Survey study, 1995
What problems exist in how PMS research is conducted?
Current research fails to describe women's actual experiences, ignores cultural context, and assumes biology directly causes behavior. Better insights might come from anthropological and sociological studies that question what PMS means to women.
What they did
Theoretical analysis and critique of four different approaches to understanding PMS research.
What they found
All four approaches were criticized on three grounds: they failed to describe women's experiences in detail before explaining them; they did not place experience within socio-cultural context; and they assumed a linear relationship between biology (or culture) and behavior. Biopsychosocial models might integrate different approaches but are unlikely to offer new insights.
What it means for you
The way scientists study PMS may have fundamental problems. To understand PMS better, researchers should listen more carefully to what women actually experience and consider how culture shapes those experiences. This is a theoretical paper, not a study of patients.
4
Meta-theoretical approaches analyzed
3
Main criticisms of current approaches
About the study
- Original title
- Theory and methodology in premenstrual syndrome research
- Authors
- Walker A
- Journal
- Social science & medicine (1982)
- Year
- 1995
- Study design
- Survey study
- What was tested
- None.
- Read the paper
- doi.org/10.1016/0277-9536(95)00046-a
Topics
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