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New materialisms have informed an array of creative methodologies, inviting scholars to rethink ethics in the practices of research with children. Participating in this rethinking, this study elaborates on ethical practices in creative research where new materialist and arts-based methodologies intra-act with children and the sensitivities of gender and power in young peer cultures. Drawing on experiences from the authors' creative workshops, this paper investigates how new materialist creative practice allows children to explore and communicate their experiences of gender and power in safe and enabling ways. The authors suggest expanding their ethical practice by composing ethically sustainable encounters for children to engage with experiences of and visions for their peer cultures. They close by discussing practices for responding to the inherent un/safety of addressing gender and sexual abuses of power and for enabling microprocesses of change to – as a matter of sustainability – transform oppressive peer cultures towards social justice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Large-scale population studies surveying young people in relation to their worldviews have tended to frame their identities in a fixed and limited capacity while also treating the topics of religion/spirituality and sexuality/gender as discrete categories of scholarly analysis. We highlight the affordances and limitations of foregrounding fixed religious, sexual and gender-based identity categories in the process of collecting and analysing data related to the worldviews of young people. In this paper we argue the value of studying the complexities and intersections of these identities and worldviews together in one study. We do this through reference to the Australia's Generation Z (AGZ) study: the first nationally representative sample focused on providing an evidence-based understanding of both the religious/spiritual/non-religious and sexuality/gender identities and worldviews of young Australians aged 13–18. We discuss how we built on existing surveys in designing the AGZ survey. We also demonstrate how this survey allowed for the incorporation of young people's non-binary understandings of religion, sexuality and gender. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The UK census authorities have proposed guidance for the 2021 census indicating that the sex question may be answered according to subjective gender identity. This raises issues about the measurement of sex and gender identity which other data collection exercises are also contending with. This paper addresses the questions that have arisen regarding the census, before going on to explain how these questions have emerged more widely. Finally, I address the difficulties of discussing the collection of data on sex in a climate of policy capture and silencing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is a dearth of discussion on the methodological dilemmas faced by minority ethnic researchers who research minority ethnic communities of which they are not a part. The paper explores the political and ethical issues involved in a black woman researching South Asian women's lives, analysing the research process, and focusing on issues of choice of research group, access and placing. This paper represents a reflexive account of the research relationships developed in longitudinal qualitative doctoral research between a black (of African descent) postgraduate student and sample of 19 South Asian female student teachers in England and draws on literature of women interviewing women and ethnic or 'race' matched research. The methods employed were documentary analysis, observing meetings, a focus group, two student questionnaires, one-to-one interviews with staff and group and one-to-one interviews with South Asian female student teachers. It is argued that whilst social characteristics such as gender, language, religion and culture are important in determining notions of commonality and difference, a shared experience of racism between the researched and the researcher may affect the research relationship most significantly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper airs specific problems encountered at the outset of the author's research on ‘The impact of race and racism on boys' fear of crime’. The complexities of researching boys from black (and white) backgrounds are examined from the author's standpoint as a young, white female academic. Epistemological questions are raised in recognition that ‘who we are and what we do shapes and constrains what we can know’ and, more specifically within the demands of a feminist standpoint epistemology, gender is discussed as a central consideration of the research process in relation to race and age. Rather than simply being a ‘useful exercise’ for the author herself, the paper highlights epistemological considerations relevant to much of social science research in complex areas. The paper does not set out to offer concrete solutions to the problems and practicalities detailed, but should be viewed as a discursive piece that draws on the personal experience of ongoing research in theoretically and practically challenging areas to suggest that reflexivity holds the promise of ‘good’ research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is a disciplinary analysis of demography that examines its lack of engagement with feminist theory and the resulting lack of meaningful demographic research on gender. Its aim is to generate intellectual space for feminist-demography and to advance research on gender within the field of demography. I first discuss benefits of feminist-demography to both fields and then examine the reasons for the lack of feminist-demographic research to date by describing the epistemological tensions between the fields. I then analyze the methodological implications of feminist theory for demographic research, and especially the requirements that researchers treat gender as a social construction and attend to the politics of location. This analysis leads to general methodological precepts for feminist-demographic research on gender. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is based on reflections concerning the initial stages of a research project focusing on women, 'race' and later life. The paper describes some of the aims behind the project and discusses some of the immediate methodological issues which have arisen. It then goes on to reflect upon some more general matters which are beginning to emerge. The paper is rooted in concerns about the gap between social research and social theory. These form the context for the problems selected for consideration here. