Description

Methodological considerations from a Kinsey Institute mixed methods pilot project

JANICE M MCCABE, AMANDA E TANNER*, JACK K MARTIN+, J SCOTT LONG! AND JULIA R HEIMAN#

Department of Sociology, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH, USA;

*Department of Public Health Education, University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Greensboro, NC, USA;

+Karl F. Schuessler Institute for Social Research, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, USA;

!Departments of Sociology and Statistics, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, USA;

#The Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender, and Reproduction, and Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, USA

Abstract

Despite the growth of mixed methods, little attention has focused on the specific challenges of conducting mixed methods research on sexual experience and perceptions of sexuality. This paper’s purpose is to discuss the exploratory sequential design of, and methodological considerations originally arising from, a mixed methods pilot project that explored the possibility of updating components of Alfred Kinsey’s mid-20th century research on US men and women. This pilot project consisted of three phases: (1) cognitive interviews, (2) two modalities of computer-based surveys conducted in two settings with two samples, and (3) debriefing interviews with selected survey participants from phase two coupled with ethnographic observations. We describe the phases, focusing on how multiple methods facilitated the design and assessment of our pilot project. We end by highlighting methodological considerations relevant to our mixed methods approach – phase timing, research environment, longitudinal design, data security and privacy, and cost – and their implications for sexuality researchers.

Keywords: mixed methods, research design, sexuality