Women’s analyses of their own situations guide our research and influence our recommendations. Everywhere in the world there are local women’s and feminist movements, so we usually start by listening to them. This guiding principle is inspired by the disability rights movements’ “nothing about us, without us” mantra.

Our analyses of inequality, poverty, violence and insecurity are informed by leading feminist scholars from all over the globe. When we want to understand a problem, we go to them first.

There’s no substitute for fieldwork. We collect “thick data” by walking with women, waiting with women, listening to women, and learning from women–all of which drives a richer picture of both problems and solutions. For rapid evaluations where we can’t get to the field, we draw on existing “slow research.”

A qualitative mapping of how policies and programs actually get implemented – including in ways that go off the books – can highlight gaps in quantitative evaluations and feed into program iteration. We give thanks to feminist sociologist Dorothy Smith for developing this practical mode of institutional analysis.

The best policy research seeks to understand how power operates through specific policy choices. This requires putting gender data into historical, political and economic context. We don’t shy away from nuanced analysis — we embrace it.

Digital tools help us collect comparable quantitative data to measure and track patterns of gender inequality. We use open source tools so that we can leave them behind for our partners to track progress over the long-term.

…and women’s stories are gender data with soul. Women’s accounts of their own lives help to identify pathways to better policy choices. And we communicate this data in a way that compels people to take appropriate, meaningful, transformative action.