Joumai of Advanced Nurstng, 1994, 19, 394-402
Feminist method and qualitative research
about midlife
Carmel Seibold RN RM DipNurseEd BA MAppSa (Nursmg)
Lecturer, School of Nurstng and Human Movement, Australtan Catholtc Untverstty,
Mercy Campus, Ascot Vale
Lyn Richards BA(Hons) MA
Associate Professor, School of Soaology and Anthropology, La Trobe Untverstty
and Dawn Simon RN RPN
Research Asstsiant, School of Soaology and Anthropology, La Trobe Umverstty,
Bundoora, At4stralta
Accepted for publication 28 June 1993
SEIBOLD C , RICHARDS L & SIMON D (1994) Joumai of Advanced Nursmg
19, 394-402
Feminist method and qualitative research about midlife
This paper identifies cntena seen as essentiai to feminist research In light of
these cntena, issues which have ansen dunng our current research on women
and their expenences of midlife and menopause are discussed Issues
considered mclude the researchers' responsibibties to partiapants when
exploring sensitive and highly personal issues relating to participants' hfe
expenences, and less clear cut issues such as knowledge construction, power
and control In relahon to the latter the balance of power in the
research--participant relationship, and the role and responsibibties of the
researcher in knowledge construction, are explored Foucault's notions of
knowledge construction and power and control and the feminist researcher's
position, are considered m terms of ngour in feminist research and
dissemmation of research reports Issues which are seen as problematic and
worthy of further debate are the relations between interviewer and
mterviewee, the intellectual (the researcher) as the bearer of universal values
and as truth teller, and the level of cntical activism possible in research
studies of this nature
INTRODUCTION of different methods This paper begms by discussing
X ,, r L 1.U J-, -ru L L 1 cntena seen as essential to femirust research In the
Is there a femmist method? The queshon takes on . . , ^, , , . , ,
r 1 1 ,1 .1 1 1 1 context ot these agreed cntena we consider a number ot
signihcance wlien grappling with methodoioeicai issues i i i ˇ ,
, r c . . n l u i issues which have ansen dunng our current research on
m researcti trom a temmist perspechve Femmist scholars , , ,ˇ ,, r ,
. , . , .  . , 1 1 . 1 1 women and their expenences of midbfe and menopause
contend that feminist research m general IS distmguished _, i j ˇ i , , ,
i . r , LL I. L Ll u These issues mdude the researchers responsibility to
by certam features, even though it may utilize a number , , , , , , , , ˇ
parhapants when expionng sensihve and highly personal
Correspondent Carmel Seibold Lecturer School of Nursing and Human Movement **'"^ ""^^^^'^ *° ^^e parhcipants' bfe expenenceS, and
Australian Cathohc Umverstty, Mercy Campus Ascot Vale, 3032, Australia leSS dear Cut lSSUeS SUch aS knowledge COnstrudlOn
394
Feminist method and research about midltfe
and power and control The research purpose, design and
processes of handlmg data wiU be discussed in the
context of ethical issues identified, most particularly the
relationships of ngour m feminist research to knowledge
construchon and power and control
IDENTIFYING THE CHARACTERISTICS OF
FEMINIST THEORY AND RESEARCH
Fenunist scholarship, once a fnnge subjed in university
cumcula, is rapidly bemg integrated While there is shll
some way to go the mtegrahon taking place is indicated
by the number of opportunities for students to undertake
courses with a feminist perspedive Accordmg to Paludi
& Steuemagel (1990) this is both a blessing and a curse,
since the revoluhonary thrust of women's studies is
threatened by the growing acceptance and recognition of
women's studies as a legihmate academic enterpnse Part
of this evoluhonary process is the level of debate which
IS takmg place both within the ranks of femirusts and m
terms of attacks from outside Questions bemg asked
indude 'What charadenzes a femirust approach to
theory and research?'
