Home      Login

Abstract: 

Researchers have largely ignored the experiences of African-American women who experience partner violence. Family violence researchers usually prefer quantitative over qualitative methods, thereby perhaps limiting the body of work in this area. Here, the author describes the importance of story and narrative in African-American communities, and argues that qualitative methods are better at capturing the experiences of African- American women who have experienced violence. She also describes some of the a priori assumptions of quantitative vs. qualitative researchers, and how these shape research questions and fi ndings. Finally, she describes implications for researchers when they adopt research methodologies that are more appropriate for the culture being studied.

Keywords: 

Affiliations:  1: Curry College.