The methodological inclinations of gender scholarship in mainstream sociology journals

This article examines the types of research methods sociologists studying w omen and gender use in articles published in mainstream journals. The resea rch is based on an analysis of 1,826 gender-content articles published betw een 1984 and 1993 in 15 major sociology journals. Specifically, we explore whether feminist-oriented articles use different types of data, data collec tion methods, and statistical techniques than other articles addressing wom en and gender. The relationship between the rank of an academic journal, au thor's sex, and type of research method is also examined. We find that a la rge majority of gender-content articles are based on secondary, quantitativ e data. When the first author is a man, articles are somewhat more likely t o be based on secondary data and to use quantitative statistical techniques . In general, we find that feminist research in the discipline is based on a melange of methodological approaches, reflecting the contested nature of feminist epistemologies.