On Power and Measurement Systems: Feminist Standpoint Empiricism and the Sexual Experiences Survey
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.
Fields of Study & Subjects
Feminist Epistemology and Gender Studies
Sexual Assault and Victimization Studies
Gender and Feminist Studies
Publication details
- Journal / source
- Philosophy of the Social Sciences
- Volume
- 56
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 155–176
- Publication date
- 20 January 2026
- Language
- EN