Poz Gay Grad Student Needs Your Help

[Guest]

Hi everyone!

I am a poz gay graduate student studying sociology at the University of Memphis. I am currently doing my thesis research on cruising and anonymous sex with men who have sex with men. Most of the previous research on this topic uses a public health perspective that tends to view this behavior as negative and makes it seem as if guys that engage in this behavior are abnormal or that something is wrong with them. As someone who loves to cruise and have anonymous sex, I was always frustrated with how these topics have been talked about and felt they missed the point about why we enjoy these activities. Ultimately, I am trying to use a more sex positive perspective to understand many of our experiences and motivations to help change the narrative.

I am looking to talk with guys about their experiences cruising for sex in public and engaging in other forms of anonymous sex in a one time interview, either over the phone or virtually (example - via Zoom). Please know that everything is confidential and private, and I have set up a number of steps to protect participant anonymity throughout the process.

If anyone is interested in chatting with me for an interview, please use the email address on the attached flyer to contact me. I really appreciate anyone who is willing to help with my research because it is important and so is your voices, experiences, and perspectives. Thanks for hearing me out, and I look forward to talking with anyone interested!

Moderator's Note: The student who posted this has concluded the data collection portion of his project and requested that personally identifying be removed from this post. He thanks you for your interest, but he is no longer interviewing participants. 

 

[ErosWired]

Without seeing your research proposal and methodology, clear explanations of your information privacy protocols, and documentation where your research plan has been signed off on by the university’s research ethics authority, no way in hell.

Please know that everything is private? Are you kidding? You want people to tell you all about their private sexual habits that the previous research in your field says are abnormal, and you expect them to just take your word that their secrets are all safe with you? Seriously?

Besides, there’s nothing creepy or suspicious about some guy wanting a one-on-one phone chat or cam session with us about sex, not at all. How do we know this isn’t just an elaborate ruse to get guys to contact you for a voyeuristic thrill? Because hey, nobody around here would be terribly surprised if that turned out to be the case.

You might be legit, but this isn’t the way to go about assembling a cohort for a credible scientific analysis.

[drscorpio]

Moderator's Note: I am no expert on research methodology, but I have reviewed a copy of the IRB letter approving this research at the University of Memphis. The email address which sent the letter matches the one in the flyer and is from an edu email account. To the extent it is possible, I have confirmed this is legitimate research. If you have additional concerns, please address them to @on2thenxt87 at the email address in the flyer. 

[Guest]

20 hours ago, ErosWired said:

Without seeing your research proposal and methodology, clear explanations of your information privacy protocols, and documentation where your research plan has been signed off on by the university’s research ethics authority, no way in hell.

Please know that everything is private? Are you kidding? You want people to tell you all about their private sexual habits that the previous research in your field says are abnormal, and you expect them to just take your word that their secrets are all safe with you? Seriously?

Besides, there’s nothing creepy or suspicious about some guy wanting a one-on-one phone chat or cam session with us about sex, not at all. How do we know this isn’t just an elaborate ruse to get guys to contact you for a voyeuristic thrill? Because hey, nobody around here would be terribly surprised if that turned out to be the case.

You might be legit, but this isn’t the way to go about assembling a cohort for a credible scientific analysis.

If you want to see my research proposal with my methodology and the privacy protocols, including the interview questions I am asking during interviews, then I am happy to send that info to you if you email me asking for them.

I am a legitimate researcher with the University of Memphis, but I am also an HIV-positive gay man who, like everyone here, has a vested interest in this community. Obviously, recruiting participants for research that involves stigmatized groups, cultures, and behaviors is always a challenge, and I really expected nothing different from this project. However, I was not quite prepared for this response. Most of the time I just have to deal with guys propositioning me for sex, which might sound fun and entertaining, but it actually can be quite frustrating because this research is important, regardless what you or anyone else wants to think. The negative narratives about stigmatizing sexual behaviors cannot be changed in academia or society if people refuse to participate and let their voices and opinions be heard by researchers like myself.

You mention that this is no way to assemble a cohort for a credible scientific analysis, but I gladly challenge that assumption. How exactly should researchers like myself go about recruiting people who engage in cruising and anonymous sex to be interviewed? Where did you get your degree in research methodology? Did you know that there are researchers who do nothing but content analysis of sites like this without you even knowing it? At least I have the balls to want to talk to the people in real time about their opinions and experiences to make them active participants in shaping not only their own narratives but the overall narrative of the project being done.

Again, this was just a post to let people know I am interested in talking with them. If those that are interested reach out they are immediately sent a consent form that outlines the goals of the project and their rights as a research participant. I definitely understand people's concerns, which is why I am always more than happy to be transparent and do what I can to make people comfortable and confident in my professionalism and my ethical integrity. If you are too scared to participate, then don't; simple as that. You don't have to try and smear me as being untrustworthy or cast doubt on the research I am doing.

[ErosWired]

The unfortunate reality you face is that what you may be attempting to do in good faith, scores of others have already attempted in bad faith and left little trust in their wake.

I moderate another discussion site dedicated to mental health, and have done so for the past 17 years. In that time, due to the nature of the site, attempts by university students at both the undergraduate and graduate level to recruit members of the site by such posts as yours have been a regular occurrence. Because of the vulnerable nature of our member community, we have done extra diligence when such posts occur to ensure the legitimacy of the research. Our experience has been that vast majority of such attempts are made by students who do not have the sanction of their institution, do not have the approval of the relevant ethics authority, have rudimentary or even no firm methodology established, and/or - most critically - have no means of guaranteeing the privacy of participants or the security of their information. I am not “scared” to respond to your proposal; what you have presented, the way you presented it, simply demands too much trust. If you want to be taken seriously, it’s not enough anymore, regrettably, to say that you’re willing to be transparent - you have to prove that you’re solid.

