title:         Verifying Evidence of "Congressional Enactments of Race-Gender"
authors:       J. Tobin Grant
entrydate:     2007-02-05 14:46:38
keywords:      replication, verification, interpretive methodology, qualitative methods, race, gender, Congress
abstract:      I report the results of a verification of Hawkesworth's 2003 "Congressional Enactments of Race-Gender" (CERG).  This is a landmark analysis of race and gender in the U.S. Congress that is noteworthy for both its theory and its empirical evidence.  A deeper look at the evidence and the context raises fundamental questions about the empirical validity of CERG's theory of race-gender in Congress.  I conclude that racing-gendering in Congress is more nuanced than originally presented in CERG, and that further research is necessary to demonstrate empirically CERG's theory of Congress as a raced-gendered institution.  This verification has important methodology implications, as it demonstrates why verification of empirical research -- including interpretive research -- should be a widely-practiced methodology within political science.

http://polmeth.wustl.edu/retrieve.php?id=687