A Qualitative Person-Oriented Inquiry Into Women'S Perspectives On Knowledge And Knowing

The current study extends theory and research on women's beliefs about knowledge and knowing. Whereas previous research focused primarily on describing differences between domains of knowing, we focus on differences within domains. We examined individual experiences in the narratives of 8 women (ages 36-42 years) that exemplify 4 different positions in the theoretical model known as Women's Ways of Knowing (WAYS). Analyses were conducted using an interpretative phenomenological analysis. Although we found that women in our study described views on knowledge consistent with the WAYS domain of knowing in which they were classified, some aspects of the women's interviews did not fit with their given domain. Two women could be classified under the same WAYS domain and have very different ways of understanding knowledge. We conclude that a person-oriented approach to personal epistemology research adds to and enriches aggregate-level understanding of subject matter. Implications for theoretical models of epistemological development are discussed. (C) 2018 S. Karger AG, Basel