Deadline for Proposal Submission:
March 15, 2026
This special issue of Frontiers focuses on feminist quantitative research methods. We invite papers that examine the connections between feminist research, quantitative methods, intersectionality, and epistemology.
Some previous literature makes the case that quantitative methods and feminism are incompatible (Williams 2010; Mies 1983). Arguments to support this position have focused on the rigidities of categorization, as well as the positivist orientation that underpins much quantitative enquiry. Quantitative methods often abstract lived experience into small set of decontextualized variables and quantitative researchers often ignore the power asymmetries shaping what is measured. Still, many feminist scholars across disciplines continue to use quantitative methods in their research. Whether it is for survival in fields that grow increasingly fixated on causal or statistical methods, or because “there are benefits to using the dominant language of the patriarchal system” (Apodaca 2009: 420), we posit that feminist scholars still need to contend with what feminist quantitative methods require or entail. In this special issue, we do not aim to revisit the debate about the merits of quantitative versus qualitative methods. Rather, we aim to collectively set forth actionable possibilities and suggestions for using and rethinking quantitative methods in ways that are consistent with and promote feminist values.
A great deal has been written on distinctly feminist approaches to qualitative methods, such as Finch 2004; Landman 2006; Smart 2009; O’Shaughnessy and Krogman 2012; and Panfil and Miller 2015. However, feminist approaches to quantitative methods have received less scholarly attention (Small 2024; Guyan 2022; Nelson 2016; Sigle-Rushton 2014; Bechtold 1999). Although to-date a few pieces explicitly consider how econometrics and other statistical approaches can better incorporate feminist theory or better serve feminist projects, several gaps remain.
We are especially interested in papers which engage with one or more of the following questions:
- What is the distinction between quantitative methods and feminist quantitative methods?
- How we can better integrate insights from feminist epistemology, critical race theory, intersectionality, and decolonial theory into quantitative data and models?
- How can quantitative models and methods can be used to operationalize power and structural oppression?
- How can the analysis of secondary data could be better used for feminist ends?
- How can more endogenous, and fluid measures of gender be measured through innovations in data collection and analysis?
We are optimistic that submissions will embrace a variety of research designs, including thought-provoking literature reviews, researchers’ autoethnographies, and studies highlighting feminist advantages through applied quantitative examples.
We are also interested in submissions of artwork for the cover of this issue, including visual pieces that engage with the thematic intersections of feminism and data. We welcome works in a variety of media—such as illustration, photography, mixed media, or digital art—that creatively reflect the issue’s focus. Information about submitting cover artwork is available here.
Please submit extended abstracts (no more than 1000 words) by March 15, 2026 to frontiers.feminist.quant@gmail.com. Selected abstracts will be invited to submit full papers and to participate in a virtual workshop. Full manuscripts will be due by October 15, 2026 and should be submitted through the journal’s online Editorial Manager system. The virtual workshop will take place in November 2026. Manuscripts, including endnotes, should not exceed 12,000 words (this includes title, abstract, keywords, and sources). Please consult the journal’s submission guidelines or send an email to frontiersjournal@utah.edu for more information. Papers will go through standard reviewer processes, and final versions will be submitted by September 2027. The special issue will be published in Frontiers as Volume 49, Number 1 with a publication date of May 2028.
Apodaca, Clair. (2009). Overcoming Obstacles in Quantitative Feminist Research. Politics & Gender 5(3), 419–26. Bechtold, Brigitte H. (1999). The Practice of Econometrics: A Feminist Critique. Review of Radical Political Economics, 31(3), 40-52. Finch, Janet. (2004). Feminism and qualitative research. International Journal of Social Research Methodology, 7(1), 61-64. Guyan, Kevin. (2022). Queer data: Using gender, sex and sexuality data for action. Bloomsbury Publishing. Landman, Maeve. (2006). Getting quality in qualitative research: A short introduction to feminist methodology and methods. Proceedings of the Nutrition Society, 65(4), 429-433. Mies, Maria. (1983). Towards a Methodology for Feminist Research. Theories of Women’s Studies, 117, 139. Nelson, Julie A. (2016). Not-so-strong evidence for gender differences in risk taking. Feminist Economics, 22(2), 114-142. O’Shaughnessy, Sara, and Naomi T. Krogman. (2012). A revolution reconsidered? Examining the practice of qualitative research in feminist scholarship. Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society, 37(2), 493-520. Panfil, Vanessa R., and Jody Miller. (2015). Feminist and queer perspectives on qualitative methods. In The Routledge handbook of qualitative criminology (pp. 32-48). Routledge. Sigle-Rushton, Wendy. (2014). Essentially quantified? Towards a more feminist modeling strategy. The Sage handbook of feminist theory (pp. 431-445). Sage Publishing. Small, Sarah F. (2025). What is a feminist quantitative method? Opportunities for feminist econometrics. Feminist Economics, 31(2), 35-56. Smart, Carol. (2009). Shifting horizons: Reflections on qualitative methods. Feminist Theory, 10(3), 295-308. Williams, Jill R. (2010). Doing feminist‐demography. International Journal of Social Research Methodology, 13(3), 197-210.Works Cited