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Critical realism (CR) is a useful philosophical framework for social science; however, little guidance is available on which precise methods – including methods of data collection, coding, and analysis – are best suited to applied CR research. This article provides a concrete example of applied qualitative research using CR as a philosophical and methodological framework. Drawing examples from a study of Canadian farm women’s experiences with agricultural policy, I suggest a flexible deductive process of coding and data analysis that is consistent with CR ontology and epistemology. The paper follows the typical stages of qualitative research while demonstrating the application of methods informed by CR at each stage. Important considerations CR ontology and epistemology raise, such as the use of existing theory and critical engagement with participants’ knowledge and experience, are discussed throughout. Ultimately, I identify two key causal mechanisms shaping the lives of farm women and suggest a future direction for feminist political economy theory to more effectively analyze women’s work in agricultural contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper reflects on Julia Brannen’s contribution to the development of theory and methods for intergenerational research. The discussion is contextualised within a contemporary ‘turn to time’ within sociology, involving tensions and synergies between sociological and historical imagination. These questions are informed by a juxtaposition of Brannen’s four-generation study of family change and social historian Angela Davis’s exploration women and the family in England between 1945 and 2000. These two studies give rise to complementary findings, yet have distinctive orientations towards the status and treatment of sources, the role of geography in research design and limits of generalisation [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The paper reviews different approaches to, and current knowledge of the measurement of occupational segregation, using the case of gender segregation. It shows that most popular segregation ‘indices’ are actually statistics of association in a 2x2 table, often with distorting weightings. The dimensions of segregation comprise a vertical dimension measuring inequality and an orthogonal horizontal one measuring difference without inequality. Together, the dimensions make up segregation as generally understood; so segregation and its dimensions require consistent measurements. Conditions for suitable measures are considered, and the limitations of the various measures noted. The alternative conception of segregation, where all occupations are treated as though they were the same size, is shown to be seriously flawed. The most useful measures are selected and shown to be related as Lorenz curves. Since all segregation measures vary with the number of occupations considered, standardisation on 200 occupations is introduced for the chosen measures. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The aim of this article is to discuss some of the central conceptual and methodological issues which must be tackled if we wish to investigate poverty in a gender-sensitive way. The relationship between women and poverty is complex and therefore very difficult to reveal. The disproportionate vulnerability of women arises from the interaction of economic disadvantages in the labour market, in domestic circumstances and in welfare systems. The methodological challenge that emerges now is 'how can we reveal the gender dimension of poverty?' My answer is that both a new and more suitable theoretical paradigm and a new methodology are required. Women's poverty cannot be understood and tackled using paradigms and methodological instruments based upon the view that poverty is a genderneutral phenomenon. Particularly, it is necessary to shed light on the different mechanisms behind women's poverty and to depict the crucial role played by the inequalities in the distribution of resources within the family in shaping women's well-being. Thus, longitudinal data are required, since they can efficiently estimate the parameters of dynamic processes in the social sciences. Moreover, specific methodological choices and full methodological awareness are needed: what is needed is a way of placing individuals within households. Finally, a higher data quality and a greater data comparability are required. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reflecting on one's positionality as a researcher is a critical element in qualitative studies. While there are various qualitative studies on the meaning of and the way positionality affects qualitative research practice, this research note examines the phenomenon as it applies to the author's doctoral study. Drawing from a collection of research memoirs, the research note presents the author's conceptualisation of personal positionality in the study, based on nationality, personal values, work experience, age and gender. The note details the author's multiple identity shifts throughout the study. Potential challenges and opportunities of knowing one's positionality together with the effects of positionality on the participants, the researcher as well as the research process are highlighted. It concludes that positionality among qualitative researchers is characterised by fluidity, instability and continued shifts as opposed to it being a constant form of researcher identity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Accurate census data is essential for a variety of government planning functions and plays an important methodological role in social science. This article responds to issues raised by Alice Sullivan concerning how the UK 2021 census will ask about sex and gender. The two-centuries-old question about male/female sex is not ideal, even with the new guidance proposed; however, I will argue that the proposed changes are unlikely to cause harm. The new open-ended census question on gender identity is welcome and will yield important data. I also respond to Sullivan's worries that "queer postmodernists" are "coming for" questionnaires and threaten the sanctity of scientific fact. Sullivan misrepresents trans-inclusive gender theories and how scientific research explaining sex/gender differences is carried out. Finally, I discuss how questioning the ontological reality of trans gender identities leads to transphobic harassment and worse. