SEX
RESEARCH
sex
research: methods and problems
the goals of Sexology
non experimental research methods
the experimental method
technology in sex research
obstacles
to studying sex
myths
exaggerations
secrecy
value judgments
goals
of sexology
understand sexual behavior
what is normal vs. abnormal?
behaviorally
anatomically
physiologically
culturally
etc.
predict sexual behavior
teenage behavior
marital adjustment
sex offenders
etc.
control sexual behavior
sex offenders
“sexual inadequacy”
STDs
abortions
teenage pregnancies
etc.
methods of sexology
case study
survey
direct observation
experimental method
case
study
in-depth exploration of the behaviors,
thoughts and
feelings of one subject or several
individual subjects
limited generalizabilty of findings
survey
a large number of people are asked
questions
about sexual experiences or attitudes
oral (face-to-face or telephone)
interview
paper and pencil questionnaires
computer questionnaires
representative
samples
would include the same distribution of
age
economic status
geographic locale
religious affiliation
etc.
as the target population
random
samples
select subjects randomly
without regards to subgroups
questionnaires
quick
cheap
anonymous – minimal distortion
can be evaluated more objectively than
interviews
interviews
if the questions are confusing
clarification is possible
skillful interviewers
can establish excellent rapport
to get more revealing responses
problems
of surveys
non response
self-selection or “volunteer bias”
demographic bias
inaccurate disclosure
Alfred
Kinsey – survey research
1948 – Sexual Behavior in the Human Male
1953 – Sexual Behavior in the Human Female
historical
context
1948 – Kinsey publishes
Sexual
Behavior in the Human Male
1901 – Death of Queen Victoria
and
end of the Victorian Era
(but
not all the beliefs and values of that era)
Victorian, a. 1. Of or characteristic of the time when
Victoria was Queen of England (1837-1901).
2. Showing the middle-class
respectability,
prudery, bigotry, etc. generally
attributed to
the Victorians.
Webster’s New Universal Unabridged
Dictionary
Second Edition ©1983
[picture of Queen Victoria]
VITALOGY
AN ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HEALTH AND HOME
ADAPTED for the HOME, the LAYMAN, the
FAMILY
E.H. Ruddock, M.D.
Originally published 1899
1930 edition reproduced in 1995 by
Applewood Books, Inc.
family
bedroom
[picture of two beds separated by
a little table and lamp]
1947
standards: movie and television
censors
required at least one foot between the
twin beds in
any bedroom scene of a married couple
[picture of couple in separate beds]
FAMILY BED ROOM
Who should and who should not occupy the
same
bed. Both health and life involved in
this matter.
TO AVOID EXCESSIVE INDULGENCES.
Married
persons should adopt more generally
The
rule of sleeping in separate rooms, or at least
in
separate beds.
WHEN PASSION SHOULD BE CURBED
A man must not let his passion become
selfish,
and demand what a woman cannot and
should not
give. The man must bear in mind that while he
is
always passionate a woman’s constitution
differs
and can properly meet him only
periodically.
The wife, on the other hand, should also
recognize
the reasonable need of her husband’s
natural desires,
and while restraining indulgence with proper
periods
of rest, which vary according to
conditions,
from
two weeks to two months, or longer,
should
not be [stingy].
[picture of healthy looking man]
[picture of sickly looking man]
The above is an illustration of D.S. Burton
of Harris, Pa., before the habits
of secret vice begun to tell on him.
The illustration on the following page
shows the same young man three
years later when he had become an
inveterate victim of the vice.
Masturbation – Sometimes boys and young men are
tempted to abuse the sex organs. If one,
because of
ignorance or weakness, makes this a
practice, he
runs the risk of missing the vigor he might
otherwise achieve. Other serious effects
are the
weakening
of the will-power and the loss of self-
respect.
To continue this habit will cause epilepsy, softening
of
the brain, insanity and moral imbecility.
The writer has visited many insane asylums
throughout the United States and found
out from the
wardens that a majority of the inmates were there
from this debasing vice.
