Help needed with collecting accurate anonymous on-line research about swinging

[JustAskJulie]

Rachel,

When is your cut-off for taking the survey?

[rvedd001]

Julie,

I'm going to take it down around the 15th. I will post a few days before then so everyone knows. Sound good?

[Nudesailing]

survey was painless, hope to see the results

[Chicup]

Well I took the survey, and some of the STI questions could have used a bit more depth.

There are curable STI's and maskable ones, and my answer would vary based on which kind was in question.

Old joke, Do you know the difference between love and herpes? Herpes is forever.

Also I would have included a difference between long time swing partners and short term ones. There is one couple we do not use condoms with who we have known since we started swinging, and know at a very personal level beyond swinging, but they are the only ones we would do that with.

Edit: And call me a cynic but how many times have these survey things and interviewes happened vrs how many times have we been given a link to the paper when it was done?

[rvedd001]

Good feedback! These all things I appreciate and desire as this is only my thesis, my dissertation is yet to come.

If I do further research in this area my research will certainly need to be expanded and further honed.

I certainly intend to share my results with you. I will not be of getting this great data and hoarding it. If you feel it's been too long, start harassing me, you have my email. Deal?


Rachel (Your ever grateful researcher)

[good times]

I agree with Chicup, had some of the questions been less general or vague my answers would have been totally different.

[oncewere]

Before you write your thesis it might be a good idea to visit a club or two or a meet-up and talk to some real swingers. You won't need to participate but the subjective input could give you a perspective you won't get from a survey.

[Brian and Jo]

We just completed the survey and also would be very interested in seeing the results.

[JustAskJulie]

Originally Posted by Chicup

Well I took the survey, and some of the STI questions could have used a bit more depth.

There are curable STI's and maskable ones, and my answer would vary based on which kind was in question.

Old joke, Do you know the difference between love and herpes? Herpes is forever.

Also I would have included a difference between long time swing partners and short term ones. There is one couple we do not use condoms with who we have known since we started swinging, and know at a very personal level beyond swinging, but they are the only ones we would do that with.

Edit: And call me a cynic but how many times have these survey things and interviewes happened vrs how many times have we been given a link to the paper when it was done?

Agree with much of what you said there. The one difference on the survey vs actually getting the results.... rarely do they even offer. Most of the time when we are dealing with students we get the one post from them asking for help then never hear from them again.

[rvedd001]

I am in here so much I feel like I too am becoming an addict to this board. Keep the comments coming.

If you feel that parts of the survey were vague, that is really good for me to know. As a researcher I did my best to use instruments that measure things such as attitudes towards STI's and etc. in a relaible and valid way (as established in previous literature). Yet, if it turns out that these are terrible to use with such a specific demographic, I will not use them again.

The lifestyle holds a very special place in my heart (if you want these reasons we can get to that), hence the reason that I am researching it. This is also the reason that I hold a promise to share these results with all those that have contributed to this study. I have no specifics as to who individuals are that have taken the study unless they email me directly, but I can post on this board and email club directers that I have been working with. Remember, I should have some results put together around late May/early to mid-June.

Have a great day everyone!

Rachel

[havefuninsun]

Rachel,

I took the survey and I too, felt it painless. Surveys are so hard and statistics can be so interesting ... but I think you're doing a good job and I'm also looking forward to the results.

Good for you, too, to take on a subject that isn't always popular. I do think academia is more friendly than some areas.

Good luck with everything!!

[two4youinswva]

Hey, how close are you to reaching your goal?

[tncinmd]

One thing about including Chlamydia in the STI column is that while it is transmittable, it can be self-developed. The wife had it years and years before we started "swinging". There should be a differentiation then between whether you've had an STI and whether you "caught" and STI, if Chlamydia is involved.

[rdy46227]

Originally Posted by rvedd001

{snip}

If you feel that parts of the survey were vague, that is really good for me to know. As a researcher I did my best to use instruments that measure things such as attitudes towards STI's and etc. in a relaible and valid way (as established in previous literature). Yet, if it turns out that these are terrible to use with such a specific demographic, I will not use them again.
{snip}

Rachel

I don't think the problem is incorrect measures for this demographic -- only that this demographic has a lot of experience and have seen things which don't often occur to researchers. They have answers which are unanticipated values for the measures.

One problem in using previous literature for a "reliable and valid way" is that there are an awful lot of poor experiments, particularly in the social sciences, and so many "similar" experiments where the results can't be aggregated or compared because of poor/incompatible structure.

Speaking as a trained scientist (biochemical researcher), I highly depend on design of experiments and analysis of what values the experimental observations might take. Yes, often easier in the hard sciences, but some biological processes have a weird a life style as people do!

Please don't be afraid to think like a lawyer does (technicalities, ambiguities, well formed questions). It might be worth "field testing" a survey with people who have the most "foreign" ideas, lifestyle or history you can find.

Another problem is the VERY varied subsets of "swingers". You might consider a method to spread respondents across the spectrum, so you can throw out outliers. Some consider picking up a person a the bar to be swinging, others insist it must take place in a club or organized party, some consider polyamorous relationships to be swinging, some require all contacts to be known to all, others will accept "cheaters" as "swingers", some restrict swinging to casual sex without any sort of emotional connection, etc.

You probably have a good idea what you consider a swinger, and you will see surveys from people who don't come close to your definition, but still consider themselves such. Or worse yet, people who you might consider swingers who avoid the survey because they don't consider themselves true swingers.

Overall, you did quite well -- much better than most others I've taken!

[rvedd001]

To answer (two4youinswva), as of Monday, I am about 20 away from my goal. However, I will still be taking the survey down on the 15th of April to meet the deadlines that are right around the corner for me.

So that everyone does know, I have been taking all comments and emails that I am getting and saving them to help guide me in further research as well as to help guide me in the discussion section of my thesis. In that section of my paper, for all who don't know, I must address all limitations to this research. So as (rdy46227) pointed out, there are individuals that have responded to my survey that are very specific types of swingers, or maybe not what most would consider swingers, etc. Some things I thought of with my research and covered, and certainly other things are coming up that I am certainly lacking.

The other issue is indeed that other research has been done, but unfortunately the vast majority of new research has not been published. I'm sure that many of you on here have taken surveys similar to mine, but where have the surveys gone? I was really dismayed when I started looking into what was published on this type of lifestyle. So much of it was outdated or only published in pop culture magazines, I really felt a need to remedy the situation.

At the very least I hope that this is a good start into updating the literature in a scientific manner. I am sincerely grateful for every time that I check here on in my email and I see comments that tell me what I have one right or wrong. Thank you everyone! It really is wonderful to have all of this time and attention.

Rachel