Conclusion: Communication to whom, for whom, and for what purpose?
In the examples above, research questions largely remain sensitive to local gender issues
while impacting generalization and communicating to those who prefer positivist research.
Therefore, researchers should not consider communication by positivist means as simply a
strategy to impress the mainstream of political science. Rather, feminist scholars should
understand communication as a way to communicate with one another in order that research
findings can be applied to more and more cases. If feminist scholars can straddle approaches and
work together to sharpen each others’ methodological combinations, the subfield of gender and
politics will blossom by way of theory building. In this way, the gender and politics subfield may
one day understand what we currently do not know about gendered political systems.
Careful explanations of methodological cocktails are also essential so that the next
generation of gender and politics scholars understands how to bridge their own gender interests
with the field of political science. Young scholars often find it difficult to position themselves
within political science debates about epistemologies and methods, and communication among
experienced researchers about the advantages and disadvantages of all approaches will help them
successfully move in and out of mainstream circles.
As feminist researchers build theory and more easily balance gender studies with political
science, they will surely impact the larger discipline. Political science stands to benefit from
both the substantive findings of the gender and politics subfield as well as its creative solutions
to straddling methodologies. As political science evaluates itself as a profession and stretches in
the direction of a “new” political science and methodological diversity, feminist researchers will
be prepared to share their methodological creativity. It is at that point, methodological
challenges will no longer be an indicator of faulty research, but instead a sign of intriguing,
cutting-edge, and rich research products.
19
Convention