The history of the Canadian Psychological Association's recognition of the validity of a feminist perspective in psychology is outlined together with an overview of the current status of women psychologists in the nation. Documenting the development of a psychology of women speciality, a selected review of the research conducted by psychologists in Canada dealing with sex roles, sex differences, achievement, feminism and psychobiology, is presented. In the applied areas of the discipline analogous developments have occurred in terms of the establishment of a link between sex roles and psychopathology, the critical appraisal of traditional therapies, the creation of alternative therapy approaches and the generation of ethical standards pertinent to the provision of psychological services to women. The interdisciplinary quality of the psychology of women is discussed and an overview of this new field is provided.Although the recrudescence of the Women's Liberation Movement occurred in the sixties, Canadian psychology was relatively insensitive to the implications of the Movement until the mid seventies. However, signs of a feminist impetus are now discernible in all aspects of psychology: (1) in the internal operation of the discipline and the general status of women psychologists, (2) in the academic arena in terms of research, scholarship and training, and (3) in the practice of applied psychology. Space will not permit an in-depth analysis of all the feminist influences in these three spheres, but we shall try to provide an overview of some of the more significant trends, with particular attention to the Canadian scene. Three other reviews on the topic of women and psychology (Mednick & Wiessman, 1975;Parlee, 1979;Weyant, 1979), in conjunction with the present review of Canadian contributions, provide a comprehensive coverage of what is clearly a major restructuring of the discipline.

While research is essential if change in the status and quality of life of women is to be achieved, no amount of research will benefit women if the research itself is sex-biased or sexist. The position taken in this document is that: (a) a lack of awareness of the issues and factors involved is primarily responsible for sexist biases in research; (b) the persistence of sex bias in psychological research is largely unintentional sexism; (c) research so influenced is unscientific; and (d) given the implications of such research for women in particular -in terms of equal opportunity, quality of life, and psychological health -the support, conduct, and publication of scx-biascd research is unethical.Possible sources of sexist bias at all stages of the research process are described. Review of background literature, formulation of the research question, research design, sample selection, dependent variables, statistical analyses, reporting of results, and interpretation of findings arc considered. The first part of the paper describes problems that may be encountered at each stage, describes the principles of nonsexist research, and reviews the literature in the area. The second part of the paper is a checklist which consists of specific questions that can be used to evaluate individual studies or projects.

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