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The National Health and Social Life Survey
("The Sex Survey") /
summary

There is a relative scarcity of reliable data on sexual behavior available to meet current public health needs. Alfred Kinsey's pioneering research program conducted in the middle of this century remains one of the few carefully designed surveys of sexual behavior available.

This NORC project sought to design a more representative and current survey of adult sexual behavior in the United States. The goals of the study were to describe the distribution of sexual practices in the general population, and to examine the changes in these practices under current conditions. The study was conducted under two contracts. The first covered the planning and design phase of the proposed survey. Under that contract the project conducted a thorough review of the research on human sexual behavior, sexually transmitted diseases, and fertility-related behavior, as well as related issues in other fields. The project then developed and iteratively pretested survey instruments to find the best ways to ask questions of a sensitive nature, and to make recommendations for the design of the project's data collection phase—including assessments of feasibility relative advantages, and costs of different sampling and interviewing strategies.

Techniques used included cognitive interviews, and open-ended reinterviews of pilot test respondents. Focus groups were conducted with members of different population subgroups of particular research interest. The second contract covered the study's 2,300 case pilot test. Preparations for that pilot test were completed. Expert consultation was provided by the NICHD staff and by a national advisory panel selected to assist in determining research priorities and in evaluating the work.

Theoretical Framework

Two aspects of sexual behavior were central to this study's theoretical framework. The first was the systematic variation in the timing and sequence of individual sexual activity in response to life-course events and changes in social and cultural environment. To capture this variation the project used the life-course perspective as a primary strategy of inquiry. Biological changes associated with age clearly have a fundamental role in shaping human sexual development, particularly as it relates to reproduction. Within the broad outlines of reproductive change, however, there is a great deal of variation in the timing and the sequence of events in an individual's sexual life history. This study, therefore, focused on stages in the life course rather than simple chronological age. The second aspect was systematic variation in sexual pair formation. Sexual contact is not a process of random mating, it is highly selective. This is important because the characteristics of the pair, rather than the individual, determine both the content of the sexual transaction and the paths by which disease is spread. To capture this aspect the project used social network techniques of data collection and analysis.

Principal Investigators

The principal investigator was Edward O. Laumann, NORC Research Associate, the George Herbert Mead Distinguished Service Professor of Sociology at the University of Chicago, and Provost of the University. The Co-principal Investigators were John H. Gagnon, Professor of Sociology and Psychology at the State University of New York at Stony Brook; Robert T. Michael, NORC Research Associate, Professor in the Department of Education at the University of Chicago, and Dean of the Harris Graduate School of Public Policy Studies, and James S. Coleman, NORC Research Associate and University Professor in the Departments of Sociology and Education at the University of Chicago. The most recent NORC Project Director was Woody Carter; the previous NORC Project Directors were Barbara K. Campbell and Richard M. Rubin. (1988-1991 [design and preparation for pilot test]).

Sponsors

The NHSLS was sponsored by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation of Menlo Park, the Rockefeller Foundation, the Andrew Mellon Foundation, The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the New York Community Trust, and the American Foundation for AIDS Research. The study was begun under contract in 1988 to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' National Institute for Child Health and Human Development (NICHD).

Results and Data

The NHSLS used an area probability sample of 3,432 respondents. The NHSLS sample frame was based on the 1980 NORC sample frame, which is described in detail in Appendix A of the GSS Cumulative Codebook. Interviews were conducted in 1992.

Results reported from the study, and included in The Social organization of sexuality, include those related to sexual practices and sexual relationships, number of partners, the rate of homosexuality in the population (which the study reported to be 1.3% for women within the past year, and 4.1% since 18 years; for men, 2.7% within the past year, and 4.9% since 18 years; in all, much lower than the Kinsey report of 10%; pp. 293-296), formative sexual experiences, sexually transmitted diseases, fertility, cohabitation and marriage.

The Social organization of sexuality includes the study questionnaire as Appendix C, pp. 606-677. Other appendices include Sampling procedures and data quality (Appendix A, pp. 549-570); and Comparisons of the NHSLS with other data sets (Appendix B, pp. 571-605).

The NHSLS dataset is available as study #6647, through ICPSR. The NORC study number of NHSLS is 5408.

The GSS has since 1988 included a number of questions about sexual activity, which include questions related to the number of respondents' sexual partners, fidelity within marriage, and (in 1996) condom use. It is therefore possible to compare responses to the NHSLS with responses to the GSS battery of sexual activity questions, and to consult the GSS for years subsequent to 1992, when the NHSLS was administered.

Publications

Robert T. Michael, John H. Gagnon, Edward O. Laumann, and Gina Kolata. Sex in America: A definitive survey. Boston: Little, Brown, 1995. ISBN 0316075248

Edward O. Laumann, John H. Gagnon, Robert T. Michael, and Stuart Michaels. The Social organization of sexuality in the United States. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1994. ISBN 0226469573

Binson, Diane; Michaels, Stuart; Stall, Ron; Coates, Thomas J.; Gagnon, John H.; Catania, Joseph A., "Prevalence and Social Distribution of Men Who Have Sex with Men: United States and Its Urban Centers," Journal of Sex Research 1995 (32: 3): 245-254.

Miller, Peter V., "The Polls-A Review: They Said It Couldn't Be Done: The National Health and Social Life Survey," The Public Opinion Quarterly 1995 (59:3, Fall): 404-419.

Beniger, James R., "Proceedings of the Fiftieth Annual Conference of the American Association for Public Opinion Research," The Public Opinion Quarterly 1995 (59:3, Fall):453-457.

Laumann, Edward O., "Sex, Politics, and Science: A Case History of the National Health and Social Life Survey" (American Sociological Association (ASA), paper, 1995).

Tourangeau, Roger; Smith, Tom W., "Asking Sensitive Questions: The Impact of Data Collection Mode, Question Format, and Question Context," The Public Opinion Quarterly 1996 (60:2, Summer):275-304.

Study Conducted for...

The National Institute of Child Health and Human Development
The Centers for Disease Control
The National Institute of Mental Health
The National Center for Health Statistics
The National Institute on Aging


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