Attempts to idenhfy charadenshcs of a feminist ap-
proach to theory and research nsk reducmg feminist
methodology to a 'check list' of desired features Check
bsts are dauntmg to the novice researcher and may dose
off ophons for mnovative research with a feminist
perspedive But more unportantly they appear to present
a smgle methodological dogma, the only way of domg
feminist research Ironically, the construction of ngid
dogma IS the antithesis of what feminist research sets out
to do and nsks mirrormg androcentnc prescnphve forms
of research
A typical check bst of what charactenzes feminist
research is as follows the pnncipal investigator is a
woman the purpose is to study women and the focus of
the research is women's expenences, the research must
have the potenhai to help the subjeds as well as the
researcher, it is charadenzed by mteradion between
researcher and subject, non-hierarchical relahons and
expression of feelmgs and concem for values (one or all
may be mcorporated), the word femmist or feminism is
used m the report, non-sexist language is used, and the
bibbography includes femirust literature (Duffy 1985)
Rather than a check bst approach to femmist research
and theory, what is needed is a statement of essenhals,
that IS, what it is to view the world through a femmist
lens Femmist researchers share with cntical theonsts the
need to make a difference through research, that is, the
desire to brmg about soaal change of oppressive con-
straints through cnhasm and soaal action The femmist
cnticism of cnhcal theory concems the lmpbat and
uncntical endorsement of soaal arrangements in which
women are subordinated and oppressed (CampbeU &
Buntmg 1991) For this reason feminist research seeks to
uncover the pervasiveness of gendered thmking which
uncntically assumes a necessary bond between being a
woman and occupymg certam soaal roles It should also
seek to uncover the ways m which women negotiate the
world and the wisdom inherent m such a negotiahon
Carol GiUigan's (1982) landmark study of children's
moral development which challenged traditional male
views IS such an example
Feminist research which avoids detailed check lists and
concentrates on a way of seeing the world has the
following charactenstics women's expenences are the
major object of investigation, the researchers always
attempt to see the world from the vantage pomt of a
particular group of women, and they are aitical and
activist in efforts to improve the lot of women and aU
persons (Lengermann & Niebrugge-Brantley 1988) In
such research it could, for mstance, be asked whether the
researcher must be a woman (cmd some people have
concluded that a feminist onentation may be aU that is
required)
TTie present paper denves from an ongomg project
whose goals are femmist analyses of women's expen-
ences of midlife This project and the women partiapat-
mg in it have raised two sets of issues which have had
much ainng m this debate Fust the ethical issue of
whether there can or should be a truly non-hierarchical
relationship between researcher and subjed, second
the methodological issue of the exclusive nghts given
qualitative methodologies m femmist research
RESEARCH ON WOMEN IN MIDLIFE AND
MENOPAUSE
Research on women in midbfe and menopause is an
attempt to identify women's expenences and construd a
picture of how women expenence this reality
Until recently the medical profession or, to use Greer's
(1991) wonderful expression 'the masters m menopause'
have been the major voices speakmg about what is
essentiaUy a female expenence When research mto
menopause has been camed out it has often been withm
fairly restnctive guidelines, and the research design has
yielded a narrow perspective Medical research, parhcu-
larly, oversimplified women's expenences by exammmg
only those aspects of women's bves that corresponded
diredly to the norms of men's development and
expenence
395
C Setbold et al
The menopausal woman is thus defined by her sexu-
ality and her soaal role, and books and artides authored
by dodors m the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s emphasize
staymg young and attradive for her partner, and 'keeping
the vagina lubncated' m menopause cu\d nudbfe Accord-
ing to Davis (1980) 'if her menopause affects her sexual
performance m any way, it certainly affeds her husbemd
he may feel he is not wanted' Nachtigall (1986)
exhorts her to fend off sexual suiade when her vagina
becomes dry and to 'run not walk to your nearest
physiaan' The menopausal woman is depided as 'an
unstable oestrogen starved' woman who is responsible