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The need to elicit public opinion about predefined topics is widespread in the social sciences, government and business. Traditional survey-based methods are being partly replaced by social media data mining but their potential and limitations are poorly understood. This article investigates this issue by introducing and critically evaluating a systematic social media analytics strategy to gain insights about a topic from YouTube. The results of an investigation into sets of dance style videos show that it is possible to identify plausible patterns of subtopic difference, gender and sentiment. The analysis also points to the generic limitations of social media analytics that derive from their fundamentally exploratory multi-method nature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As intersectionality gains more prominence, scholars still face difficulties of incorporating principles of intersectionality into empirical research. Key concepts of intersectionality theory include moving away from additive thinking, relationality, and social constructionism. An important challenge is how to incorporate these concepts into research design. While existing scholarship examines intersectional methodology, most of the focus has been on issues of analysis not data collection. I argue that some of the difficulties in intersectionality scholarship are not just issues of analysis but issues of data collection. In particular, I discuss how scholars can incorporate intersectionality concepts into research design by offering examples from my own research that used qualitative interviews to examine how race and gender influenced neighborhood experiences. I also present the obstacles I encountered in conveying the key concepts of intersectionality into language that is relatable to study participants. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Whilst there is no doubt that fieldwork research involving active criminals contains risks and dangers, this is not always the case. Drawing on interviews conducted with illegal tiger skin suppliers and traders in Lhasa (Tibet), this article challenges orthodox understandings of criminological fieldwork. My experience in Lhasa speaks to three methodological issues: (A) the process of gaining access to and recruiting interviewees from the underworld, (B) fieldwork dangerousness and (C) the effects that the personal identity of the researcher has on the process of socialisation with the interviewees. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Over the last 30 years, the authors have collaborated with Julia Brannen on five major research studies: the Day Care Project in the 1980s; the study of Four Generation Families at the turn of the millennium; the Care Careers Project in the mid 2000s; and, most recently, Fathers across Three Generations and the Food Practices and Employed Families with Younger Children studies. This article offers an overview of the studies, situating them in their particular historical contexts and the important economic and social changes that have taken place in these contexts. It shows how the theme of the relationship between care, gender and employment has run through all five studies, and also how two complementary themes – intergenerational relationships and the role of fathers – have gained increased prominence, as has the concept of time particularly across the life course. It examines how Julia’s approach to researching the relationship between care and employment has changed over the course of the studies, including evolving conceptualisations and time frames and the introduction and use of new methods. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

As social reality is quite elusive, even regarding seemingly well-recognized everyday concepts and objects, there are always methodological challenges underlying assessments and evaluations of implementation policies. The present article addresses this area of concern by presenting the results of a rereading of an empirical study of elderly home care services. Our results reveal the emergence of a dissolution of common and professional key concepts and objects in these welfare services to a degree that challenges both the implementation policy and the evaluation of policy. We claim that this has methodological implications for evaluation of implementation policies in general. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Reflexivity is a key aspect of qualitative research. Considerable attention has been given to the ways in which gender mediates the production and analysis of qualitative data; however, much of this has been focused on qualitative interviews with women and the influence of the interviewer's gender in this specific context. Very little work has been done on comparing different interviewer-interviewee contexts such as male-to-female, male-to-male or female-to-male interviewing. Moreover, the interplay of gender with environmental, psycho-social and other biographical factors within the interview has received little attention. Drawing on four different studies on cancer care, work and family, and parenting, this article examines how each of these factors potentially mediate the collection of qualitative data in a range of interviewer-interviewee contexts. Moreover, it explores gender as both resource and delimiting factor, examining the use of impression management as a researcher tool to mediate potentially problematic interpersonal dynamics. It is concluded that greater attention should be paid to the complex intersectionality of gender, environmental, biographical and psycho-social factors in qualitative data analysis and write-up. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drawing on texts written by young people aged 14–17 years in a school context in response to an invitation to write a page describing themselves and their vision of Ireland and to use the reverse side creatively for drawings, poems or songs, this article illustrates the methodological difficulties of exploring globalization and individualization in such texts. The indicators of globalization were global entertainment and consumer culture, global technology, references to international travel, and global concerns. The indicators of individualization were the absence of references to structural location, or the presence of references to choices, hopes or plans and related images. There were insurmountable methodological difficulties in differentiating between individualization in these terms and stereotypical ways of ‘doing boy/girl’. Hence, the typology that was created focussed on the global content of the main texts and back pages and their gendered content. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses issues of methodological warrant in a qualitative, longitudinal study with only a small number of subjects. The 12 to 18 Project was designed to contribute to research on gender, class and schooling. The rationale for a design using only 26 students spread between four schools is explained. It is argued that even with small-number research, issues of selection and comparison are important--but emphasis on techniques of data-treatment and comparison is misplaced. The meaningfulness and contribution of studies of this type lie in multiple acts of design, comparison, reflexive interpretation and dialogue with the broader field, and the more that such studies emphasize technical analytic procedures, the more they undermine their warrant to be anything other than a report on a small sample. Illustrations of interpretations of the data and from the data are given. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]