Gender, Comparative Research and Biographical Matching

This article seeks to address some of the criticisms of ‘mainstream’ research methodology developed by consciously feminist theorists and researchers. It is argued that whereas ‘variable oriented’ methods are appropriate for the study of sex differences, the empirical examination of the processes of gender structuring requires a contextualised, case-oriented, approach. These arguments are developed drawing upon debates relating to comparative case study analysis, which are paralleled with the emerging comparative ‘gender systems’ approach to the study of gender relations. Drawing upon the work of Ragin, a strategy of biographical matching is developed and illustrated via examples from a European cross-national study exploring the restructuring of employment and gender relations in Britain, France and Norway.