Can quantitative methods work with an intersectional framework? Else-Quest and Hyde (2016) show how combining quantitative research with intersectionality can expand research tools and deepen our understanding of psychology.
While intersectionality has become a familiar buzzword in psychology and is widely known in feminist scholarship across the social sciences, its definitions often vary. Across these different definitions, Else-Quest and Hyde highlight three shared assumptions: first, all people belong to multiple social categories at the same time that are interconnected; second, each category carries an element of inequality or power; and third, these categories belong both to the individual and to the social context they live in, meaning categories and their meaning can shift and change.
Treating intersectionality as an overall approach and a critical theory rather than a falsifiable theory, the authors evaluate its potential within quantitative research. To explore how well an intersectional approach fits with different research models, they discuss positivism, social constructionism, and standpoint epistemology, looking at what each means for research methods. Aiming to expand intersectional approaches within the psychology of women, Else-Quest and Hyde address both the challenges and the promises of bringing these perspectives together. Ultimately, the authors argue that researchers can successfully use quantitative methods within an intersectional approach, which will grow the field by giving intersectionality researchers more tools. At the same time, they urge quantitative researchers to adopt an intersectional approach, which will enrich and deepen how we understand psychological concepts and processes.
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Else-Quest, N. M., & Hyde, J. S. (2016). Intersectionality in Quantitative Psychological Research: I. Theoretical and Epistemological Issues. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 40(2), 155–170. https://doi.org/10.1177/0361684316629797