Studying Intimate Matters: Engaging Methodological Challenges in Studies of Gender, Sexuality and Reproductive Health in Sub-Saharan Africa
Christian Groes Groen
People’s reproductive choices, sexual practices and domestic affairs very often become questions of life and death, suffering or fulfillment. With the increasing complexities
of the social dynamics that shape the lives of women and men in Africa, there is a need to refine the procedures and instruments of investigation into the fields of sexuality, gender
and reproduction. This book engages the methodological challenges that researchers face when they address highly intimate, taboo-ridden and controversial issues. These
issues are always subject to negotiation and contestation, secrecy and revelation. The collection of articles in the book discusses such challenges and suggests how to overcome
them in order to develop methods that aptly address intimate and sensitive matters without neglecting informants’ need for privacy and rights to confidentiality.