for 'untold rrusery of alcohobsm, drug addition, divorce
and broken homes' (Wilson & Wilson 1963)
Oestrogen was seen as the answer to all these prob-
lems and menopause was depided as a defiaency disease
Today the shift is to menopause as pathology with the
medical profession portraymg women's future as one of
the thinnmg and broken bones of osteoporosis and an
mcreased nsk of heart disease (See The Australian Medical
Joumai, March, 1992)
Strauss 1967) This is m keeping with a femmist method-
ology arwl with the goal of developmg a substanhve
theory of smgle women's expenences of midlife and
menopause The number of participants m the study is
20 Because the method of sampling is by networkmg,
the majonty of woman could be termed middle dass
with a reasonable level of education, m most instances,
including tertiary studies
The method of collectmg data is open-ended inter-
viewing and keepmg a joumai or diary One interview
was conducted initiaUy and the partiapants were then
asked to keep a diary for 12 months A second
mterview is to be camed out at the end of the
12-month period (commencing February, 1993) In
keeping with femmist theory, vdues held by the inves-
tigator aie evident m the choice of topic as weU as the
type of data coUedion strategy employed Longitudmal
data wiU be set m the context of data from the larger
study which involves both field research and mterview-
mg of midbfe women, as weU as a representahve
survey of 1065 adult women
The present study
The present paper is from part of a major 3-year project
on the soaal construction of menopause, at La Trobe
University, Austraba, funded by the National Health and
Medical Research Council (NH & MRC) Cannel Seibold
IS also conducting a longitudinal study auned at identi-
fying the perceptions of smgle women m midlife and the
menopausal expenence Smgle women are defmed as
separated, divorced, widowed or never mamed and not
currently m a partnership The reason for choosmg single
women is that they constitute a significant number of
women in midbfe and much of the wntmg on menopause
to date has assumed that all middle-aged women are
heterosexual and have partners
The research meets the cntena for femmist research as
outlined by Lengermann & Niebrugge-Brantley (1988)
That IS, women's expenences are the major objed of the
mveshgahon and the goal is to capture the reality of the
expenence from the vantage pomt of a particular group
of women, with emphasis on the subjedive and contex-
tual onentation What is more problematic is the level of
cnhcal achvism and whether or not it wiU improve the lot
of women
A qualitative research design, foUowmg the pnnaples
of grounded theory, was diosen as the preferred meth-
odology for the study of smgle women Glaser said that
the best way to approach a subjed is to say to the person
'teach me' -- so they are also co-mveshgators (Glaser &
ETHICAL ISSUES IDENTIFIED
Personal revelation
Afrer condudmg the first five interviews in the study of
single women, issues of an ethical nature began to
emerge The first of these was the realization that the
empathetic relationship which was set up dunng the
mterviewmg process meant that partiapants revealed
highly personal aspeds of their bves, far and beyond
Carmel Seibold's expectahons (and she thought beyond
their's too) In two mstances the interview precipitated
what could only be termed as catharhc expenence The
hallmark of a 'good mterviewer' is usuciUy said to be the
abibty to gam the confidence of the partiapant and have
them produce for you wonderful data This is m keeping
with a femmist research approach, namely mterachon
between the researcher and the parhapant and a wilbng-
ness, by the interviewer, to mvest personal identity in the
relationship (Oakley 1981, Pence & Shepard 1988)
However a doser look needs to be taken Whose
mterests are bemg served? Where is the balance of
power? And though m that situahon, power can be with
the mterviewee dunng the makmg of the data, it is the
mterviewer/researcher who has power of analysis after-
wards The mterviewer and the mterviewee are parha-
patmg m a power relationship dunng the mterview
process After data coUection, that power m terms of
'apparatus of truth' (Foucault 1988) becomes problemahc
396
Femtmst method and research about mtdltfe
The questton of informed consent
Whose mterests are being served? The highly personal
mformation revealed in several mterviews raised the
vexed queshon of mformed consent How reabstic is it
for us, as researchers, to thmk that a signed consent is
really consent for us to, m a sense, mvade people's bves?
