The Research Process
In this section of the module, I will illustrate how to incorporate gender into six stages of the research process. The six stages include: choosing a topic and research questions, literature review, choosing research methods and designing data collection materials, data collection, data analysis and reporting. The figure below from Njuki (2016) provides a circular diagram that links gender to each stage of the research cycle. The red dots represent how to incorporate gender into research and the yellow dots represent how to provide equal opportunity for men and women to do research. For the purposes of this module we focus on the red dots.
1. Choosing research topics and writing research questions
The discipline you are in and the type of research you do will influence how gender is incorporated into research design. However, biophysical scientists, as well as social scientists need to speak to people if they are conducting field-based research. Therefore, thinking of common gender norms such as the division of labour and access to resources is relevant for research questions that investigate local agricultural and livestock practices.
Obviously, if you are conducting a study that has gender as a focus you will have research questions something like this:
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How do men and women experience vulnerability to climate change differently?
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How are risks arising from climate change distributed differently amongst men and women?
However, many research projects have pre-determined topics that don’t include gender. While the topic itself might not be focused on gender it is important to think about the possible gendered implications of the questions you are investigating. For example, your research questions might aim to know which locally available feeds for goats provide the best nutritional outcomes. Important issues to think about might include:
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Who in the household is responsible for feeding the goats?
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What feeds do they provide to the goats?
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What problems do they face accessing these feeds?
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Are these problems different for men and women, depending on who in the family is responsible for accessing feed?
While a science based investigation will tell you which feeds lead to the most weight gain in goats, understanding problems men and women face in accessing good quality feeds will illuminate obstacles to new feeding practices.
Source: Njuki (2016)
2. The literature review
The literature review is an opportunity to gain some knowledge of prior research into your topic. Reading a couple of journal articles on research that has identified gendered issues relevant to your topic will help illuminate some of the social issues you may encounter in the field.
Let’s think of the goat feeding topic again. Articles written on women’s involvement in livestock work in other countries shows that women do a lot of feeding and watering animals because they spend a lot of time around the house doing chores. For this reason, they are well aware of the seasonal constraints on the availability of feeds and also what different sources of feed are available in the village.