Feminist Empiricism

This chapter examines the history and debates surrounding feminist empiricism. It begins with a brief introduction to epistemology and its importance to science research. This includes the circumstances for which feminist epistemology arose and the ways in which feminists have sought to intervene with new approaches to theories of knowing. Next, feminist empiricism is introduced and defined. Here, the reader will learn about the key theoretical components underpinning feminist empiricism followed by an explanation of the similarities and differences within different branches of feminist empiricism. The last section of this piece compares feminist empiricism to the two other major branches of feminist epistemology: feminist standpoint theory and feminist postmodernism. The conclusion explores the future of feminist empiricism and its application to approaching tomorrow's research. Additional sources and readings are provided for further exploration.