[picture of someone with an absent
stare]
[picture of someone with a drooling
tongue]
[picture of someone with strange eyes]
A – General appearance of the features
through Onanism
B – The meager appearance of the
features through Onanism
C – Spermatorrhael Opthalmia consequent
through Onanism
From Boyhood’s perils and manhood’s
curse, 1858
As reproduced in the article:
Sexual behavior and its medicalization:
in sickness and in health
by Graham Hart and Kaye Wellings
BMJ USA Volume 2 August 2002 page 464
Masturbation
‘cuts cancer risk’
BBC News UK Edition
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/3072021.stm
Last updated Wednesday, 16 July, 2003
Australian researchers
1,000 men with prostate cancer
1,250 men without prostate cancer
ejaculation >5x/week
reduced cancer risk by 1/3
the
Kinsey study (based on surveys)
all volunteers
white
disproportionately
better educated,
city dwelling,
protestants
Alfred Kinsey the entomologist studying
gall wasps
[picture of Kinsey with a pile of galls
on the ground]
[picture of galls induced on white oak
tree for larval development]
[picture of galls induced on willow oak
tree for larval development]
Sexual Behavior in the Human Male
Sexual Behavior in the Human Female
©1948,
1953 W.B. Saunders Company
[picture of the spines of both books]
[picture of Kinsey performing an
interview with a volunteer]
Sexual Behavior in the Human Male
Alfred C. Kinsey, Wardell B. Pomeroy,
Clyde E. Martin
©1948 W.B. Saunders Company
804 pages
162 tables
173 figures
Historical introduction, Interviewing
technique,
Statistical problems, and Validity of
Data occupy
first 150+ pages
Dedicated
TO the
twelve thousand persons who have
contributed
to these data AND TO the eighty-
eight thousand more who,
someday, will help
complete
this study.
As a teacher in biology, the senior
author has had his students
bring him the usual number of questions
about sex.
On investigating biologic, psychiatric,
and
sociologic studies to secure answers to
some of these
questions,
the author, as a taxonomist, was struck
with the inadequacy
of
the samples on which such studies
were being based,
and the apparent unawareness of the
investigators that
generalizations were not warranted on
the bases of such small
samples…
Sexual Behavior in the Human Male pg. 9
…The sex studies were on a very
different scale from the
insect studies where…
…we had had 150,000 individuals available for the study of
a single
species of gall wasp.
Sexual Behavior in the Human Male pg. 9
Figure 3. (p. 80) Principle involved in
a twelve-way breakdown
Showing items used in the analyses in
the present study
SIMPLIFIED VERSION OF DIAGRAM:
breakdowns no. classes total
population
______l__________
sex 2 male female
l________________
race 2+ white negro
l____________________________
marital status 3 single married
prev. m
age of adolescence 5
age 10
educational level 6
occupation-subject 9
occupation-parent 9
religious group 3+
religious adherence 4
rural-urban 3+
Figure 2. Sample history in code (pg.
72)
In each history, 521 items have been explored;
but since a subject is questioned only
about those
things in which he has specific
experience, the
actual number of items covered in each
case is
usually nearer 300…
(pg. 63)
[picture of coded data on a history
sheet]
interview
code sheet
source:
http://www.indiana.edu/~kinsey/photo-tour.html
Interviewer had to memorize:
items to be covered,
placement of answers,
and code symbols/meanings
Each respondent assigned a number
Code did not exist in written form
[picture of coded data on a history
sheet]
masturbation
92% of males, 62% of females
at least one same-sex experience to
orgasm
37% of males, 13% of females
premarital sex
67-98% of males (depending on socioeconomic
level)
about 50% of females
at least one experience with prostitutes
69% of white males
females never reaching orgasm in their
marital coitus
10%
http://www.indiana.edu/~kinsey/ak-data.html
Marital Intercourse: individual
variation in frequencies pg. 570
[6 data sets graphed for married males
Age 21-25 Education 0-8th
grade
Age 21-25 Education 9th-12th
grade
Age 21-25 Education 13th
grade+
Age 26-30 Education 0-8th
grade
Age 26-30 Education 9th-12th
grade
Age 26-30 Education 13th
grade+]
Figure 151 (Detail) Sexual Behavior in
the Human Male pg. 570
Marital intercourse:
individual variation in frequencies
ages 21-25
having at least one year of college
education
percent
of each population (vertical axis)
which has marital intercourse
with
each type of frequency (horizontal axis)
(frequency per week)
ROUGH TRANSLATION OF KINSEY’S LINE GRAPH
INTO TABLE AND BAR GRAPH FOR POWERPOINT
NOTES:
_____________________________________________________________________
0x/week 0%
0.5x/week 5% xxxxx
1.0x/week 11% xxxxxxxxxxx
1.5x/week 8% xxxxxxxx
2.0x/week 15% xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
2.5x/week 12% xxxxxxxxxxxx
3.0x/week 12% xxxxxxxxxxxx
3.5x/week 11% xxxxxxxxxxx
4.0x/week 8% xxxxxxxx
4.5x/week 3% xxx
5.0x/week 4% xxxx
5.5x/week 1% x
6.0x/week 4% xxxx
6.5x/week 1% x
7.0x/week 5% xxxxx
7.5x/week 0%
8.0x/week 1% x
8.5x/week 0%
9.0x/week 1% x
9.5x/week 0%
10.0x/week 1% x
_____________________________________________________________________
Table 152. Clinical Tables
(continued)
[Table 152 occupies 12 pages]
SINGLE WHITE MALES
[picture of one page of this table]
Sources of sexual outlet [orgasm] for
single white males age
21-25 who (have/will have) at least 1
year of college education.