Is consent pnor to an mterview reaUy mformed consent?
A strategy that we have developed is to have the
participants read the relevant form prior to the mterview
and sign the form after the interview has taken place A
further strategy considered for Carmel Seibold's project
(m keepmg with a femuust approach to research) is to
have the partiapants read the transcripts of the first
mterview at the second interview TTus approach may be
fraught with danger What if they withdraw consent? At
this point Carmel will be some way along the analysis
phase At this stage who owns the data?
What may be a better approach is to share some of the
condusions reached and the way m which the data is to
be presented m the final report Acker et al (1983)
suggest that a study based on feminist pnnaples is
adequate if the active voices of women are heard m the
research account Indusion of contextual elements m
the final report is also seen as important For example, the
choice of one woman to take hormone replacement
therapy (HRT) because 'I was desperate and would have
done anythmg', contrasted with decisions made by
another woman who considered takmg it as a form of
prophylaxis, m order not to 'end up like the woman m
the milk ad'
Therapeutic elements
If catharhc mtervtews take on elements of a therapeutic
relationship, deasions have to be made as to whether the
mterview should be termmated If you terminate an
mterview are you retreating from a relationship estab-
bshed? What responsibility do you have as a researcher
to suggest or facilitate coimselbng? In this case it did not
reach this stage, but there was cause to consider the
possibibty and whether this would constitute further
mvasion of pnvacy For example, one woman revealed
that she had been a vidim of child abuse As a feminist
researcher where do you draw the bne between actmg as
a concemed woman and takmg on a therapeutic relation-
ship Is there such a thmg as the need for a 'specialist' m
this context?
Consequences of reflection
The study of suigle women requires that partiapants
keep a diary for 12 months, so raises the possible
consequences of reflechon of this natiue for some
women At this stage only one second mterview has been
conducted and the participant expressed the view that
both the mterview process and the diary-keepmg had
been a positive expenence for her She stated Talking to
you a year ago, and keeping this diary helped me put a
lot of thmgs m context' This may not be the case for all
women
QUANTITATIVE VERSUS QUALITATIVE
METHODOLOGY
Ongoing debate over the scientific value of quabtahve
versus quanhtative methods serves to obscure some basic
questions that need to be asked when undertaking any
research project (DuBois 1983) If a meanmgful problem
or question has been posed, what is unportant is that the
method chosen must be the one most likely to yield
relevant answers Feminist scholars 'are in the process of
an archaeological endeavour discovermg and uncov-
enng the actual facts of women's bves and endeavours'
(DuBois 1983) To this end challenges to a traditional
epistemology have been generated by femmist mquiry
m biology, economics and sociai sciences To a large
extent there is agreement that qualitative methods
that not only admit to femmist bias but make it
mandatory, should be mcorporated and are appropnate
because women's frame of reference is contextual and
relahonal (GiUigan 1982, Ladner 1987, Smith 1987,
Thomton DiU 1987, Wood Sherif 1987, Albino et al
1990, BumeU 1990, Steuemagel 1990, WorreU 1990)
Hardmg (1986), however contends that the philosophi-
cal onentahon of the researcher may be the most
significant fador, and that quanhtative methods may be
both appropnate and serve to deconstruct empincal
research withm a patriarchal mode
Harding (1987) considers that difficulty in mterpretmg
terms bke method, methodology and epistemology is at
the root of much of the controversy Accordmg to
Hardmg, it is not the method used to gather mformation,
but rather the unique purpose of the mquiry, the alterna-
tive explanatory hypotheses, and the altered relationships
estabbshed between researcher and informer (or subject)
that makes femuust research distinctive
Harding makes a pomt of distmguishmg between
method and methodology She descnbes method as the
way you coUect information and methodology as the
theory and analysis of how research should proceed, for
example, discussions of how Marxist theones of pobtical
economy, or any existing theones, should be applied
How methods are or should be used are issues of
methodology not method
397
C Seibold et al
An example of applymg an existmg method, whilst
addressmg a methodological defiaency, is the research of
Elgqvist-Saltzman, as descnbed by Eveline (1992) Usmg
the bfe-lme approach to the study of soaal change and
gender, tradihonai graphs mapping the comparative
pattems of women's and men's bves and their Imear tra-
jedones were used It became apparent that the method
as it was currently employed demonstrated a male bias,
smce non-remunerative work of women was shown as
'declines' The methodological defiaency was overcome
by tummg the graphs upside down and colourmg m the
spaces between the Imear trajedones No longer was
unpaid reprodudive work signified by a 'comparahve
dedme' but rather registered as a substanhve 'green hiU'
Epistemology is the theory of knowledge and should
answer questions such as 'who can be the knower?', 'what
tests must be passed m order for knowledge to be
legitimated?', and 'can subjechve truths pass as
knowledge?'
