Sex Researchers:

Background

Born in Hoboken, New Jersey, Alfred Kinsey earned his Biology PhD. from Harvard University in 1920. He taught zoology at Indiana University and conducted extensive research on the gall wasp. Given the opportunity to be the coordinator of a marriage course taught there, Kinsey became quite interested in the field of human sexuality. He discovered that written resources on this subject were difficult to find in a public or university library, so he became a "compulsive data gatherer" (Davidson and Moore, 2001). He became the founder-director of Indiana University's Institute for Sex Research in 1942. His books, collectively called the Kinsey Reports brought about a radical change in the way the general public viewed sexuality. Upon his death in 1956, he had lengthy files of yet to be published research covering such topics as penis length, clitoris size, pregnancy, birth, and abortion. Later researchers were able to expand upon his initial findings.

Theory/Research

Kinsey was a firm believer that sex had a legitimate place in sex research. He developed what is now commonly called the Kinsey Interview and the Kinsey Scale. His interviews were conducted (with the help of Wardell Pomeroy, Clyde Martin, and Paul Gebhard) face-to-face with about 350+ questions. Eighteen thousand interviews were conducted using group-sampling methods. There were a number of "checks" the interviewers used to assure consistency. The Kinsey Scale was developed on a seven-point continuum (0 - 6) to measure sexual activity with exclusive heterosexual behavior at 0, with variations in-between, and ending with exclusive homosexual behavior at 6.

Results

Kinsey's research has had lasting effects in the field of sexuality. Many accurately suggest that he revolutionized sexuality so much that it is hard to imagine what sexuality looked like prior to the 1950's (Ericksen, 1998). Kinsey's frank discussions about topics which had been seen as taboo opened the door for further research, but it also began to demystify sexuality in America. His findings about homosexuality changed the way many people thought about themselves. He suggested that homosexuals were no different psychologically than heterosexuals and that a couple of homosexual experiences did not make you a homosexual (Davidson & Moore, 2001; Kinsey, Pomeroy, Martin, 2003). The first helped ease the negative stigma associated with homosexuality, by showing it was far more prevalent than many had assumed. By suggesting that bisexuality did exist, the latter, clashed with present views among the psychoanalytic community. This did not deter Kinsey in his pursuit to make sexuality a legitimate field of study. Because of his relentlessness in studying sexuality he changed the way Americans view sex, and many would argue that is his greatest contribution to the field (Ericksen, 1998).

Commentaries

Despite the great strides Kinsey made in sexuality research, there were many criticisms of his work. Due to the fact that all of Kinsey's subjects were volunteers, the most prominent criticism was Kinsey's lack of random sampling among his participants (Davidson & Moore, 2001; Ericksen, 1998). Kinsey argued that this was due to the fact that if he used a random sampling technique many people would refuse to answer his questions, which would nullify the randomness of the sample. Other criticisms include the fact that the majority of participants in his male study were prisoners in the Indiana State Prison. Critics argued that because the majority of the men in the study were delinquent, this skewed Kinsey's results. Other critics disagreed with his interviewing techniques. They felt as if Kinsey's style may have influenced participants to want to "please" him, and therefore, give inaccurate responses (Ericksen, 2001). Regardless of the criticisms of Kinsey's work, most would agree that he changed the field of sexuality research in unprecedented ways.

Resources

Davidson, J. K., & Moore, N. B. (2001). Speaking of sexuality: Interdisciplinary readings. Los Angeles: Roxbury.

Ericksen, J. A. (1998). With enough cases, why do you need statistics? Revisiting Kinsey's Methodology. Journal of Sex Research, 35(2). Retrieved September 8, 2004 from Ebsco Host.

Kinsey, A. C., Pomeroy, W. R., & Martin, C. E. (2003). American Journal of Public Health, 93(6). Retrieved September 8, 2004 from Ebsco Host.

Nevid, J. S., Fichner-Rathus, L., & Rathus, S. A. (1995). Human sexuality in a world of diversity (2nd ed.). Needham Heights, MA: Simon & Schuster.

The Kinsey Institute. Retrieved September 10, 2004, from http://www.indiana.edu/~kinsey/resources/bib-homoprev.html