Understanding Sexuality Research

by Wiederman, Michael W.

• ISBN13: 9780534509583
• ISBN10: 0534509584
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2000-06-02
• Publisher: Cengage Learning

Summary

With reader-friendly guidance, UNDERSTANDING SEXUALITY RESEARCH uses realistic, hypothetical cases to promote students' critical thinking. The first five chapters present salient issues to consider when evaluating research on human sexuality. The next ten application chapters correspond well with the primary chapters presented in most sexuality texts, making it easy for instructors to integrate the book into the course throughout the semester. Students learn to effectively apply critical thinking skills to human sexuality research and become more critical judges of research conducted by others.

Table of Contents

Preface	ix
A Note to the Student	x
A Note to the Instructor	x
Acknowledgments	xii
About the Author	xiii
Part One The Questions	1	(38)
Why Understanding Research?	2	(7)
What Is Critical Thinking?	4	(1)
Who Studies Sexuality?	5	(4)
What Are the Goals of the Research?	9	(6)
Why Was the Research Conducted?	9	(2)
Kinds of Research	11	(4)
What Kind of Person Would Participate in a Study Like This?	15	(5)
Generalizability	15	(1)
Volunteer Bias	16	(1)
College Student Participants	17	(3)
How Do Researchers Pose Sexuality Questions to Respondents?	20	(11)
The Respondent and Forms of Response Bias	20	(5)
The Research Methodology and Forms of Response Bias	25	(6)
What Do the Research Results Mean?	31	(8)
Statistical Significance	31	(2)
Practical Significance	33	(1)
Misleading Statistics and Characterizations	34	(2)
Do the Conclusions Match the Research Design?	36	(3)
Part Two The Applications	39	(88)
Behavior: Do Males and Females Differ in Sexual Experience?	41	(10)
Mate Selection: What Determines Peoples' Choice of Particular Partners?	51	(7)
Protection: How Frequently Do People Use Condoms?	58	(8)
Infidelity: What Proportion of People Have Had Extradyadic Sex?	66	(8)
Orientation: What Determines Whether People Are Sexually Attracted to Men or Women?	74	(8)
Education: Are Sex Education Programs in Schools Effective?	82	(8)
Child Sexual Abuse: Is Sexual Contact Between a Child and an Adult Harmful?	90	(12)
Therapy and Dysfunction: How Well Does Sex Therapy Work?	102	(8)
Pornography: Is Viewing Sexually Explicit Media Harmful?	110	(9)
Love: What Is the Role of Love in Sexual Interactions?	119	(8)
Appendix Evaluating Sexuality Information Posted on the Internet	127	(4)
References	131