Have you ever considered being part of a lab study on sex? Odds are you haven’t. It’s not something most women would be willing to do. Does that mean those who would do it aren’t the same sexually as those who would?

One study looked into this, using a questionnaire. They compared the answers of women who had done sex research with those who said they would not. And they found differences. Apparently, women who are willing to engage in sexual behaviour while wired up and/or being observed, aren’t the same as women who are unwilling to do those things. This and other studies find those willing to do sex studies masturbate more frequently, are more “sexually permissive”, and have more experience with sex other than intercourse. They date more frequently and hold more liberal attitudes. Those who participated in sex research had seen more “commercialized erotic materials” and saw such materials at a younger age. The study authors concluded that “caution should be exercised when extrapolating the results of laboratory studies involving a few volunteers to women in general.”

Then there’s the reality that observation always changes things. Just because a woman is willing to have sex while being monitored, watched, and recorded, doesn’t mean her responses will be the same as they would be in private. Maybe the lab setting inhibits her or maybe she’s a bit of an exhibitionist and it turns her on. Either way, the results probably aren’t normal even for her.

So while research can tell us some interesting things, a lot of it may not tell us much about the average married Christian couple.

There are similar concerns about sex survey results. A study can only be applied to the general population if the study participants are an accurate cross-section of the general public. It’s not uncommon for those who take sex surveys to be younger, more sexually liberal, and unmarried or married for a shorter time than the population as a whole. Some of this is due to bad sampling (such as when much of the sample group comes from the readers of a magazine or a particular website). But there’s also the reality that those who are more “sexually liberal” (AKA more promiscuous) are more likely to fill out a survey about their sex lives.

Even if the study population is representative of the population as a whole, that doesn’t mean its results apply to you. A significant percentage of our population is single (never married, living together, separated, divorced, or widowed) and as a group, their sexual choices don’t match those of monogamous married couples. Add “Christian” and you get even more discrepancies.

Well done sex surveys are difficult and very expensive. Most don’t have a high completion rate, which skews the answers in ways no one can determine. This is particularly true with Christians, who tend to be more private than the population in general.

So the next time the results of sex research of a sex survey makes it seem like something is wrong with you, just remember those folks may be nothing like you.

~ Paul – I’m XY, and I’m not willing to have sex in a lab!

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