Under the Sign of Hope examines the practices of life history, ethnographic fieldwork, and interpretation of women's narratives, ultimately asserting the importance of self-reflexivity for feminist methodology. Bloom takes the stance that what is critical to research is an ability to analyze the complexities of researcher-participant relationships and the limitations of narrative interpretation.

Under the Sign of Hope examines the practices of life history, ethnographic fieldwork, and interpretation of women's narratives, ultimately asserting the importance of self-reflexivity for feminist methodology. Bloom takes the stance that what is critical to research is an ability to analyze the complexities of researcher-participant relationships and the limitations of narrative interpretation.