It is not enough, though, to locate ourselves in our research. To do so risks creating the kind of master narrative that feminism rejects because it silences other views. Rather, the feminist researcher should trace her personal views to their cultural and ideological sources, recognize her multiple and contradictory locations, and use the positions of others to gain critical insight into her own. Specifically, these ends can be served by research practices in which those being studied collaborate with the researcher in designing and interpreting the research. Even so, the researcher, although she cannot avoid being in a position of power, should be sensitive to abuse of power, such as soliciting overly personal information or editing out testimony that supports values different from her own.
Ethical issues are critical in such research.
A Critical Extension of the Research. Much research suggests that men write personal narratives in which they are heroic agents struggling for independent achievement. Women's narratives, in contrast, depict the protagonist as one agent among several struggling to forge connections or sort out competing loyalties. Although student writers cannot set aside these gendered discourses, neither are their narratives wholly determined by them. Rather, most personal narratives show authors shaping a complex identity and negotiating among a range of discourses, the events of personal history, and classroom demands.