Hardmg's (1987) contenhon that ways of applymg
research methods are issues of methodology and not
method, itself appears at first readmg to be self-
explanatory and a plea to let the methodology fit the
queshon' If the question is about discovermg and
understandmg women's expenences, the ideal way of
answermg the queshon may well be by usmg a qualita-
tive research design producing open-ended data, whose
analysis is by the methods of phenomenology or
grounded theory However, if the purpose of the research
IS also auned at uncovermg pattems of behaviour, testmg
claims of gendered expenence, or perhaps at deconstruct-
mg knowledge (such as the research by Inga Elqvist-
Seltzman), there may weU be a place for quanhtahve
methods or mixing of methods
This suggests that feminist scholarship should not
demand one method, but also that there is danger m
makmg assumphons about 'a method of femirust
research' Klein (1983) wamed agamst mventmg an
'equally tyrarmical Goddess method' of research, and
emphasized that the aim of femirust researdters should be
how they want their research to differ from patnarchal
scholarship Feminist approaches to research have devel-
oped enormously smce then, as illustrated by Shulamit
Remharz (1992) Remharz has documented the ways m
which femmist researchers have used and modified
existmg methods, and developed mnovative methods of
research Nonetheless, the exdusive rebance of some
femmists on quabtative research can be seen as consis-
tently aligrung femmism with research methods that do
not support strong damns to generabzahons Too much
femmist research uses quabtahve data only lllustrahvely.
faang the challenge that quotes have been seleded to
support a preconceived argument Inherent m this di-
lemma IS the queshon of power and knowledge, most
particularly who holds power, how power is constituted,
and how this relates to knowledge construdion
KNOWLEDGE CONSTRUCTION, POWER
AND CONTROL
Ethical and methodological issues alike raise questions of
knowledge construdion and related power and control
Dunng the interview process the importance of monitor-
ing the power dynanucs was consaousiy recogruzed m
order to provide a basis for drawing adequate condusions
about findmgs
Knowledge construdion also occurred withm the inter-
view A number of women saw the mterview as a way of
gainmg mformahon and deabng with their fear and anxi-
ety Whenever mformahon was shared we were always
careful to emphasize what was our opinion, differentiating
opimon from speafic information where a source could be
cited Providmg information was always a balancmg ad
If there was a request for speafic mformahon and we
considered that we had information of value, it was
usually provided at the end of the interview
TELLING THE TRUTH
In terms of the ongoing research process and speaficaUy
as regards data analysis and theory construdion we need
to pay attention to issues related to rebabibty and
validity, m order to ensure that our view is vabd
Assummg that a valid view is a 'truthful' one it is worth
developmg the notion of truth referred to earber
Foucault (1988) sees a person as occupymg a position of
truth by virtue of being attached to an 'apparatus of
truth' such as a university The responsibibty of the
researcher in this context appears to he to acknowledge
their role m knowledge production and stnve for 'truth'
while being aware that 'truth is lmked m a circular fashion
with systems of power which produce and sustam it, and
to effects of power which it mduces and which extend it'
Where does this leave the femmist researdier? We are
sure we would bke to disclaim any part m the process of
perpetuatmg an mshtuhonal 'regune of the produdion of
truth' We are not siu'e we can If, accordmg to Foucault,
the problem is not changmg people's consciousness but
the pobhcal, economic, mstituhonai regime of the pro-
dudion of truth, a research report lssumg from a uruver-
sity may be suspect The most we can do is be aware of
the problem and ensiu'e that, as much as is m our power.
