Researching men: the politics and possibilities of a qualitative mixed-methods approach

Explicit consideration of the nature and workings of different qualitative methods for researching men are relatively uncommon within geography. Building on work which explores ethnographies, ethical concerns and questions about fieldwork, this paper focuses on a qualitative mixed-methods approach and explores the possibilities and politics of this approach in researching men. Drawing on key debates within men's studies regarding the contingency and complexity of men's identities and the marginalization of particular men, the paper illustrates the ways in which a mixed-methods approach furthers our understandings of these ideas. The paper focuses on the various contributions made by a single participant, a man known as Sakhile, from a wider project on men and violence conducted in South Africa, to explore the merits and difficulties of a mixed-methods approach.