Sexual Behavior in the Human Male pg.
700.
ATTEMPTED TRANSLATION OF KINSEY’S TABLE
INTO FORMAT
THAT CAN BE INCORPORATED INTO PPT NOTES:
Table 152. Clinical Tables (continued)
SINGLE WHITE MALES
Age: 21-25
Educ level 13+
__________________________________________________________________________
Source Frequency per week Percent of Total Outlet
Of Outlet Cases Incid% Range Mean Median Range Mean Median
Total 1898 100 21.0 2.5 1.9 --- --- ---
Masturbation 1898 87 15.0 1.5 0.9 100 59.4 65.2
Emission 1898 87 7.0 0.4 0.3 100 26.6 13.6
Petting 1898 52 7.0 0.4 0.1 100 14.6 2.3
Intercourse 1593 54 17.0 0.8 0.3 100 27.4 15.3
Prostitution 1898 17 3.0 0.2 0.1 40 3.5 0.7
Homosexual 1898 9 7.0 1.0 0.3 95 24.5 9.6
Animals 1898 1 1.0 0.3 0.1 35 10.1 3.0
__________________________________________________________________________
[Picture of DVD cover for KINSEY Let’s
talk about sex LIAM NEESON LAURA LINNEY]
Released Nov 12, 2004
Starring Liam Neeson as Kinsey
[Picture of DVD cover for KINSEY
AMERICAN EXPERIENCE PBS HOME
VIDEO]
National
Health & Social Life Survey
(NHSLS)
Published: 1994
4369 Americans ages 18-59 were selected
79% responded giving 3432 subjects
the sample closely approximated many
known
demographic characteristics of the
general US population
consisted of face-to-face interviews
done by 220
professionals
principal investigators: Edward Laumann,
John Gagnon,
Robert Michael, Stuart Michaels
Ethnicity and Sexual Practices Laumann et. al., 1994
Experience with giving oral sex (%)
WM 81.4 WF
75.3 AAM 50.5 AAF 34.4 HM 70.7 HF
59.7
Experience with anal sex
WM 25.8 WF
23.2 AAM 23.4 AAF 9.6 HM 34.2 HF
17.0
No masturbation in last 1 yr.
WM 33.4 WF
55.7 AAM 60.3 AAF 67.8 HM 33.3 HF
65.5
q/wk last yr.
WM 28.3 WF
7.3 AAM 16.9 AAF 10.7 HM 24.4 HF
4.7
National
Survey of Sexual Health and Behavior
(NSSHB)
Published: 2010
5,865 participants – aged 14 to 94
One finding: many people tend to engage
in numerous types
of activities (such as oral sex and
coital sex), during a single
sexual encounter.
direct
observation
William
Masters & Virginia Johnson
1966
Human Sexual Response
laboratory observations of
10,000 completed sexual response cycles
of 382 women
and 312 men
instruments measured
muscular and vascular changes
direct observation more objective
than subjects report of behavior
subjects may be influenced
by the presence of an observer
Human
Sexual Response
William H. Masters, MD research director
Virginia E. Johnson research associate
The Reproductive Biology Research
Foundation
St. Louis, Missouri (based on 11 years
of research)
©1966
[picture of book jacket cover]
Human Sexual Inadequacy
William H. Masters, MD director
Virginia E. Johnson assistant director
The Reproductive Biology Research
Foundation
St. Louis, Missouri (based on 11 years
of clinical work)
©1970
[picture of book jacket cover]
William Masters & Virginia Johnson
[picture of the two researchers sitting
at a table/desk]
examples of M&J
measurements:
nulliparous vaginal
barrel:
baseline measurements
unstimulated
7-8cm x 2cm
stimulated
9.5x10.5cm x 5.75-6.25cm
[picture illustrating
measurements]
nulliparous vaginal barrel:
speculum-dilated
unstimulated 8-9cm x 3-4cm
stimulated 11-12cm x 6.75-7.25cm
[picture illustrating measurements
Human Sexual Response p. 73 & 74
Human Sexual Response p. 182
[picture illustrating measurement of
penis length
In erect and flaccid states]
Figure 12-4
Male pelvis: excitement phase.
greatest observed increase from…7.5cm
…increase in size…just over 9 cm
(7.5 + 9 = 15.5 cm)
smallest increase in size from…under 11 cm
…only 5.5 cm had been added…
(11 + 5.5 = 16.5)
At full plateau-phase erection the two
organs
were measured at identical lengths
on three separate occasions.
