Once selected, subjects in a sample can be surveyed through a paper-and-pencil or computerized questionnaire or a face-to-face interview. These procedures involve ask­ing the participants a set of questions, which might range from a few to over 1,000. These questions can be multiple-choice, true-or-false, or discussion questions; subjects can respond alone, in the privacy of […]

The questions asked by sexologists often apply to populations that are too large to study in their entirety. For example, if you wanted to obtain information about the sexual practices of American married couples in their later years, your population would include all married couples in the United States over a given age, say, 65. […]

Most of our information about human sexuality has been obtained from a second important research method, the survey, in which people are asked about their sexual experiences or attitudes. The survey method enables researchers to collect data from a large number of people, usu­ally more than can be studied in a clinical setting or in […]

We began this chapter with three common notions about human sexual behavior: that exposure to violent pornography can increase a man’s tolerance of, and willingness to commit, sexually violent acts, such as rape; that alcohol can enhance sexual responsive­ness; and that vaginal orgasms are superior to clitoral orgasms. How do researchers go about investigating hypotheses […]

People who study human sexuality share certain goals with scientists in other disci­plines. These goals include understanding, predicting, and controlling or influencing the events that are the subject matter of their respective fields. The first two scientific goals—understanding and predicting behavior—are not difficult to comprehend. For example, a pharmacologist who knows how blood pres­sure medications […]

The personal and political (laws, policies, and norms) are truly merged when it comes to sexuality. The historical, cross-cultural, and intra-cultural perspectives that we have examined in this chapter clearly show the impact of social norms on sexuality and may help us to appreciate the unique position in which we currently find ourselves. We can […]

The comprehensive research study about sexuality in the United States, the National Health and Social Life Survey (NHSLS), concluded that our attitudes and behaviors are dramatically influenced by the people in our social groups (Laumann et al., 1994). This research was conducted before the explosion in online communication in the 1990s. By 2010 there were […]

Popular magazines contain a range of sexually related articles—from excellent information about self-help and relationship skills to articles that promote stereotypical gender roles, body-image insecurity, super­ficiality, and manipulation in relationships (Markle, 2008; Menard & Kleinplatz, 2008). On the positive side, a study of sexual health behav­iors and magazine reading among college students found that more […]

Advertising either is present in most forms of media or stands alone, as on the ubiquitous billboard. Sexual images, often blatant but sometimes subtle, are designed to help attract attention to and sell products. An ad that has high sexual appeal can be a powerful marketing tool. For example, jeans sales doubled following the 1980s […]

Since 1981, televised music video programs have bridged television and the music industry. Up to 75% of music videos (depending on the type of music) have sexual content. They usually portray men as sexually aggressive and women as sexually sub­missive objects (Conrad et al., 2009). Research finds that exposure to more sexually explicit music videos […]