398
Femtmst method and research about midltfe
we have produced a report that acciu'ately refleds the
phenomena we as mveshgators claim to represent Every
effort should be made to ensure that readers of the
researdi report (ldeciUy mdudmg women upon whom
the research impacts) find meanmg and relevance m the
study It IS only if this is adueved that the question of
cntical adivism can be dealt with
congruent with their arcumstances, and assessing
whether mterpretations and recommendations are gener-
aUy supported by the data) strengthens the dependabibty
of the projed At this pomt, as data is bemg processed,
the audit trail provided by the computer program ensures
that no data are lost and each team member is workmg
withm the same framework
Rigour in feminist researdi
The issues articulated by Foucault (1988) regardmg
knowledge production and truth raise the question of
ngour m femirust research HaU & Stevens (1991), draw-
mg on a number of texts, identify two cntena to inject
ngour into femuust research They are dependability and
adequacy In this projed we seek both, aided by the use
of a computer program NUDIST 2 3 1 (Non-Numencal
Unstructured Data Indexmg Search and Theonsmg)
Dependability
Dependabibty, unlike rebabibty m the empmast tra-
dition, does not decontextuabze the data and does not
expect or require that observations be constant across
mvestigators One of the basic premises of a femmist
perspective emphasizes the uniqueness and contextual-
lzed nature of women's expenences, and interpretation
within this context, rather than theu standardizahon and
repeatability However if different mvestigators usmg
similar analytic procedures perceive similar meamngs, this
increases the dependabibty of the research As a group
researching midlife and menopause we have already had
some confirmatory expenences On companng our early
impressions of the data we have been constantly sur-
pnsed at the sunilanty of our condusions It remams to
estabbsh formal tejun processes ensunng the constant
companson of analyses and ngorous explanations of
different mterpretations The computer program facib-
tates this process by allowmg data to be retneved at wiU
and ongoing comparative analysis to be camed out Two
researchers can mdex the same file thus contnbutmg to
mter-coder rebabibty
Dependability can also be ascertamed by exammmg
the methodological and analyhcai 'deasion trails' created
by the mveshgators dunng the research itself An audit
trail of this nature has been achieved by group confer-
ences m the larger menopause projed, where members
have taken tums to cnhque the processes bemg engaged
m The quabtahve methodology chosen with an emphasis
on field notes has assisted this process Auditmg the
mquiry (l e, determinmg whether the deasions made are
Adequacy
Rebability and validity are seen as contmuous and are
encompassed by the term adequacy (Lmcoln & Guba
1985) Adequacy of mquiry unpbes that research pro-
cesses and outcomes are weU grounded, cogent, justi-
fiable, relevant and meaningful (Hall & Stevens 1991)
Hall and Stevens suggest the foUowmg measures of
adequacy reflexivity, credibibty, rapport, coherence,
complexity, consensus, honesty and mutuabty, nammg,
relationality and relevance
Reflexivity and credibility Our design mciudes reflexivity
at every step The result is constant questioning of our
own assumphons and values, the research process, the
mitial question, the goals of the study and the process of
mquiry In the study of smgle women this has caused
change m the focus of the ongmal question A set of
queshons identified by Chnstman (cited in Hall & Stevens
I99I) IS useful when analysmg the data They are 'How
IS this woman like me? How is she not like me? How are
these suTulanhes and differences bemg played out m our
mterachon? How is that interaction affectmg the course
of the research? How is it lUummatmg and/or obscunng
the research problem? This process is made rigorous by
both the team meetmgs and the mdexmg capabibhes of
the computer programs, which makes preconceived
assumphons withm codmg categones overt The contex-
tual logical operators enable mteradion to be tracked
throughout an mterview or mterviews (Richards &
Richards 1991)
Some of the tenets of grounded theory are relevant
