Introduction
Psychologists use different research methods to study sex and relationships.
These methods can be either quantitative or qualitative.
Quantitative research may consist of surveys, self-report questionnaires, measurements, experimental studies, correlational designs, laboratory and ethological studies, psychometric scales, etc.
Qualitative research gathers data through interviews, document and text analyses, observations, and other descriptive methods.
Both types of research may be used to conduct psychological research on sex and relationships.
Their usefulness will depend on the type of scientific question, the purpose of the study, and the population sample.
This work will describe quantitative and qualitative research methods, compare and contrast them, and evaluate the use of each technique in sexual psychology.
Quantitative Methods
Quantitative research deals with collecting numerical data and measuring something in numerical terms.
The data can be measured through self-report questionnaires and surveys, interviews, probability sampling, observation, document review, vignettes, physiological measurements, etc.
Examples of Quantitative Method
A quantitative approach can be used to generalize study results to a wider population.
For example, Kinsey, Pomeroy, and Martin (1948; 1953) used a quantitative research method to investigate male and female sexuality. They conducted personal interviews with several thousands of men and women to explore their sexuality.
The Kinsey scale was used to measure the participants’ overall balance of sexual orientation (Kinsey, Pomeroy, and Martin, 1948; 1953).
Research showed that 46% of male participants self-reported sexual reactions to both sexes; 37% had homosexual experiences at least once (Kinsey et al., 1948). Only 2 to 6% of females reported more or less exclusively homosexual experience, and 1 to 3% were solely homosexual (Kinsey et al., 1953).
Another example of a quantitative approach is Gottman’s (1999) Love Lab. The researcher invited married couples to his laboratory to observe their interactions with the help of computers. Special devices were used to monitor the participants’ emotional expressions, record the number of times they occurred, and measure their heart rates.
Observations helped distinguish happy and stable couples from those who were unhappy, unstable, and more likely to divorce (Gottman, 1999).
The examples mentioned above demonstrate the main strengths of the quantitative approach: scientific objectivity, rapid analysis, and replication.
At the same time, such limitations as laboratory settings, volunteer bias, and lack of researcher expertise can negatively affect the analysis and data interpretation.
Qualitative Methods
Qualitative research methods focus on the information that can be described with words only or visual data.
They are more interested in the meaning and quality of someone’s beliefs, attitudes, and perceptions.
There are several qualitative research methods, such as one-on-one interviews, focus groups, case study research, record keeping, qualitative observation, and text and visual analysis.
One can analyze qualitative data through thematic analysis, discourse analysis, and phenomenological analysis.
Examples of Qualitative Method
An example of phenomenological analysis is Taylor and Ussher’s (2001) research on the definition of sadomasochism (SM).
Researchers asked 24 self-identified sadomasochists to share their sexual experiences through interviews.
In 2004, Langdridge and Butt conducted a similar study, gathering stories about sadomasochism on BDSM (Bondage, discipline/domination, sadism, masochism) websites.
At the end of the study, the authors concluded that SM often mirrored power relationships in a society with dominance and submission, restraint and punishment for one’s own purpose, and gratitude (Langdridge and Butt, 2004).
The main strengths of qualitative research are a closer involvement of a researcher in the question, a better understanding of a target’s perceptions of sexual relationships, and the construction of sexual behavior.
At the same time, qualitative approaches are often subjective and biased; they cannot be applied to large-scale samples and require much time for data gathering, analysis, and interpretation.
Comparison
To evaluate the usefulness of both methods for conducting psychological research on sex and relationships, one should first compare and contrast these two methods.
Quantitative methods collect data through questionnaires with closed questions (yes/no), quantified observations (for example, how many times participants expressed their emotional response), or physiological measurements (for example, heart rate).
Qualitative methods collect data through open-ended questions, case studies, or descriptive observational studies.
Quantitative approaches use descriptive and inferential statistics based on numbers and facts, while qualitative approaches utilize thematic or constructionist analysis, describing data with words.
The main aim of a quantitative approach is to make generalizations about a particular group or feature, while qualitative research aims to attain a better understanding of how people perceive or experience something.
Evaluation
Having compared both approaches, one can see that quantitative research is more useful when objective facts about sexuality need to be discovered. Moreover, it can be utilized to examine statistics of sexual harassment among representative samples, for example, non-White versus White Americans. It can also assume measurable and fixed reality.
However, quantitative research is not useful when studying cultural perceptions and biases. In such cases, qualitative approaches would fit better.
Quantitative research is more useful when applied to large-scale samples, while qualitative research can be applied to small, unrepresentative samples.
Qualitative research helps better understand human sexuality from the respondents’ perspectives and allows conducting inquiry in a subjective manner and natural setting, while the quantitative approach is better to perform in a lab setting.
Finally, the qualitative approach should not be used to test causal relationships and make predictions because it cannot be replicated due to subjectivity. A quantitative approach is replicable, which means that other researchers can repeat it in a new setting, and with other participants, making predictions is possible.
Conclusion
Having analyzed both approaches, one can conclude that quantitative research methods deal with numbers and statistics, while qualitative methods focus on meaning and verbal descriptions.
Quantitative research is more useful when facts and objective (free from bias) data are needed, for example, measuring trends in sexuality or physiological reactions to conflicts and harassment.
Qualitative research is more useful when cultural norms and perceptions need to be investigated, for example, African-American women’s perception of sexuality or sexual harassment.
At the same time, both types of research complement each other and often can be used concurrently.
To conclude, the choice of a research method will always depend on the context of a study, so psychologists need to identify their context first to choose the most suitable approach and attain the best results.
Reference List
Gottman, J. M. (1999) The marriage clinic: a scientifically based marital therapy. New York: W. W. Norton.
Kinsey, A. C., Pomeroy, W.R. and Martin, C. E. (1948) Sexual behaviour in the human male. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press.
Kinsey, A. C., Pomeroy, W.R. and Martin, C. E. (1954) Sexual behaviour in the human female. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press.
Langdridge, D. and Butt, T. (2004) ‘A hermeneutic phenomenological investigation of the construction of sadomasochistic identities’, Sexualities, 7(1), pp. 31-53.
Taylor, G. and Ussher, J. M. (2001) ‘Making sense of S&M: a discourse analytic account’, Sexualities, 4(3), pp. 293-314.