Conference turris::womannotes-v3

    Score one point for every correct answer. Any answer earned a point for
    question 5 because some people may have misinterpreted the question,
    the poll report said. People scoring 16 or better get an A, 14 or 15 a
    B,12 or 13 a C, 10 or 11 a D, and fewer points an F.

    1.  16 or 17
    2.  3 or 4
    3.  3 or 4
    4.  F
    5.  T
    6.  T
    7.  T
    8.  T
    9.  T
    10. T
    11. F
    12. T
    13. T
    14. T
    15. T
    16. 6 to 8
    17. 5 to 7 inches
    18. F

    
    OK, I got an A.  What's my reward?
    
    CQ

    Christine,
    
    I think perhaps you already have it. 
    
    :-)
    
    Bonnie

    This test I took ;-).  Didn't do so well (12/18, low C).  Umm...on 
    some of the questions, like how many men cheat(#2), or how many women
    masturbate(#16), or how old are people when they have first intercourse
    (#1), I really don't care about such numbers, so I didn't mind that 3 of
    my 6 errors were on those questions.  With such questions included, it
    makes me wonder what they were trying to measure; because in general,
    one doesn't need to know such things to be able to discuss/participate/
    enjoy/have/teach/experience good (and healthy and safe) sex.  Were I
    a cynic (only sometimes ;-) I'd say they included those questions
    because sex researchers come up with those numbers, and they're biasing
    their test-takers to be interested in sex-researchers' work in the future.
    
    But from the three I missed 'legitimately' I learned something.  Thanks
    for typing it in, Liesl.  Now I gotta go look something up.
    
    DougO

    Egads... I got 12 right... does that mean i passed? :-)
    
    -- Kristy (using a temp acct)

	I got 17 correct, and the one I missed (#2) I guessed high on, so I 
guess that just proves that I'm cynical about male behaviour patterns...

						--D

The test is bogus.  The questions about "facts" are okay, like whether you
can get AIDS from anal intercourse, but even those questions are "leading".
And the statistics are a total waste, don't worry if you got them wrong -
every sex researcher ends up with a different number for things like average
age of first sexual experience and number of men who cheat on their wives.
The *find* those numbers one has to do a survey and it is very difficult to
get good numbers for such elusive behavior.

If they *really* wanted to test people's knowledge of human sexuality, they
should have included only "fatual" questions, not the stupid statistical ones.
As Doug says, those questions have no affect on whether people are knowldgeable
about safe sex, birth control, response, etc.

D! who is generally disgusted about how ignorant people are about this topic

    Funniest thing about this survey: men guessed size of penis to be
    8 to 12 inches, when it's actually 5 to 7, whereas women guessed
    accurately.
    
    Eileen
    

    
    i'm trying to picture the survey takers now....
    
    after they finish with most of the questions, if the
    respondent was a male, did the survey person ask
    "Okay, would you please drop your pants" while pulling
    out a ruler?
    
    

    	There was an article in yesterday's Boston Globe about this
    test, and all the problems with the questions.  One of the things
    mentioned was where the data came from to get the answers for the 
    "subjective" questions.  Apparently, some of the data was quite
    old, but they mixed it in with new data, or something like that.
    (I didn't get a chance to fully read the article last night.  If I 
    have some time tonight, I'll enter some of the highlights...)

    	amy

    I only got 11 right, or a D.  Hey, I never said I knew what the hell
    was going on....
    
    Lorna
    

    On the other hand, as far as questions 1-3, and 16 go, I think people
    *lie* on these surveys...
    
    Lorna
    

    re: .12
    
    
    you forgot to include question 17.
    
    

    re .13, yeah, but I got the correct answer on that one! :-)
    
    Lorna
    

    in re .13 and .14
    
    that reminds me of the old joke about why women have trouble
    parallel parking..
    
    :-)
    
    BJ

    re .15 Maybe it's the men who are having trouble after all ?
    
    "Of course this
    <--------------------------------------------------------->
    is eight inches !"
    

    Amy, I'd be interested in seeing the highlights from the article you
    mentioned. I thought some of these questions strange myself. What I
    really wonder about is what the Kinsey Institute uses the results for.
    Do they have any input to national/state/local policy on AIDS education
    or something? I did get an overall impression that AIDS was the point
    of this survey, maybe to show us that even heterosexual sex isn't
    "safe" by definition. liesl

                             SEX AND THE KINSEY REPORT
                     The hype is more impressive than the data

    by Alfie Kohn

    [...talk about all the hype about this survey]
    [note: Reinisch = June Reinisch, Kinsey director]

    	"The vast majority of editors, reporters, producers and talk-
    show hosts are willing to take Reinisch's word for it that her
    results, contained in a new book, "The Kinsey Institute New Report
    on Sex:  What You Must Know to Be Sexually Literate" (St. Martins), 
    are both as momentous and as alarming as she says they are.  But
    wait a minute.  Let's look at the data that gave rise to the hype.

