Feminist Dilemmas in Qualitative Research : Public Knowledge and Private Lives

How can researchers produce work with relevance to theoretical and formal traditions and requirements of public academic knowledge while still remaining faithful to the experiences and accounts of research participants based in private settings? Feminist Dilemmas in Qualitative Research explores this key dilemma and examines the interplay between theory, epistemology and the detailed practice of research. It does this across the whole research process: access, data collection and analysis and writing up research. It goes on to consider ways of achieving high standards of reflexivity and openness in the strategic choices made during research, examining these issues for specific projects in an open and accessible style. Particular themes examined are: the research dilemmas that occur from feminist perspectives in relation to researching private and personal social worlds; the position of the researcher as situated between public knowledge and private experience; and the dilemmas raised for researchers seeking to contribute to academic discourse while remaing close to their knowledge forms. 'feminist Dilemmas In Qualitative Research' Explores The Interplay Between Theory, Epistemology And Practical Methodological Decisions In Research, And The Challenges That The Resultant Dilemmas Present To Feminist Researchers. Living On The Edges : Public Knowledge, Private Lives, Personal Experience / Rosalind Edwards And Jane Ribbens -- Hearing My Feeling Voice? An Autobiographical Discussion Of Motherhood / Jane Ribbens -- Bringing Silent Voices Into A Public Discourse : Researching Accounts Of Sister Relationships / Melanie Mauthner -- Shifting Layers Of Professional, Lay And Personal Narratives : Longitudinal Childbirth Research / Tina Miller -- Public And Private Meanings In Diaries : Researching Family And Childcare / Linda Bell -- Theoretical Voices And Women's Own Voices : The Stories Of Mature Women Students / Janet Parr -- Hearing Competing Voices : Sibling Research / Miri Song -- Reflections On A Voice-centred Relational Method : Analysing Maternal And Domestic Voices / Natasha Mauthner And Andrea Doucet -- Ethnography And Discourse Analysis : Dilemmas In Representing The Voices Of Children / Pam Alldred -- Re/constructing Research Narratives : Self And Sociological Identity In Alternative Settings / Maxine Birch -- Writing The Voices Of The Less Powerful : Research On Lone Mothers / Kay Standing. Edited By Jane Ribbens And Rosalind Edwards. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. Contains 11 essays written by women social researchers which discuss the use of qualitative research methodologies in exploring and presenting domestic and private lives of women and mothers