On Power and Measurement Systems: Feminist Standpoint Empiricism and the Sexual Experiences Survey
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: This article examines the development of Mary Koss’s influential Sexual Experiences Survey and defends her then-controversial interpretive choice to endorse a broad-scope definition of rape. Koss’s choice was informed by an empirical recognition of how unjust power dynamics could confound measurement strategies. By adopting a feminist standpoint, Koss and her colleagues recognized how many measurement procedures implicitly disempowered respondents’ capacity to express inquiry-relevant data. Ultimately, the iterative development of a valid and reliable measurement system is compatible with, and quite comparable to, the feminist project of identifying how gendered relations of power enable the persistence and concealment of sexual violence.
Author: Kai Milanovich
Institution: University of Washington
Language: English
Subfield: Sociology and Political Science
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
OpenAlex ID: W7124913500