Meanings of Women's Agency: Improving Measurement in Context
Kathryn Yount2016, Qatar Foundation Annual Research Conference Proceedings Volume 2016 Issue 1
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ARC '16
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http://dx.doi.org/10.5339/qfarc.2016.SSHAOP2331
Meanings of Women’s Agency: Improving Measurement in Context
Yara Qutteina1, Laurie James-Hawkins2, Buthaina A. Al-Khelaifi1, Kathryn M. Yount2
Qatar University, QA
Emory University, US
1
2
Email: [email protected]
Decades of research has been conducted to understand the processes that under gird women’s empowerment and
one of its core components-women’s agency. However, few inroads have been made into the study of how these
processes work in Arab Middle Eastern societies. In fact, research on women’s agency in the Arab Middle East has
generally relied on measurement instruments that have been adapted without rigorous testing. This study is the first
in Qatar to explore how women in Qatar understand women’s agency scale items.
Aim
The aim of this study is to explore women’s interpretations of selected scale items about decision-making, freedom
of movement, and gender attitudes.
Methods
Cognitive interviews were conducted with 24 Qatari women ages 18–21. These women previously responded to
agency scales as part of a bigger two wave survey study on influences of kin on women’s participation in the labor
market. The semi-structured cognitive interviews explore one decision-making item, one freedom-of-movement
item, and five gender attitude items. Grounded theory analysis techniques were used. Women’s responses were
coded and analyzed for themes and patterns.
Results
For the decision-making item, the majority of women originally reported that they made their own decisions; yet
probing revealed family input as an important part of the decision-making process. We conclude that the response
Cite this article as: Qutteina Y, James-Hawkins L, Al-Khelaifi BA, Yount KM. (2016). Meanings of Women’s Agency:
Improving Measurement in Context. Qatar Foundation Annual Research Conference Proceedings 2016: SSHAOP2331
http://dx.doi.org/10.5339/qfarc.2016.SSHAOP2331.
This abstract is available through QScience.com
options for this item were not uniformly interpreted by participants, and this variation
in interpretation results in the group of women who reported making the decision on
their own to be more heterogeneous than the researchers intended. Women’s multiple
interpretations of the decision-making scale suggest that the item was too vague for the
context in which it was measured. On the other hand, women seemed to understand
the item measuring freedom of movement as the researchers intended, as almost all
participants easily indicated that they needed input from others on the freedom-ofmovement item. We conclude that the uniformity in responses is due to the specificity of
the item which led to women interpreting the item as intended. Women’s responses to
gender attitude items were reflective of broader Qatari societal norms rather than their
own individual opinions. In their survey responses, women participants reflected less
gender-equitable attitudes on some items and higher gender-equitable attitudes on other
items. When probed during the cognitive interviews, inconsistencies appeared between
their initial responses and their subsequent discussion of gender roles in Qatari society.
It appears that these young women are caught between their own beliefs about gender
equality and larger Qatari societal norms. These conflicts resulted in inconsistent responses
across the gender attitude scale.
Conclusion
Agency measures commonly used in the Arab Middle East are not necessarily appropriate
for such a context, especially when used with Qatari young women. Generally, the scale
items tested revealed that the items were interpreted in different ways by different women.
This highlights the need for deeper exploration into women’s understanding of agency
scale items before their use in new social contexts. Accordingly, we recommend that scale
items be systematically tested whenever a researcher wants to field it in a new cultural
context to determine if it is being interpreted consistently across women, and in line with
the researchers intent. It is also important to identify scale items which may elicit responses
that are representative of societal norms rather than personal beliefs. We recommend that
such items are modified to encourage women to express their own opinions.
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