Marriage and Sexual Health

DESCRIPTION:

This project represents a first step in the development of a new direction in The Kinsey Institute¹s research program and signifies an unprecedented opportunity to integrate the literatures on marriage and sexuality, two conceptually related yet empirically disconnected areas.

In this study, recently married couples answer, for a 30-day period, questions about their daily activities, mood, sexuality, and marital satisfaction. Instead of using paper and pencil questionnaires, couples answer the questions using digital devices (smartphones). The use of digital Œdaily diaries¹ represent a technological innovation that allows researchers to address limitations of other methods. For example, missing entries are more easily avoided using digital devices, and it is easier to present questions in a hierarchical or nested fashion. Also, especially when used in couples, paper-and-pencil diaries pose concerns related to privacy and confidentiality. Digital devices allow for the entry of data that can be transmitted and deleted from the device instantaneously. There is growing evidence that people may more accurately report behaviors in sensitive areas such as sexuality using electronic interfaces than on paper-and-pencil measures.

INVESTIGATORS:

Dr. Erick Janssen (The Kinsey Institute), lead investigator, with participation from Dr. Amy Holtzworth-Munroe (Indiana University, Psychology), Javed Mostafa (Indiana University, Library and Information Sciences).

FUNDED BY:
Indiana University FRSP grant

SEE ALSO:
Kinsey Today newsletter article:"Two New Studies Use Digital Daily Diaries in Sexual Health Research"

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