The Kinsey Reports (1948 & 1953),
Over a long time, the subject of sex and human sexuality was avoided by most researchers. According to many researchers, the subjects were considered taboos in society. Among the first published sexology reports include the Kinsey reports that were released between 1948 and 1953. The Kinsey reports are associated with the authors, Alfred Kinsey, Wardell Pomeroy, Clyde Martin, and Paul Gebhard. The research was published by W. B. Saunders. The writing and production of the books were done under the umbrella of the Kinsey Institute. The books published as part of the Kinsey reports are two. The first book was published in the year 1948. The book addresses the subject of male sexuality. The second book under the Kinsey report was published in the year 1953. It addresses the subject of female sexuality.
Historical Background of the study
Before the publishing of the Kinsey reports, the sexology subjects were considered private and were not openly discussed. Also, various beliefs were held to be conventional beliefs to guide human sexuality. Certain principles were made and designed as the general principle to guide human sexuality. Sexual practices outside the usual norms and principles were regarded as taboo and were highly condemned by society. The authors of the Kinsey reports engaged in extensive research exercises to explore the subjects of human sexuality. The first research exercise was conducted on males while; the second exercise was conducted on females. Following the Kinsey, the institute released two elaborate controversial reports addressing the subjects of human sexuality.
Research methodologies and technologies used.
Research methodology refers to the specific procedures and techniques used in the process of identification, selection, and analysis of information and data on a topic. The methodology used in a research exercise enables the readers and the research audience to engage in a critical evaluation of the study to determine the overall validity and reliability of research. The research methodology entails the systematic and theoretical analysis of the methods used in specific fields of study and how they facilitate the generation of specific knowledge. The research technology refers to the totality of the skill, techniques, processes, and methods used in the course of the accomplishment of the research objectives
Among the factors that stand out in the Kinsey reports entailing the research methodology used in the study that facilitated the generation of the reports. The study relied on a study methodology that focused on the gathering of the research data mainly through a subjective report interview. The interviews were done following the guidelines established by structured questionnaires that were previously memorized by the experimenters and the interviewers. The process, however, utilized specialized care to ensure that the three were no marks in the response sheets. High-level privacy and care used in encoding the response sheets focused on maintaining high levels of confidentiality of the respondents. The process involved entering the responses from the respondents on a blank grid by the use of the response symbols earlier defined in the study. Following the accomplishment of the data collection process, the collected responses were computerized for processing of the data. After the generation of the required results, all the material used in the process of data collection, including the original nits of the researchers, has remained available and safely stored in the Kinsey Institute. The materials are available for review to qualified researchers to prove the need to view the materials for further studies. Also, the institute permits researchers to use statistical software for the analysis of the stored data in the course of determining the validity of the generated results.
Sample size and its representativeness
The sample size in a research exercise refers to the number of participants engaged in a study exercise. In a research exercise, the sample size is represented by ‘n.’ The sample size in a research exercise affects two statistical properties of the research, including the precision of the estimates and the ability that the study holds in determining a conclusion. It generally refers to the number of people or the percentage of the population chosen from the entire population to facilitate the process of data and information collection. The sample size could be considered in the form of the designated sample size and the final sample size. The designated sample size entails the total number of the sample units selected to facilitate the process of data collection. The final sample size, on the other hand, entails the total number of the people or the sample units that engaged and completed the process of data collection. In most cases, the final sample size is smaller in comparison to the designated sample size.
The representativeness of a sample size refers to the accuracy that could be generated in comparing the final sample to the entire population. It determines the level to which the sample used in the process of collecting the data for the study could represent the entire population. The representativeness of the sample relates more to the ability of the sample to provide the correct information, rather than the size of the sample. In determining the representativeness of the sample size, the focus should be on identifying and finding the right sample. The focus should also be channeled in asking the right people questions, rather than finding the right sample size.
In the Kinsey Report, the sample size for the first study that involved male sexuality was 5,300 males over fifteen years. The second study, which involved female sexuality, entailed a sample size of approximately 6000 females participants. Following the aspect of representativeness of the sample size, the study attempts to generate a sample size that is large enough to facilitate representativeness. Also, o-in the case that the male study occurred over a long period, the study sample is considered as highly representative. Following the fact that the study is centered in a single place, there is, however, the fact that it could not efficiently be representative. In essence, there are various aspects determined by geography that could affect the aspect of sexuality.
Study results and conclusions
The results generated from the Kinsey report elaborated on the diverse sexual orientation of both males and females. It provided it elaborate in-depth information the study is that had otherwise been viewed as a taboo. From the studies, the results generated released that approximately 46% of the males had engaged in sexual reactions and advancements towards individuals from both genders. Out of this number, approximately 37% of the males and 13% of the females had at least some explicit homosexual experience to orgasm the results revealed that approximately 10% of the males were more or less exclusively homosexual, and 8% of the males were exclusively homosexual for approximately three years between the ages of 16 and 55. The studies suggest that for the females, approximately 2 to 6 % were more or less exclusively homosexual over the same range of years. The results of the studies also suggest that approximately 4% of males and 183 % of females had been exclusively homosexual after the onset of adolescence up to when the interview was conducted. From the studies, the results suggested that some of the females who engaged in homosexuality had previously been in heterosexual marriages.
The Kinsey study also gave statistics on sexuality within marriage that had never before been reported. The study elaborates that the average frequency of marital sex reported by women in their late teens was at 2.8 times per week. Marital sex drops to 2.2 times per week for women by the age of 30 and once per week for women by the age of fifty. According to the study, approximately half of all the married males engaged in extramarital sex at some points in their marital lives. The sample led to the conclusion that approximately 26% of the females engaged in extramarital sex by the time they reached their forties. Also, the study revealed that approximately 10 to 16% of females aged between 26 to 50 years engaged in extramarital sex. The results drawn from the studies lead to the conclusion that males are more sexually active in comparison to females. The studies conclude that most females tend to n-be more laid back in expressing their sexuality.
Impact of the study on the field on sexology and American life in general
The Kinsey reports presenting a significant effect on the field of sexology and American life in general. Following the release of the books, the two books sold approximately 700, 000 pieces. The books were further translated to thirteen different languages, a factor that further led to their spread. In the subject of sexology, the book is considered the most successful and influential book of the 20th century. The book created a significant impact on the way society viewed sexuality. In essence, it created more acceptance in the way society viewed and talked about sexuality. The book is considered as an active catalyst in the sexual revolution that took place in the period of 1960s. Around the time when the book was published, the first oral contraceptive was introduced. The book also facilitated the aspect of the sexual revolution that occurred in the 1960s. The sexual revolution represents a social movement that occurred from the 1960s and 1980s and led to an increase in the acceptance of sex outside marriage. It resulted in more research and studies that led to the publishing of two text cataloging in 1966 by Masters and Johnson following their investigations into the physiology of sex, a factor that facilitated the breaking of taboos and misapprehensions similar to the ones explored by Kinsey a decade earlier in a closely related field