William Atkins
Sunday, 07 March 2010 02:26
Science -
Biology
Page 1 of 4
According to a 2010 U.S. study performed in Indiana, people are not really sure about the definition of sex. The researchers concluded that there is a lot of confusion as to whether we are having sex or not depending on the type of sexual activities being performed.
How is sex defined? That question has popped up across the United States from time to time, and around the world for that matter.
In fact, the definition of “had sex” has been the highlight of inappropriate presidential behaviors in the White House.
The paper “
Misclassification bias: diversity in conceptualisations about having ‘had sex’” (Sexual Health 7(1) 31–34; doi:10.1071/SH09068), published on February 15, 2010) recounts the results of the study on the meaning of “had sex.”
It is published in the journal
Sexual Health. One of its findings is that 23% of men 65 years or older said penile-vaginal intercourse is not sex. Really?! Please read on for more interesting statistics from this study.
The authors of the study are: Stephanie A. Sanders, Brandon J. Hill, William L. Yarber, Cynthia A. Graham, Richard A. Crosby, and Robin R. Milhausen. They are all associated with the Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender, and Reproduction, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana (along with other specific departments within the university).
Now, researchers from Indiana University are studying the definition of "had sex" in order to better understand how people of varying ages define sex and how different sexually-based activities might or might not be construed as having sex.
They specifically want to be able to define what constitutes “had sex” when performing research studies on sex.
Page two continues with the specifics of the research study, along with the definition of four types of sexually-based intercourse.
