Gender- related Research:Andocentricity, Overgeneralizing, Gender Blindness

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Gender Issues In Psychology (PSY - 512)

Lesson 04

Gender- related Research:

Research focusing upon:

a) The socio-psychological, economic, biological, and cultural-societal impact of gender stratification and

gender roles.

b) It also explores the various aspects of gender relations and gender differences.

Gender research covers all sorts of issues pertaining to gender, especially the social and psychological life of

women.

Feminist Research:

Research exploring the social, psychological, economic, biological, and cultural-societal aspects of women's life.

· The focus of research is the status and condition of women in the society.

· The basic premise of gender research is the idea that women generally experience subordination. The

objective of feminist research is to identify female's problems so that resolutions can be found.

· The ultimate goal is the improvement in the condition and status of women in the society.

Threats to Genderrelated Research:

Margrit Eichler (1988) identified threats to sound research pertaining to gender:

a..Androcentricity

b.Over generalizing

c.Gender blindness

d.Double standards

e.Interference

Andocentricity:

Most gender research, especially the initial one, had been andocentric i.e., looking at issues from the male

perspective. For example: for many years the researchers studying occupations concentrated upon men's

formal work and ignored female's domestic work and childcare.

The other extreme may be gynocentricity (female centered) i.e., evaluating things from women's point of view

alone.

Overgeneralizing:

· In this type of bias the researchers take data from one segment of the population i.e., men, and

generalize it to the rest of the population, including women.

· By doing so they are trying to support conclusions about both sexes.

In some cases it may be the right and the only feasible approach. But in many cases it

becomes a source of bias.

Psychologists and sociologists, in many studies in the past, studied only male samples but

generalized the findings to all mankind.

They have been claiming that their findings and conclusions stood true about "humanity"

rather than just men alone.

Similarly, at times researchers study certain phenomenon in just female subjects and then later

on apply the conclusions to men as well, whereas the phenomenon was more relevant to

women but not to men.

For example a study of "mothering" practices may not represent a true picture of "parenting"

practices, but the researcher will have a tendency to quote the findings to be true about all

parents.

Overgeneralizing may also become a problem when findings about samples of all white,

educated, and middle class females in a western society are applied to women from all over the

world, belonging to different cultural backgrounds.

Gender Issues In Psychology (PSY - 512)

Gender Blindness:

Many researchers fail to see that gender differences exist in almost all spheres of life. For example many studies

on the life of elderly people tended to ignore the fact that most elderly women live without husbands, whereas

most elderly men live with wives.

Double Standards:

Researchers' personal attitudes, thinking, and prejudices lead to double standards. When they talk about a

couple, in terms of a man and women, they tend to assume that the man is the head of the family, runs it, and

the woman does only support work in the household.

Interference:

At times the subject's perception of the sex of the researcher interferes with the accurate fact finding process.

Maureen Giovannini (1992) experienced this phenomenon while studying a small community in Sicily. The very

fact that she was a single woman caused problems for her in having private conversations with men, besides

the fact that she was denied access to many places.

Gender research uses the scientific methodology:

Psychology is a science because it uses the scientific approach and methodology.

Scientific methodology:

The procedure for data collection employs a systematic, pre defined, series of steps for attaining optimal efficiency,

accuracy, and objectivity in investigating the problem of interest

Steps in Scientific Method.

Identifying a

research

Review of

related

Formulation of

a hypothesis

Designing &

Conducting

Analysis

of data

Drawing

conclusion

Gender Issues In Psychology (PSY - 512)

Identifying a Research Problem in

Gender Research

Personal interest& observation

Popular issues

Newly em erging needs/ new projects

Events

Review of Related Literature

Quantitative

Feminist/

methods

Gender

Research

Methods

Qualitative

methods

Descriptive

methods

Quantitative

Experimental

methods

Ex Post Facto

Studies

Gender Issues In Psychology (PSY - 512)

Descriptive Research Methods available to

psychologists:

Observation

Correlational

Research

Surveys

Unobtrusive

Methods

Case Studies

Focus groups,

Meta

analysis

Descriptive methods commonly

used in Gender Research

Surveys

Correlational

Descriptive

studies

Research

Methods

Observation

Content

Analysis

Qualitative Research Methods

Case studies

Interviews

Ethnography

Focus Groups

1. SURVEYS:

Surveys are the best approach when quick information is required from a large number of people in

limited time e.g., survey of how female students choose their future career path.

In surveys the participants are presented with a series of questions or statements to which they have to

respond.

Surveys are most appropriate when the goal of the study is to find out about opinions, attitudes,

prejudices, preferences, values, lifestyles etc.

Surveys, at times, are the only resort for the researcher, especially when the phenomenon under study

can not be observed directly, either due to ethical constraints or because of procedural problems.

Gender Issues In Psychology (PSY - 512)

Data/ Information Sources in Surveys

Questionnaires: given in person, mailed, or e- mailed.

Interviews; face-to-face, personal, electronic, or

Telephonic:

Newspaper or magazine surveys

Essentials for surveys:

Trained, skillful, experienced interviewers.

Careful and appropriate wording.

Limitations of surveys:

· In-depth study is not possible.

· Surveys ask questions rather than making direct measurement.

· Instead of direct observation we depend upon self-reports.

· Self-reports rely upon the respondents' memory.

Co relational Research:

Used for identifying predictive relation-ships among naturally occurring variables

Sources of Data in Co relational Research

Psychological tests: I.Q, personality, aptitude etc.

Questionnaires: in person, mailed, e-mailed.

Interviews: personal, telephonic.

Official Record: statistics, archival data.

Correlation:

· Basically a statistical concept.

· We can say a correlation exists between two variables when two different measures of the same

individuals, objects, or events vary together e.g. relationship between aggressiveness score and stressful

life events in recent past, or age and the number miles a person can walk.

Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coefficient (r) is the most commonly used procedure.

It yields a value ranging between +1.00 and -1.00, showing the magnitude as well as the direction of

the relationship.

Nature of Correlation

Posiitive Correllation

Pos tive Corre ation

Negattive Correllattion

Nega ive Corre a ion

Zero Correllation

Zero Corre ation

Remember! Correlation is not "causation" !!!

3. Observation:

Systematic observation is one of the popular research methods employed method by anthropologists,

sociologists, and ethnologists.

The procedure involves observation, study, and careful recording of the phenomenon of interest.

The recorded observations are analyzed later on.

The analysis yields conclusions.

Gender Issues In Psychology (PSY - 512)

Types of Observation:

Observation

without

with

intervention

Observation without intervention refers to naturalistic observation

Observation with intervention includes: Participant observation, structured observation, and field

experiments.

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