Gender, Sex, and Methodological Pluralism

Abstract Sex and/or gender are complex and evolving concepts where our theoretical understanding does not always map onto how they are employed in the political world. This complexity creates a series of challenges for scholars. A pluralistic methodological approach benefits the study of gender, sex, and politics. This article demonstrates the different methodological approaches employed by gender and politics scholars and the methodological approaches that have yet to be fully integrated into the subfield. Drawing on our theoretical understanding of sex and gender, this article argues that scholars need to clarify our theorizing and measurement of gender and/or sex. In particular, attempts to separate the concepts of sex and gender overlook how politics defines and constructs sex-based categories. More careful theorizing should lead to stronger connections between our theoretical understanding of gender and our methodological choices and empirical measures of gender and/or sex. This article concludes by offering recommendations to guide research on gender and politics.