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"I'm Just a Girl Who Can't Say No" - Women, Consent, and Sex Research |
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Written by Petra M. Boyton, PhD
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Page 2 of 4 Methods
It has been suggested that certain methods are more appropriate when studying 'sensitive issues', and that choosing the 'right' method is important given that this may increase or decrease levels of consent. In certain situations face-to-face interviews can be comforting, whilst in others they might be intimidating. Questionnaires can be a useful means of collecting anonymous data - and computerised interviews have been suggested as an appropriate means of encouraging high response rates in sensitive studies. Overall, self administered questionnaires on sensitive topics have been found to be as reliable as face-to-face-interviews, and in fact may be better received by participants.
Yet studies need to be sensitive to the needs of participants - many of whom might not be familiar with a computer, may lack the literacy skills to complete a questionnaire, or who might feel intimidated by having a sensitive interview tape-recorded. Therefore piloting should account for both participant understanding and wellbeing - and be sensitive to the needs of participants in terms of age, ability, culture and gender. Discussions of research methods have frequently approached studies as though gender did not exist. With research on female sexual functioning, it is important that we develop methodologies that are women-friendly.
Given the increased focus on large-sample, quantitative surveys (where participants are required to agree or disagree with a standardised version of sex); it is equally important that methods that allow participants to speak for themselves are advocated. As researchers Fisher and Grenier have argued, the result of a "reliance on...findings...based on methods and conceptually flawed research...may hinder the development of remedies for the very real problem of sexual violence against women" [or other sex-related problems]. Women are under-represented in sex research, and frequently silenced by the way research is conducted or presented.
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Last Updated ( Monday, 26 March 2007 )
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