WHAT IS SEX RESEARCH?

Sex research is what is recognized and acknowledged as sex research by those who write textbooks, publish journals, award research money, hire and quote experts, and so forth. In terms of cultural authority, who does the research, who publishes and disseminates it and to whom, who does the teaching, where and to whom—these are all important questions. When I first taught an undergraduate course in human sexuality in 1972 there were no textbooks available[6] and only one dedicated journal (Journal of Sex Research). Therefore, what sex research did exist was within disci­plines where each discipline had its own methodological standards and favorite themes. Very few people read outside their own field; thus, soci­ologists had one view of sex, public health specialists another, psychoan­alysts another, literary critics another, criminologists yet another, and so forth. There was little discussion of sex research in the mass media, al­though much had been written throughout the century in terms of analysis of changing norms.