In Sexual Behavior in the Human Male Kinsey and associates (1948) studied sex phenomena of human beings just as a biologist would study biological phenomena. He presented evidence from a scientist's point of view, void of moral bias or prejudice (p. vii). This report will present a summary and critique of the book. It is a report from a nine year case history study regarding all aspects of human sex behavior (pp. 3, 8). An attempt was made to obtain objective facts about sex through first-hand interviews of persons residing in the United States; approximately 12,000 subjects contributed to the study and around 6300 were male. The male data provided information for this publication (female data was to be presented in a future volume.
This volume began with a presentation of information regarding other studies and the concept of interviewing. The quality of a study is said to be based on the quality of the interviewing. Problems of interviewing are discussed due to the nature of the material; it may be considered taboo by many to discuss sexual activities. The authors made every attempt to honestly portray esteem for those who participated in the study. Established rapport and technique were important aspects as was confidentiality of information. Data was analyzed statistically; in each history 521 items were investigated, but around 300 items were actually covered.
The authors pointed out that data validity is an important consideration. It may be difficult for one who has not kept a diary to know how to average events of sexual activities. There is also a likelihood of understatement and cover-up with this kind of reporting. Re-takes of the subject's history were made to help insure memory constancy. Reports were compared with those of spouses for validity. Internal consistency of the history was further determined with additional comparison interviews.
Next the book focuses on sexual outlets reported. Earl...