How to design research for analyzing gender relations. Methodological contributions

Abstract

This article explains how to apply the qualitative method in practice. Specifically, it focuses on the methodological decisions to be taken when conducting research on changing gender relations and the theoretical principles that support these decisions. The qualitative research method and the open-interview technique are considered the most adequate ways to achieve the research objective since both focus on the symbolic systems of social subjects in interaction and on the objective and practical processes that shape the framework of daily interactions. The article supports and emphasizes the importance of a homogeneous sample design. Interviews of women and men forming non-traditional heterosexual partnerships were conducted separately at two stages of their life cycle: during pregnancy and when the child was one year old. Four open interviews were made of each couple, thus providing a large amount of quality information with enormous potential for the analysis of a dynamic research object. This methodological approach provides deeper knowledge of the contradictions and conditions of legitimacy surrounding caring practices in couples that attempt to be egalitarian, but whose social interactions hinder more balanced gender relations. The article concludes with an argument on the validity and quality of the longitudinal qualitative research carried out.