30-year professional career working in homeless, social housing and research settings and has published research on environmental health and social housing in the UK. Her PhD focuses on the role of gendered social stigma in the lives of homeless women with multiple and complex needs who experience deep social exclusion. The research design for Heather’s PhD fieldwork involved recruiting participants on the street and ‘deep hanging out’ over a 12-month period with homeless women within the wider homeless social network of a UK city.

Heather will talk about the issues surrounding safeguarding vulnerable homeless women and the management of risk for participants, their associates, and a lone researcher ‘hanging out’ with them. Heather will reflect upon the opportunities and challenges of conducting research in this context and the implications for broader debates around research ethics and critical feminist ethnographic methods.

*Please note, due to a technical error the first 10 minutes of the recording is missing, please see the associated PowerPoint slides below for additional information.

Key Learning Objectives 

• Providing a learning discussion and a deep dive into research methods using a feminist lens.
• Demonstrating two dynamic and responsive examples, one qualitative and one  quantitative, while addressing feminist and gender equality questions.
• Critically examining and evaluating different methods from a feminist perspective and promoting opportunities for using quantitative research methods.
• The validity of qualitative methods to engage with vulnerable and marginalised populations.

Recommended reading: Gender Labor Earnings Gap in Costa Rica Over the Last Decade.

Download the PowerPoint presentation here: Exploring Feminist Research Methods: Qualitative and Quantitative Approaches.

Please continue the discussion on the online forum on the GEP CoP homepage.

If you wish to host your own Knowledge Sharing Session under the theme Feminist Research Methods, please fill in this form or contact us.