Researching Sexual Behavior: Methodological Issues Edited by John Bancroft Indiana University Press, 1997 528 pp., cloth, $49.95

The last ten years have seen an unprecedented surge of survey research into sexual behavior, driven predominantly by concern over HIV infection and AIDS. In 1989, Charles Turner and his research colleagues pointed out that, "in the face of the epidemic, conducting and reporting studies has assumed a higher priority than the refinement of methodology" (AIDS, Sexual Behavior, and Intravenous Drug Use, National Academy Press). The following year, Joe Catania and his colleagues published a comprehensive review of the relevant methodological issues ("Methodological Problems in AIDS Behavioral Research," Psychological Bulletin, 108(3), 339-362). They cited a substantial body of literature, but nevertheless concluded that crucial issues remained to be resolved if research was to be effective.

In 1996, The Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender, and Reproduction hosted a small international meeting to address methodological issues related to sexual behavior surveys. The participants included representatives from most of the recent large-scale surveys in the United States and Europe, and others with a wide range of research experience and methodological expertise. A principal objective of the meeting was to promote discussion among these participants. Edited versions of the discussions are included in the book.

Table of Contents

Introduction and Overview

John Bancroft

CHAPTER 1 - LINKING RESEARCH TO POLICY

Sexuality Research in the United States

Diane de Mauro

International Perspectives on Sexuality Research

Richard G. Parker

Discussion

CHAPTER 2 - METHODOLOGY FOR THE INDIVIDUAL

Survey Measurement of Sexual Behavior Problems and Progress

Charles F. Turner, Heather G. Miller, and Susan M. Rogers:

Surveying Sexuality and AIDS: Interviewer Attitudes and Representations

Alain Giami, with Hélène Olomucki and Janine de Poplavsky

Discussion

CHAPTER 3 - METHODOLOGY IN SPECIFIC CONTEXTS

Measuring Sexual Behavior Among Teenage Males in the U.S.

Freya L. Sonnenstein, Leighton Ku and Joseph H. Pleck

Item Nonresponse in the National AIDS Behavioral Surveys among African American and White Respondents

John Peterson and Joseph A. Catania

The Effects of Question Wording, Interviewer Gender, and Control on Item Response by African American Respondents

Joseph A. Catania, Diane Binson, John Peterson, and Jesse Canchola

Researching Sexual Behavior - Methodological Issues for Hispanics

Fabio Sabogal, Diane Binson, Joseph A. Catania

Sexual Research with Latino Men who have Sex with Men - Methodological Issues

Alex Carballo-Diéguez

Sexual Behavior Research - Studying Bisexual Men and Women and Lesbians

Lynda S. Doll

Discussion

CHAPTER 4 - STUDYING CHANGE IN BEHAVIOR

Pooling Information from Repeated Population Surveys - Its Use in the Evaluation of the Efficacy of AIDS Prevention Campaigns

Alfred Spira

Some Methodological Problems in Trend Analysis of Sexual Behaviour

Françoise Dubois-Arber, B. Spencer, and A. Jeannin

Discussion

CHAPTER 5 - MEASURING SEXUAL BEHAVIOR: RETROSPECTIVE VS. DAILY ASSESSMENT

A Comparison of Retrospective Interview Assessment vs. Daily Ratings of Sexual Interest and Activity in Women

Cynthia Graham and John Bancroft

Concordance between Self-report Questionnaires and Coital Diaries for Sexual Behaviors of Adolescent Women with Sexually-Transmitted Infections

J. Dennis Fortenberry, Heather Cecil, Gregory D. Zimet, and Donald P. Orr

Discussion

CHAPTER 6 - PARTICIPATION BIAS

Sampling Male Homosexuality

Theo Sandfort

Assessing Participation Bias

Anne M. Johnson and Andrew Copas

Discussion

CHAPTER 7 - RESEARCHING SEXUAL NETWORKS

Integrating Quantitative and Qualitative Methods in the Study of Sexuality

Stuart Michaels

A Research Design for Studying Romantic Partners

Richard Udry

Discussion

CHAPTER 8 - RESEARCHING SEXUAL INTERACTIONS

Coding Interactional Sexual Scripts

Ulrich Clement

Discussion

CHAPTER 9 - CONCLUSIONS

Sex Surveys in the Context of Survey Research

John Kennedy

Gender

Anke A. Ehrhardt

Cross-Cultural Issues

Barbara Vanoss Marín

CHAPTER 10 - POST-CONFERENCE PAPERS

Qualitative Methods in Sex Research in Papua New Guinea

Carol Jenkins

Item Nonresponse to Questions about Sex, Substance Use and School: Results from the Reach for Health Study of African-American and Hispanic Young Adolescents

Ann Stueve and Lydia N. O'Donnell

Measuring Social Networks Using Samples: Is Network Analysis Relevant to Survey Research?

Edward O. Laumann and L. Philip Schumm

A Model for Investigating Respondent-Interviewer Relationships in Sexual Surveys

Joseph A. Catania

Notes on Contributors

[Kinsey Institute Series]