    	"The survey of 1,974 American adults - 263 of whom were dropped
    out for refusing to answer - consisted of 20 questions.  Some
    dealt with knowledge about sexual facts (such as the condition
    under which a woman can get pregnant).  Others had to do with
    knowledge about what people in other surveys have reported about 
    *their* sexual practices (such as how many men admit to having
    extramarital affairs).  In the new poll, 55 percent got at least
    half of the questions wrong.

    	"Problem No. 1:  The "correct" answers to many questions are
    not really so obvious.  Anyone who didn't agree that "problems
    with erection are most often started by a physical problem" was
    marked incorrect.  But "there's probalby not a consensus on that
    among sexual scientists," says Donald Mosher, a leading researcher
    in teh field who teaches at the University of Connecticut.

    	"Paul R. Abramson, editor of the Journal of Sex Research and
    professor of Pyschology at UCLA, for example, reports that he
    would have said "no" had he been taking the quiz.  "Most of the
    literature I've seen," says Abramson, "says it's anxiety" that
    causes the majority of erection problems.

    	"Likewise, anyone who thought that "most women prefer a sexual
    partner with a larger-than-average penis" got question 18 wrong.
    Interestingly, only 40 percent of women knew they were supposed to
    say this was false.  How did Reinisch decide to the contrary?
    Mostly by looking at open-ended surveys that asked women what they
    found attractive in a man.  Few told interviewers that they were
    primarily interested in how well-endowed he is.  This, of course,
    is hardly the same as asking women whether, all things being
    equal, they would prefer a little something extra in their
    Christmas stocking.

    "Question on infidelity

    	"And how did the folks at Kinsey decide on the correct answers
    for questions about the prevalence of infidelity, the number of
    men who have had homosexual experiences, the number of women who
    have had anal intercourse and the age at which most Americans lose
    their virginity?  In an interview, Reinisch explained that these
    figures came from a variety of surveys, some dating back half a
    century and others taken by popular magazines (which rely on a
    self-selected sample that doesn't necessarily represent the
    population at large).  The homosexuality numbers, for example,
    were derived from a 20-year old survey, a 50-year old survey adn
    questionnaires sent in by Psychology Today readers.

    	"'Quite simply, the reliability and validity of all data on
    sexual behavior are questionable,' says Abramson.  'There are no
    good data.'"


    [...]

    	The article goes on to talk about how people might not
    remember their own sexual histories correctly, people might not be
    honest with an interviewer, the wording of the surveys might not
    be clear to everyone.

    	Other problems include not knowing how far off the respondants
    were.  For the question about the average age Americans first have
    sex, people were given 11 choices - if they picked 16 or 17, they
    passed.  But numbers of people who might have been off by one
    aren't available.

    	"Reinisch's press releases make the connection between sexual
    ignorance and AIDS - yet only two of her 20 questions deal with
    that subject.

    	In fact, of the 11 questions that were counted toward the
    final score and that concern sexual facts -= as opposed to
    estimates of other people's behaviors or preferences - eight were
    answered correctly by a majority of respondents."

    	[...]

    
    I do not understand why "any answer to number 5" gets you a point.  It
    seems to me that the issue of AIDS-killing spermacide is one of the
    most important!   Was it thrown out because a lot of people missed it?
    
    
    -m

    I guess question 5 was considered confusing. I was under the impression
    that non-oxyl-9 would kill AIDS virus. Anybody know for sure?

    I felt that even the statistics questions were geared towards making
    you realise that age and marital status weren't indicators of who could
    contract AIDS. 

    Did any of you see Connie Chung last night? They did a story on
    homosexual/bisexual men going to highway rest stops for quick, very
    un-safe sex. (one of the towns they highlighted for this was Nashua)
    Then going home and infecting their female partners. One of the people
    they interviewed said it was mostly the P's who were doing it. Police,
    politicians and priests. All folks who couldn't hit the gay bar scene.
    They made a big deal about these sorts of folks being the real
    spreaders of AIDS as the openly homosexual population has adopted safer
    practices than those in "heavy denial". liesl

>    I guess question 5 was considered confusing. I was under the impression
>    that non-oxyl-9 would kill AIDS virus. Anybody know for sure?

    	This question was mentioned in that article.  Apparently, they
    decided to give everyone a point, because "they might have thought 
    the question referred to a *cure* for the disease".  

    	amy

>    I guess question 5 was considered confusing. I was under the impression
>    that non-oxyl-9 would kill AIDS virus. Anybody know for sure?

Yes, nonoxyl-9 kills the Aids virus.  So do lots of things, like bleach.
I think the question was confusing (in my mind I answered "sorta") because
the context of the question seems to imply more, like that N9 can *sure*
aids, or provides adequate protection against AIDS, which it DOES NOT!
So while it is a true statement that N9 kills the AIDS virus it is not
true that using N9 will kill all the virus that you might come in contact
with and therefore prevent transfer of the disease (anymore than it
kills all the sperm.  using N9 jelly or foam alone for BC is only about
60% effective.)

Not only a tricky question, but a dangerous one because of it's possible
misinterpretation.

D!