here It reqmres that the data are contmually compared
with and agamst each other It also emphasizes that
theory buildmg occurs with analysis of data and is not
merely a venfication of preconceptions This also contnb-
utes to aedibibty pjuticularly m the bght of grounded
theory's emphasis on the identification of the negative
case
Rapport As a critenon of adequacy, rapport reflects how
weU partiapants' reabty is accessed Establishment of a
relationship of trust while essentiai can, as we have
399
C Seibold et ai
already noted, be a double-edged sword In the smgle
women projed Carmel Seibold's situation as a middle-
aged smgle woman with similar bfe expenences has aided
this process Carmel has foimd almost all partiapants
willmg to be mvolved over a penod of time and achve m
recrmtmg other partiapants
Coherence This quabty mdicates a unity m the research
account denved from all the observations, records, re-
sponses and conversations mvolved in the research
process (Mishler 1986) How cogent are the analytical
mterpretahons? Are they sound rendenngs that commu-
nicate the essentiai meanmg of the raw data? How well
do they relate to the basic research queshons? Do they
make sense m the light of a broader understandmg of
soaal, econonuc and pobtical realities? The computer
program allows tracking of all forms of the research
accoimt, ensunng comprehensive comparative analysis
This process wiH also be assisted by ongomg group
mvolvement and discussion as data analysis proceeds
Complexity While acknowledgmg the sunilanty of ex-
penences the researcher is also attemptmg to idenhfy the
differences between, and to capture the complexity of,
women's expenences In the study of smgle women,
while there are a number of similanhes m their expen-
ences, what IS emergmg is the wealth and vanety of
expenence
Consensus This refers to the emergence of reciurmg
themes m the data The more the researcher confirms
women's expressive meanmgs by identifying recumng
themes, the greater the accuracy of data Searching for
negahve cases, divergent expenences and aitemahve
explanahons are ways m which, as researchers, we can
strengthen condusions regardmg expenential consensus
HaU & Stevens (1991) make the pomt that consensus may
at first glance appear to be at odds with complexity, but
stresses on I^emg aware of and demonstrating consensual
nnearungs does not elunmate the need to present
women's expenences m their fuU complexity' This has
caused a degree of reflechon m the study of smgle
women In an effort to reach consensus every effort must
be made to avoid makmg the data fit emergmg categones
that reflect the researchers' own expenences The com-
puter program contnbutes towards mhibitmg this pro-
cess
Honesty and mutuality These qualihes rely on a research
process which is open and mutual, with no hidden
agendas Parhapants are assumed to be tmth tellers and
are equal partiapants m the research process Every
attempt has been made to achieve this m our research A
genume interest m eadi woman's expenence was ex-
pressed m the interview process, as weU as gratitude for
her tune and effort As previously noted, u\formation was
freely and honestly given We have already addressed
the ethical issues of mterviewmg and m this context are
attempting to illustrate how honesty and mutuality can
contnbute to adequacy of research findmgs
Naming This is defined as leaming to see beyond and
behmd what one has been sociabzed to believe m as
being present (Daly 1978, DuBois 1983) It mvolves
descnbmg women's bves m theu own words and gener-
atmg concepts and categones which duedly reflect
women's expenences This has relevance m the research
study on smgle women since what is emergmg m the
data IS a denial of some of the stereotypical pictures of
menopausal women created by medical and soao-cultural
researchers and wnters
Relationality Klem (1983) stresses relahonality or col-
laboration with other scholars m the research process
One of the most rewardmg aspeds of the research to date
has been the opportunity to work m a team The mode of
mquiry has been partiapatory emd non-hierarchical with
emphasis on support, dialogue and discussion As pre-
viously noted this has provided opportunities for cnhcal
