Ch3: Research Methods

Question 1

What is direct observation?

Answer 1

Researchers directly observing participants as they engage in relational or sexual situations.
Provides rich contextual info

Question 2

Cons of direct observation:

Answer 2

Memory bias = salience preferences of researchers

Interpretation bias

Question 3

cons of direct observation-how to help them?

Memory bias and interpretation bias

Answer 3

Memory bias: record sessions

Interpretation bias: operationalize behaviours

Question 4

Interview cons

Answer 4

Memory bias/salience preferences

Responder bias! Participants responding in way that they think researcher wants them to respond!

Question 5

Case study

Answer 5

Illustrating aspects of sexuality that may be unethical to replicate or study in an experiment

Question 6

Case study cons (3)

Answer 6

Theoretical bias is a type of interpretation bias that can lead to researchers using case study to erroneously confirm their theory
Poor generalizability to rest of population
Lack of experimental design, lack of control group => can’t draw conclusions about causation

Question 7

Content analysis

Answer 7

Analysis of overarching themes in a text or set of observations (eg. Interviews)

Question 8

Common method of doing content analysis

Answer 8

Focus groups! Interviewing groups of people, eg. female arousal

Question 9

Content analysis cons

Answer 9

Difficult to quantify???

Question 10

Correlational Methods

Answer 10

:)

Question 11

Correlational research: definition and primary weakness

Answer 11

Examines relationship btwn 2+ variables

Cons: causation can’t be inferred

Question 12

Survey is a type of ___ research.

Answer 12

Correlational

Question 13

Survey has 2 types of questionnaires. What are they?

Answer 13

Standard and unstandardized.
Standard: standard set of questions and fixed set of answers
Unstandardized: standard set of questions but room for individual answers

Question 14

Survey: pros & cons

Answer 14

Pros: inexpensive; anonymous, hopefully more honesty
Cons: memory bias, responder bias, demand characteristics

Question 15

Archival data-mining is a form of ___ research

Answer 15

Correlational

Question 16

Is archival data-mining quantitative or qualitative?

Answer 16

Can be both!
Quantitative: old data sets
Qualitative: old diary entries :O

Question 17

Pros and cons of archival data-mining

Answer 17

Pros: convenient, good for past conditions or an individual’s past history
Cons: incomplete and out of date records

Question 18

True experiment vs. Quasi-experiment

Answer 18

Quasi has standard procedure but no random assignment.

True has manipulated variable, dependant variable, control for confounds, and random assignment.

Question 19

Psychophysiological methods

Answer 19

:)

Question 20

Quantitative sensory testing

Answer 20

Tests ind’l responses & thresholds to stimuli, under varying internal states and conditions.

Question 21

Quantitative sensory testing is good for…

Answer 21

Studying pain disorders such as vaginismus and dyspareunia

Question 22

Vaginismus:

Answer 22

Marked fear and/or tightening of pelvic floor muscles, making intercourse difficult or impossible.

Question 23

After arousal, women need ___ pressure to detect touch, while men need ____.

Answer 23

Less, more.

Question 24

Dyspareunia

Answer 24

Genital and/or pelvic pain during or after PIV

Question 25

How does one measure brain activity in relation to sexual stimulation?

Answer 25

Brain imaging, most commonly fMRI.

Question 26

Many problems with fMRI studies

Answer 26

• fMRI has poor spatial and temporal precision!
• fMRI studies often have no control group
• subject to interpretation mistakes
• different fMRI machines produce different quality data

Question 27

Measuring genital response: who determined that arousal was associated with increased blood flow

Answer 27

Masters and Johnson

Question 28

Swelling due to increased blood flow/blood pressure

Answer 28

Vasocongestion

Question 29

General swelling

Answer 29

Tumescence

Question 30

Vaginal photoplethysmograph

Answer 30

Tampon-shaped probe, emits light, reflects back to light detector within device vaginal pulse amplitude

Question 31

How do u measure vaginal pulse amplitude

Answer 31

Photoplethysmograph

Question 32

Labial thermistor

Answer 32

Measures surface temperature of labia skin reflecting changes in blood flow

Question 33

Thermography

Answer 33

Heat sensing camera, records temperature of genital skin

Question 34

Pros and cons of thermography

Answer 34

Easily standardized; standard human temperature is 37 * C

But temperature is slower to change, taking minutes rather than seconds

Question 35

Laser Doppler imaging

Answer 35

Measures superficial blood flow in genitals; low-power IR laser beam; is a direct measure of arousal!

Question 36

Thick pubic hair gets in the way of which method?

Answer 36

Laser Doppler imaging

Question 37

Penile volume plethysmography

Answer 37

Penis inserted into container; as volume increases, free space decreases

Question 38

Penile strain gauge

Answer 38

Ring placed around penis, ring expands as volume increases

Question 39

Penile photoplethysmography

Answer 39

Device emitting and detecting light mounted on penis, provides indirect measure of blood flow

Question 40

Most common measure of penis circumference

Answer 40

Penile strain gauge (the ring)

Question 41

Should tumescence be used to compare different groups to each other?

Answer 41

No, tumescence should be used to compare differences in the same individual, due to the wide variation!

Question 42

Is it universally agreed that vaginal blood flow equals arousal?

Answer 42

No! Simple exercise increases this as well

Question 43

What’s best methods of measuring genital arousal in women?

Answer 43

Thermistor and laser Doppler imaging

New research suggests maybe clitoral pethysmograph