Decolonizing Quantitative Methods

Virginia Ramseyer Winter is an Associate Professor at the University of Minnesota School of Social Work. Her research examines body image and weight stigma in relation to health and healthcare, and has been published in leading journals. In 2025, she co-edited the Handbook of Body Image-Related Measures (Cambridge). CarolAnn Daniel is Professor of Social Policy and Associate Dean for Academic Affairs in the School of Social Work at Adelphi University. Her research explores decoloniality and structural racism in higher education and healthcare, using critical theory and methodologies to understand how social identities and systemic inequities shape marginalized experiences. N. Eugene Walls is Professor at the University of Denver Graduate School of Social Work, where he has served on the faculty for over twenty years. His research focuses on risk and resilience among LGBTQ/NB communities, social justice-oriented pedagogy, and critical quantitative methods. Michael S. Spencer (Kānaka Maoli) is the Ballmer Endowed Dean and Professor of Social Work at the University of Washington. His research centers on health equity and wellness among populations of color through culturally grounded, community-based participatory approaches. He is a Fellow of the American Academy of Social Work and Social Welfare and the Society for Social Work and Research.

• Introduction; Part I. The Philosophy of Science & Foundations for Critical Research: 1. This sh*t is complicated & that's ok: axiological, ontological, and epistemological consideration of critical + quantification Derek Houston; 2. Critical approaches to quantitative research CarolAnn Daniel; 3. Indigenous research methodologies: a journey of resilience Annie Belcourt, Damian M. Chase-Begay and Jessica L. Liddell; 4. Queering quantitative methods W. Jamie Yang and Clare R. Evans; 5. Practicing decolonial ethics of reciprocity and reparation in social work Antonia R. G. Alvarez, Sameena Azhar and Jonah DeChants; 6. Race, measurement, and quantitative models Michael Lewis; Part II. The Mechanics of Critical Research: 7. Overview of the critical research process Leslie Ann Locke and Nicholas R. Stroup; 8. From research subjects to co-researchers: transforming quantitative research through critical participatory action methodologies CarolAnn Daniel and Tamara Moss; 9. Constructing research questions for critical quantitative scholarship N. Eugene Walls; 10. Navigating sampling considerations: centering research goals and pragmatic logics in the study of small, invisible, or disadvantaged populations D'Lane Compton and Leonardo Kattari; 11. Measurement considerations for liberatory research Sierra Roach-Coye, My Ngoc To and N. Eugene Walls; 12. Disseminating with care: avoiding harm in data communication Alice Feng and Jonathan Schwabish; Part III. Critical Approaches to Research Methodologies: 13. Transforming survey science: situated epistemologies and the critical feminist total survey quality framework Janell L. Mensinger and Benjamin F. Shepherd; 14. White logics in social work experiments: challenging objectivity and generalization to advance experimental methodologies Brennan J. Miller, Pegah Naemi Jimenez, Melissa Holder and Kelechi C. Wright; 15. Secondary data analysis and data equity Heather Krause; 16. Advancing a methodology to assess datasets for racial bias risks Reiko Kakuyama-Villaber, Aida Pacheco-Applegate, Lee Ann Huang and Tiffany Burkhardt; 17. Revisioning methodological approaches in prevention research through a quantcrit framework Justin S. Harty and Jennifer L. Bellamy; 18. Participatory healing scale development: exploring team dynamics, culture, and methods for pursuing street validity Alexis Jemal, Daria Waite, Anna Ortega-Williams, Bruce Purnell, Cory Greene, Olapeju Oyeyemi and Richard Smith; 19. Multilevel analysis of individual heterogeneity and discriminatory accuracy (MAIHDA) Clare R. Evans, George Leckie and Juan Merlo; Part IV. Considerations for Research with Traditionally Marginalized Populations: 20. Critical issues in conceptualizing race, ethnicity & indigeneity Autumn Asher BlackDeer and Justin S. Harty; 21. Comprehensive measurement of gender identity, sex, and gender expression: transgender and gender diverse inclusion in social science research Brendon T. Holloway, Will J. Beischel and Jax Kynn; 22. Sexual orientation: toward a more accurate and precise conceptualization, operationalization, and interpretation Megan N. Doyle, Brittanie Atteberry Ash and N. Eugene Walls; 23. 'Nothing about us without us': using disability justice as a framework for critical quantitative research Shanna K. Kattari, Laura J. Wernick, Natasha M. Lee-Johnson and Aidan Weed; 24. Sacred and anti-oppressive approaches to research and religion Marquisha Lawrence Scott; 25. Complicating social class in research: measurement, meaning and impact Heather Curl; 26. Aging unmasked: a lifespan perspective on historical trends and cutting-edge quantitative approaches Kaipeng Wang, Anao Zhang and Leslie K. Hasche; 27. Methodological and ethical considerations in research addressing body size Erin N. Harrop and Virginia Ramseyer Winter; References; Index.