Chapter 3 & 4 Flashcards
What are the 3 main challenges when studying human sexuality?
- Research subject honesty
- Finding a representative sample (usually it’s bold liberal ppl who volunteer)
- Finding an appropriate research method (balancing invasiveness with accuracy)
What are 2 scenarios that disqualify a study from being random?
Non-random sampling can include a scenario where the participants are chosen based on their availability or willingness to participate, the participants might not accurately represent the target population
Explain the difference between median and mode.
Median: central tendency aka the middle number
Mode: the most frequent number/answer
When did the first modern textbook about sex come out?
1886!
The first modern text on sex, psychopathia sexualis, had a key flaw, what was it?
It pathologized alot, especially same sex relationships
What was revolutionary about Kinsley? What was a problem with his approach?
He was the first to do large scale interviews on sex. There was sampling bias in that it was quite white washed and the people willing were usually very liberal
What was revolutionary about Masters and Johnsons? What was a common fault?
MJ were the first to do a wide scale study of human responses to sex/sensual things. Very white washed, thus not representative of the population especially today
Explain the difference between the qualitative method and quantitative method. What is the benefit to each type of research method?
Qualitative: Open ended, discussion questions
Quantitive: Organizable or measurable method questions
qualitative is great when trying to understand what the right questions to as are. quantitative is great for understanding or analyzing something critically and accurately
What are the 3 types of research done for sexual behaviour?
- Descriptive design (direct observation, interview, case study, content analysis)
- Correlational design (survey, archival data mining)
- Experimental
What are descriptive designs useful for?
- generating research ideas
- summarizing patterns of behaviour
What is direct observation and what are it’s flaws?
Simply a monitoring of sexual or relational behaviour. Recall bias and responder bias
What are interviews used for, and what are some of their weaknesses as a research method?
Detailed account of an individuals history and beliefs. Recall bias and responder bias
What is the purpose of a case study? What are some of it’s weaknesses as a research method?
Examines an event or a group of individuals over a long period of time. Interpretation bias, lack of control or experimental design and poor generalizability
Explain content analysis as a research method. What are some of its cons?
- Analyzing the meaning in a body of text or a set of observations
- Con: Non-quantifiable results
What is a correlational design? What is a con of this research method?
- Analyzing the strength of a correlation between two variables
- Con: there could be confounding variables that confuse interpretation, and correlation does not always equal causation
What is the con of using a survey as a research method?
- memory bias/ recall bias
- responder bias
What is archival data mining and what are some of the cons?
- When one sorts through records or pre-existing data
- Con: incomplete records can lead to wrong conclusion, and information may be out of date
What is quantitative sensory testing? Why is it important?
It analysis the bodies physiological response to stimulus. Important to us because alot of genital sensory testing is done to help understand conditions like vaginismus
What does fMRI stand for? What is it used for?
Functional magnetic resonance imaging
fMRI is used to measure brain activity relating to sexual function or dysfunction
What are 2 major problems with fMRI?
- fMRI studies often don’t have a control group
- Depends heavily on a researchers ability to interpret data
What are the 3 benefits to studying animal sexuality?
- Help us to understand normal vs abnormal
- Helps us clarify cause and effect relationships
- Helps us to test treatment models
What is the main problem with using animal models?
Anthromorphizing: giving animals human reasons for their actions
Order the following in terms of their location on a person laying on their back: mons pubis, urethral opening, clitoral hood, clitoris, anus, vaginal opening
Mons pubis, clitoral hood, clitoris, urethral opening, vaginal opening, anus
What does the perineum include?
Everything from mons pubis to anus
