137
CAN FEMINIST METHODOLOGY
REDUCE POWER HIERARCHIES IN
RESEARCH SETTINGS?
Simel Esim
Population Reference Bureau
ABSTRACT
In this comment the issues of power hierarchies and the role of feminist
methodology in eldwork are addressed. Observations from eldwork in
Turkey for research on gender-based constraints faced by women micro- and
small entrepreneurs are used to identify some of the power hierarchies involved
in research settings and how the use of feminist methodology can be instru-
mental in reducing these hierarchies. Linking research with action-oriented
programs is one important aspect of this eldwork which contributed to the
communities where the research took place. The methodology used in this
research also validated personal experience through qualitative interviews and
the use of interdisciplinary methods. The focus group interviews proved to be
the most exible, egalitarian and interactive of all the methods used in the
eldwork. In conclusion, while a feminist methodology cannot eliminate power
hierarchies in the research process, it can be helpful in partly reducing them.
KEYWORDS
Economics, feminism, methodology, qualitative research, focus groups,
Turkey
I address the issues of power hierarchies and the role of feminist method-
ology in eldwork in this comment. I will use observations from my eld-
work in Turkey, where I was researching the gender-based constraints faced
by women micro- and small entrepreneurs, to identify some of the power
hierarchies involved in research settings and how the use of feminist
methodology was instrumental in reducing these hierarchies. Feminist
methodology aims to improve the lives of women who are the subjects of
the research. It is based on validating personal experience in the research
process, using interdisciplinary approaches and combining activism with
academic goals.1
The power hierarchies in the research setting result from a number of
factors. One factor involves the different positionalities of the researcher
and the subjects of the research. In my research there were power
Feminist Economics 3(2), 1997, 137­139 1354­5701  IAFFE 1997
hierarchies due to different positionalities of me as the researcher and the
women entrepreneurs who were the subjects. While I was a Turkish woman,
and an insider, I was also middle-class, university-educated and living in the
U.S., therefore an outsider.
Another factor resulting in power hierarchies in the research setting is
the power exerted during the research process and the ways in which the
research relationship is de ned. In my research, I felt the power hierarchies
strongest during the structured survey questionnaires. The dynamics of
asking speci c questions and demanding concrete answers were very con-
straining. During the qualitative interviews, such as the focus group inter-
views, the women who were the subjects of the research had more voice and
brought out issues of importance to them such as child care facilities and
mobility outside the house.
Approaching the research with a certain sense of responsibility has also
helped in reducing the power hierarchies in the research setting. Dis-
cussing with women entrepreneurs the most needed support services for
their businesses gave us a clear idea for developing project suggestions to
the Ministry of Women's Affairs. We also helped establish links between the
women entrepreneurs and women's groups and government of ces which
provide credit, training and marketing facilities. Such an active involvement
changed my perceptions of the work from being only for myself to being a
contribution to the women entrepreneurs' lives.
I will concentrate on the focus group interviews as a qualitative and an
interdisciplinary research tool. Eight focus group interviews were con-
ducted with eight to twelve women entrepreneurs at a given time for one-
and-a-half to two-and-a-half hours with a set of six or seven predetermined
questions, one moderator and one observer for each interview. The
observer was present for taking notes and did not participate in the con-
versations. The participants were a heterogenous group of women micro-
and small entrepreneurs from different classes and generations.
Initially, the focus group interviews were expected to back up quantita-
tive data provided by the survey. However, they turned out to provide a rich
and detailed set of data about the perceptions, thoughts and impressions
of group members in their own words. The direction of my research also
changed when I found out during these interviews that there were self-
employed women's informal non nancial cooperatives which did not
surface in the structured survey questionnaires despite repeated questions
on organizations.
The interactions between women entrepreneurs during the focus group
interviews helped bring out generational, class and regional differences
between them. In terms of class differences, working-class women entre-
preneurs living in urban squatter neighborhoods usually relayed personal
stories of poverty which pushed them to start their businesses. Many of them
talked about the objections of their families to their work. One woman
EXPLORATIONS
138
entrepreneur had so much pressure from family and neighbors that she
would leave her home each morning and slip into a black overcoat and
head scarf to disguise herself before starting to sell her home-made slippers
and loofahs on the street. On the other hand, middle-class women entre-
preneurs mainly relayed stories of their desire to be productive. Quite a
number of the older women voiced their feeling of uselessness after their
kids grew up. Contrary to working-class women entrepreneurs, middle-class
women entrepreneurs clearly wanted to leave an impression of working as
a result of choice rather than need even if there was the push of nancial
necessity.
The generational differences with respect to intra-household bargaining
issues were also striking in the focus group interviews. The older gener-
ations of women opted for "managing it all" without asking the help of their
spouses in housework and child care since they did not want to jeopardize
their right to work. However, younger women entrepreneurs would argue
with their spouses to make them realize the need for them to participate in
housework and child care responsibilities.
The use of a feminist methodology provided answers to my initial
research questions on the gender-based constraints faced by women micro-
and small entrepreneurs and revealed aspects of their lives that otherwise
were obscured by the quantitative framework, such as their informal
non nancial cooperatives. The research process validated personal
experience through qualitative interviews and the use of interdisciplinary
methods. The focus group interviews proved especially to be the most ex-
ible, egalitarian and interactive of all the methods used in the eldwork of
this research. Evaluative interviews held a year after the initial interviews
show that the efforts in establishing links between the women entrepre-
neurs and women's groups and government of ces helped improve credit,
training and marketing opportunities for women micro- and small entre-
preneurs. In conclusion, while a feminist methodology cannot eliminate
power hierarchies in the research process, it can be helpful in partly reduc-
ing them as the observations from the eldwork of this research suggest.
Simel Esim, International Center for Research on Women (ICRW), Suite 302,
1717 Massachusetts Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20036, USA
e-mail: sesim@icrw.org
NOTE
1 The research team consisted of an interdisciplinary group of economists, soci-
ologists and political scientists.
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