Title: Some prolegomena to the study of literary difference
Abstract: A great deal of work on gender differences has been seriously methodologically flawed. It is the purpose of the following essay to outline and exemplify the most common methodological problems in this work and to indicate how they might be avoided. The discussion is organized around three main points. First of all, research on gender must be founded upon statistical analysis. There are four common alternatives to such analysis: anecdotes, introspective and experiential intuitions, raw numbers, and exemplars. The first main section argues that each of these alternatives is probatively valueless. Secondly, even research which is based on statistical analysis is frequently biased in the direction of gender stereotypes. Thus this research too must be approached skeptically. Specifically,bias may enter in reporting, interpreting, or designing research. In the second main section, the most common biases are discussed and exemplified. Finally, the explanatory distinctions drawn by researchers in this field are often too blunt. The third main section refines the standard opposition between nature and nurture by articulating a spectrum of social determination; it also distinguishes differences of output or behavior from differences of principle governing that output or behavior. It then illustrates the explanatory value of these distinctions.
Publication Year: 1994
Publication Date: 1994-04-01
Language: en
Type: article
Indexed In: ['crossref']
Access and Citation
Cited By Count: 24
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