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 interfere with sexual functioning can use this knowledge to predict
what dosage of a drug could be tolerated by a patient with a particular health condition without experiencing impaired sexual functioning. Similarly, a psychologist who knows something about the way certain behavior patterns influence the quality of couples’ interactions can help a couple predict whether they will have a happy marriage.
The third goal, using scientifically acquired knowledge to control behavior, is a more difficult concept to comprehend. Understandably, many people express concern about the legitimacy of applying scientific knowledge to control people’s behavior. A certain amount of skepticism in this area is probably healthy, and it would be inaccurate to suggest that all knowledge acquired through research leads directly to behavior control. Nevertheless, sexologists have been able to influence, to some degree, a large body of phenomena. For example, understanding how adolescents make decisions about contraceptive use has resulted in the development of school-based sex-education programs, many of which are linked to family planning clinic services. These innovative programs have often resulted in positive behavioral changes, such as increased contraceptive use among sexually active teenagers. Similarly, knowledge about the psychobiological causes of certain sexual problems, such as premature ejaculation and lack of vaginal lubrication, has enabled specialists to develop therapies aimed at controlling such disruptive symptoms, as we will see in Chapter 14.
Most of us would not object to the goal of controlling or influencing events in the examples just described. However, sexologists, like other scientists, must also contend with situations in which the application of this goal raises important questions. For instance, is it appropriate for fertility specialists to use their knowledge to help a couple conceive a child of a desired biological sex? Is it appropriate for a sex therapist to subject imprisoned sex offenders to aversive stimuli (such as putrid odors) in an effort to control deviant sexual urges? Clearly, the goal of controlling or influencing human behavior should be carefully evaluated within a framework of ethical consideration.
Compared with many other disciplines, sexology is an infant science, having originated largely in the 20th century. The pioneering work of Alfred Kinsey, the first researcher to conduct an extensive general survey of American sexual behaviors, took place only in the late 1940s and early 1950s. Many questions remain unanswered, although a considerable body of knowledge is accumulating. In the remainder of this chapter, we examine some of the research methods that have been used to explore human sexuality.