Thinking about gender
in your research practice
Deborah Thien, PhD (April 2005)
What is gender? Gender affects how we act, what we do with our lives, how we
look, how we feel, and how and where we interact with others.
Gender can be broken down into a number of aspects:
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Gender roles: socially determined ‘rules’ about appropriate feminine or
masculine behaviour (e.g. only women wear skirts, only men are actionoriented)
Gender presentation: external demonstrations of gender (e.g. clothing,
patterns of speech, behaviour)
Gender identity: internal perceptions of self and identity in relationship to
socio-cultural norms of ‘female’ or ‘male’ (e.g. identifying as more or less
than, the same as, or different from perceived gender norms)
Gender spaces: places that elicit experiences of gender or that are created
by gender (e.g. a women-only centre, the girls’ or boys’ ‘side’ of a party)
All of these aspects of gender intersect to produce multiple outcomes.
Why consider gender in fieldwork?
Gender may affect:
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Interviews: how questions are interpreted and/or answered
Sample selection: who is available for answering your questions
Power dynamics: individual or group senses of authority (e.g. who is
talking, who is listening?)
Mobility: experiences of ‘safe’ or ‘unsafe’ spaces, privileged or restricted
access to certain places
Analysis: how you make sense of your data
Theory: which ideas you give weight to
Gendering your field log As you complete the daily task of writing in your
field logs, please note if or how gender is affecting your research experience. You
will find some hints to help you on the reverse of this page. You will also find some
references for further reading.
Exercise When you have completed roughly half of your fieldwork time, please
complete the attached exercise. Again, make use of the information provided to
assist you. Please attach this completed exercise to your field log.
Hints for thinking about gender in your research:
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Use the technique of reversal:
• Imagine how an interview might have been different if you or your respondent had
a different gender: Would you talk about the same things, in the same way? Would
you relate to your interview respondent with the same degree of
comfort/discomfort? Would you be conducting the interview in the same place,
under the same circumstances?
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Think about your use of space in the fieldwork setting:
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Do you walk alone at night?
Would you walk into a restaurant alone? A bar?
Do you feel comfortable/uncomfortable entering certain stores? Why?
Where are you holding interviews and why?
Are you comfortable/uncomfortable in your fieldwork accommodation?
Do you feel visible or invisible in the fieldwork community?
Think about how you and those around you use language:
• Would you apply the following words to both genders equally?: domineering,
strong, courteous, sweet, courageous, gentle, devoted, kind, frank, pushy, noble,
fierce, fearful, nervous, skittish, cute, silent, reserved…
• Do you use the term “you guys” for groups of men and women?
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Consider what beliefs or perceptions you hold about men and women,
masculinity and femininity:
• How would you complete the following sentences: “Women/Men are…”; If
someone is masculine/feminine this means…”?
• Have you ever felt you couldn’t or shouldn’t do something because of your gender?
Select references for further reading:
Behar, R. and Gordon, D. A., Eds. (1995) Women Writing Culture Berkley: University of California
Press.
Burt, S. and Code, L., Eds. (1995) Changing methods: Feminists transforming practice Ontario:
Broadview.
Emerson, R. M., Fretz, R. I. and Shaw, L. L. (1995) Writing ethnographic fieldnotes Chicago ; London:
University of Chicago Press.
Haraway, D. (1988) “Situated knowledges: the science question in feminism and the privilege of
partial perspective” Feminist Studies 3: 575-599.
Little, J. and Morris, C., Eds. (2005) Critical Studies in Rural Gender Issues Aldershot: Ashgate.
Oakley, A. (2000) Experiments in knowing : gender and method in the social sciences London: Polity
Press.
Rose, G. (1993) Feminism and Geography: The Limits of Geographical Knowledge Oxford: Polity.
Spender, D. (1980) Man Made Language London : Routledge & Kegan Paul.
Staeheli, L. A. and Lawson, V. A. (1994) “A discussion of 'women in the field': the politics of feminist
fieldwork” Professional Geographer 46(1): 96-102.
Wolf, D. L., Ed (1996) Feminist dilemmas in fieldwork Boulder, Colorado: Westview Press.
Young, I. M. (1990) Throwing like a girl and other essays in feminist philosophy and social theory
Bloomington, Ind.: Indiana University Press.
Exercise: Gender in the Field
Please circle the appropriate response:
1. I identify my gender as female/male/other ______________
2. My research respondents to date have been mostly female/mostly male/about
half and half/other ______________
3. I do/don’t think my access to or experience of homes, other interview spaces, or
other research spaces (e.g. my fieldwork accommodation) has been affected by
gender
4. I do/don’t think my gender is influencing the way my research respondents react
to me
5. I do/don’t think my gender is influencing how I relate to my research
respondents
6. I do/don’t think my research interactions have been affected by my respondent’s
gender
7. I do/don’t think my research interactions have been affected by my gender
8. I do/don’t think about my personal safety during my research
Please elaborate below on your responses to statements 3-8 (please use the
reverse of this page or additional sheets as needed):
Any additional comments, observations or questions you would like to make on the
subject of gender and research?:
Thank you for your time –
Your confidential responses will be summarized for future research practice.