Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!caip!think!mit-eddie!genrad!decvax!mcnc!rti-sel!dg_rtp!throopw From: throopw@dg_rtp.UUCP (Wayne Throop) Newsgroups: sci.research Subject: Re: MALE SEXUALITY RESEARCH Message-ID: <656@dg_rtp.UUCP> Date: Mon, 20-Oct-86 17:47:06 EDT Article-I.D.: dg_rtp.656 Posted: Mon Oct 20 17:47:06 1986 Date-Received: Wed, 22-Oct-86 03:39:01 EDT References: <958@tekig4.UUCP> <620@dg_rtp.UUCP> <526@cci632.UUCP> Lines: 49 Summary: reiteration of puzzlement > rb@cci632.UUCP (Rex Ballard) >> throopw@dg_rtp.UUCP (Wayne Throop) >>> charlesd@tekig4.UUCP (Charles Davis) >>> (questionaire) >>Just what does this mish-mash measure, anyhow? Does it measure sexual >>attitudes, or just measure what the respondents think the ambiguous >>questions mean? > The composite "score" is a pretty good measure of one's attitude or leanings. This is precisely what I dispute. I think it is largely a measure of what one thinks the assertions mean. It is possible that what people think the assertions mean is in turn a measure of their attitude or leanings, but I doubt it. Let's take the example from the survey again: 12. A woman will only respect a man who will lay down the law to her. OK. Let us say that person X thinks that the question means that women in general only respect men who beat them up, and thinks that many women indeed only respect men who beat them up. X might say "somewhat agree". Let us say that person Y thinks that the question means that women in general for the most part only respect honest men, and that many women indeed only respect honest men. Y might also say "somewhat agree". Yet the attitudes of X and Y are nowhere near the same. Since many of the attitude assertions were similarly ambiguous, any attitudes revealed by the answers might well be masked by differing interpretations of the assertions. I repeat that I do not find claims that "interpretations will 'cancel out'" so that the results still reflect only or primarily attitudes, or "but it 'correlates well' with 'other measures'" very reassuring. Thus I think the results of tests with muddy questions like these are at best worthless and at worst misleading. > It appears that the test was trying to determine any relationships between > sexuality attitudes, sexual interests, and pediphilic experiences. That much was obvious. It just seems to be doing a bad job of it. -- "Mathematicians are a kind of Frenchmen. When you tell them something, they translate it into their own language, and right away it is something completely different." --- Goethe -- Wayne Throop !mcnc!rti-sel!dg_rtp!throopw