Human Sexual Response p. 192-193.
forty men whose penises measured 7.5-9
cm…
compared to a similar
number
…whose penises…measured
10-11.5 cm
all 80 penises were measured on three
different occasions
both in flaccid and erect states…
one of the
measurements…during automanipulation
two
measurements…immediately upon withdrawal
of the plateau-phase
penis from active coition
Human Sexual Response p.191-192.
Human Sexual Response p. 70.
[drawing of vaginal anatomy]
Figure 6-1
Schematic representation of vaginal
lubrication.
[photo reproductions of xrays of the
female pelvis
with radiopaque substance inserted into
vagina]
radiopaque substance was placed in a
plastic cap
radiographic plates were taken
simultaneously with the orgasmic
experience and after 10 minutes of the
resolution phase
In
none of the six individuals was there any evidence of the slightest sucking
effect
on the media in the artificial
seminal pool.
Human Sexual Response p. 122-123.
late
excitement phase
EKG (heart rate) 120/min
[picture of EKG tracing]
orgasmic platform muscle contractions
[picture of myograph tracing]
orgasmic
phase
(heart rate) 180/min
[picture of EKG tracing]
43
seconds-25contractions
[picture of myograph tracing]
Human Sexual Response p.132
penile strain gauge
[picture of tool shaped like a noose]
vaginal photoplethysmograph
[picture of tool shaped like a tampon)
vaginal & rectal myographs
[pictures of tools shaped like hand
weights]
Our Sexuality Textbook 7th
edition
[picture of DVD cover for MASTERS OF SEX
Season One]
American television drama series on
Showtime
Season one premiered September 29 2013
12 episodes
Season two premiered July 13 2014
based on biography by Thomas Maier
[picture of jacket/book cover of FOR
WOMEN ONLY]
For Women Only
©2001
Jennifer
Berman, M.D.
urologist
Laura
Berman, Ph.D.
psychotherapist, sex educator, and sex
therapist
former codirectors of
The Women’s Sexual Health Clinic
at Boston University Medical Center
and now the Center for Pelvic Medicine
at UCLA
Masters
and Johnson were the first to
describe
the physical changes in the vagina
during sexual arousal,
which they observed and filmed in
volunteers
with a small vaginal probe and a camera attachment.
We have begun where Masters and Johnson
left off.
For Women Only
pages xiv-xv
We
have adapted
the
more sophisticated technology of our day:
pH
probes to measure lubrication;
a
balloon device to evaluate the
ability of the vagina to relax
and dilate;
vibratory
and heat and cold sensation measures
of the
external and internal genitalia;
and high frequency Doppler imaging, or ultrasound,
to
measure blood flow to the vagina and
clitoris during
arousal…
For Women Only page xv
Currently,
even more sophisticated instruments are being
developed to evaluate female sexual arousal, response and
function. These include
probes
to measure vaginal, clitoral, and nipple sensation,
and computerized
equipment to measure vaginal anatomy
and
physiology in the office.
MRI, or magnetic resonance imaging, is even being used to
determine what areas of the brain are
responsible for arousal
and orgasm.
For Women Only page xv
experimental
method
the researcher
controls
the independent
variable
the subject behavior
that is observed and recorded
by the researcher
Is the dependent variable
example
1
researchers show subjects
either
a movie with a nonviolent sexual theme
or a movie with a violent sexual theme
(the
independent variable)
several days later subjects
completed questionnaires
assessing their level of acceptance of
sexual violence towards women
(the
dependent variable)
example
2
subjects were shown a sexually explicit
film with
either
no alcohol “on board”
or after consuming controlled amounts of
alcohol
(the
independent variable)
penile strain gauges
measured engorgement
during the observation of the film
(the
dependent variable)
evaluating
research
researchers: credentials and biases
media: reputable & scholarly?
methods:
type(s) of method(s) used
subjects: number
generalizability: how were subjects selected
method: did it bias the findings?
consistency: compare with similar published studies
J