reflection and questioning As data analysis proceeds
continual morutonng of the process of data analysis will
serve to maease the adequacy of the report
Relevance This may also be descnbed as tadical authen-
hcation, and, as a form of adequacy, refers to whether the
research can serve women's mterests and improve the
condihon of women's bves (Wallston 1981) Relevance
diredly relates to the level of cntical achvism inherent in
the study
Carmel Seibold has found herself querying the level of
cnhcal adivism mherent m the study of smgle women
The final objective of the study of smgle women and
midlife and menopause is not only to successfuUy com-
plete a PhD, but also to pubbsh papers with a view to
shanng thefincbngswith women m midbfe The queshon
which needs to be asked is whether pubbshmg results
which show only one view of reality wdl unprove the lot
of women? Does a research study of middle dass women
serve to empower women from less advantaged soao-
economic groups or does it serve, as Weedon (1987)
suggests, to further marginalize them? We must be wary
of definmg what a woman's expenence is through
400
Femmist method and research about midltfe
femmism and of constructmg and shaping it thus through
our research If, as Weedon contends, women may feel
alienated from their own bfe expenences since they do
not fit naturally withm the meta-narrahve of patnarchy,
the task is to transform both the sociai relations of
knowledge produdion and the type of knowledge pro-
duced We thirJc that the extensive sampling and mdu-
sion of health prachhoners m the larger study of midbfe
and menopause, may go some way towards ensunng a
broader view of the expenence and, most particularly, of
expionng how knowledge is socially construded
Another issue to be considered is whether there is a
danger m glonfymg women's expenences If what is
needed is a co-ordmated approach to issues of health and
possible discnmination m the workplace, a study or a
substanhve theory about one group of women may have
lunited usefulness A number of studies with differently
situated mquirers may be the answer
GROUNDED THEORY AND FEMINIST
RESEARCH
In the 'philosophy of ambivalence' Hardmg (1986) argues
agamst 'falsely universalismg theory' and for tolerahon
of tension and mcoherence m our theones Hardmg
maintains that this provides valuable clues to the disso-
nance of the lived soaal reality from which theones
denve The methodology chosen for this study,
grounded theory, stnves for coherence m the develop-
ment of theory but at the same tune stresses that
grounded theory does not develop grand theones In this
way it does aUow for mcoherence m theones in general,
by stressmg the particulanty of the individual theory
Accordmg to Wybe (1987) 'coherent theones are not
desirable at any cost, speafically not at the cost of
submerging the msights of and the understandings of
diversely situated mquuers' Wybe contends that what
Hardmg rejeds m reactmg against 'falsely imiversabsing
theory' is not coherence as such but coherence arbitranly
construded and inappropriately unposed This has mean-
mg for Carmel Seibold m terms of the relevance of
pubbcation of a study which depicts just one view of
reality We think it is essenhal that all studies of women
m midlife and the menopausal expenence be cntically
analysed and value denved (or not as the case may be)
from them all
CONCLUSION
Vanous methods are possible m femmist research, conse-
quently a qualitahve research design was seen as appro-
pnate for a study of smgle women's bved expenences of
midbfe and menopause, while both quanhtahve and
qualitative methods were seen as appropnate m the larger
study We have bnefly considered those aspects of the
chosen method of data analysis for qualitative data which
meet the cntena of femmist research and have assisted m
dealmg with ethical issues, most particularly knowledge
construchon, power and control Ethical issues which
remam problematic and are worthy of further debate are
the relations between interviewer and mterviewee m the
mterviewmg process, the intellectual as the bearer of
universal values and as tmth teUer and the level of cnhcal
activism possible in studies of this nature
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