You are a graduate student, not as yet a research professional. Your research may indeed be a legitimate effort (as I acknowledged initially) with a serious and well-planned study, backed by your institution. The way you have made your proposal here, however, is not unlike many I have seen by students with less preparation and, as I indicated, could even be construed, given the context, as a pretext for an online sexual contact. That the first step in your plan to recruit study participants is so dubiously executed does not inspire confidence. Neither does the fact that you are yourself a participant in the group from which you are attempting to draw data, potentially opening the study to questions of bias, and this leaves one to wonder how thoroughly all factors may have been taken into account.

 I have no role in the moderation of this site, but I do not apologize for speaking out in a way that might cause fellow members here to approach your request with caution. Given the nature of our discourse here, a breach of confidentiality could affect someone very seriously.

I am not in any way opposed to your research effort - If your protocols are as secure and developed as you say, then I wish you well with it. I do not tell others here not to speak to you - these are all grown men perfectly capable of making their own judgments about risk. Indeed, that’s mainly what we talk about here. I do, however, believe strongly in making sure a person makes informed decisions. Some people are quite content to have their dental work done at a school of dentistry; others less so.

[Guest]

20 hours ago, ErosWired said:

 

You are a graduate student, not as yet a research professional. Your research may indeed be a legitimate effort (as I acknowledged initially) with a serious and well-planned study, backed by your institution. The way you have made your proposal here, however, is not unlike many I have seen by students with less preparation and, as I indicated, could even be construed, given the context, as a pretext for an online sexual contact. That the first step in your plan to recruit study participants is so dubiously executed does not inspire confidence. Neither does the fact that you are yourself a participant in the group from which you are attempting to draw data, potentially opening the study to questions of bias, and this leaves one to wonder how thoroughly all factors may have been taken into account.

 

Girl, bye! The truth is there is nothing I could say or do that would give you the confidence you are looking for. You want to claim that it is because I am a graduate student and my recruitment method is dubious, but I have a strong feeling that you would act this way with a seasoned vet. You're distrustful; plan and simple. I personally don't get it, especially since I've presented my bonafides to the moderator and offered to send you everything I've got regarding how this study is being conducted. You mention how straight people studied gay people only to do a smear campaign but claim because I am a member of the population I study that I am going to be bias... so basically you don't trust anyone to do this research. You can claim you're not scared to participate, but your comments prove otherwise. They also prove you have no clue what you are talking about regarding who and how research should be conducted. End Of Story.

[funpozbottom]

On 7/25/2022 at 3:14 PM, on2thenxt87 said:

Girl, bye! The truth is there is nothing I could say or do that would give you the confidence you are looking for. You want to claim that it is because I am a graduate student and my recruitment method is dubious, but I have a strong feeling that you would act this way with a seasoned vet. You're distrustful; plan and simple. I personally don't get it, especially since I've presented my bonafides to the moderator and offered to send you everything I've got regarding how this study is being conducted. You mention how straight people studied gay people only to do a smear campaign but claim because I am a member of the population I study that I am going to be bias... so basically you don't trust anyone to do this research. You can claim you're not scared to participate, but your comments prove otherwise. They also prove you have no clue what you are talking about regarding who and how research should be conducted. End Of Story.

There are a couple things I have a problem with here. First, you don't seem to see the irony of asking people who intentionally seek anonymity to do in-person interviews. Second, when questions about the project are expressed, you simply dismiss them and shut down the conversation. You said: "Girl, bye!" How is that professional? If I were one of your professors, reading that would have meant an instant fail. If you can't handle a modest critique on a sex site, how will you handle criticism or other challenges posed by a dissertation committee? As a sociologist, you want to get people talking and not shut them down. It would have been so easy to turn the conversation around and ask: "What do you think would improve the project?"

In order to answer that last question, I offer the following:

• Realize it's not about you, so don't take critiques personally.
• Realize that you are studying sociology to better understand how people in societies interact. They are not always predictable so don't be surprised when your assumptions are challenged or are found to be untrue. Moments like that should not be seen as frustrating as they are opportunities to ask more questions and devise new research.
• If you were raised in the age of Google, you may be used to freely sharing personal data without a second thought, however as a researcher, you will be interacting with people with wide ranges of ages, backgrounds and other experiences. This may lead to some having differing opinions and/or being more cautious about sharing information. Be careful not to be dismissive of alternate views, and don't limit your research to only one mode of data collection.
• Create a separate project specific email address and not use a personal address. The university should be willing to set one up for you. Make the user name relevant to the project so it's obvious it is going to the research team and not a personal email.
• Create a website for your research project. If you do it well, it may help to impress your professors and improve your grade. It would also be  place to point people who have questions about the project. On it, you can post documentation showing that your research has been approved by the university.  Also post an abstract detailing examples of current research. Explain why you think their conclusions may be faulty. And finally, explain what you hope to show with your research.  You'll need to write an abstract for your dissertation anyway, so posting your rough drafts as you go along allows for some informal feedback from your site visitors. And along with that, ask for comment and feedback as that may bring up perspectives you had not though about, which could trigger a new line of research. The third thing I think you should post is an anonymous questionnaire that can be filled out on line. This will allow those who wish to remain anonymous an opportunity to participate which will increase your sample size and most likely provide more candid opinions.  You can include an option to leave a email for a follow-on interview, or provide your email address for anyone interested in being interviewed to be able to contact. 

One other thing: why not post some of your questions here? It would give you an idea of how much interest there is for your research, offer feedback on the types of questions you are asking, and might give you insight on whether you should alter the scope or focus of your research topic.

 

[Guest]

19 hours ago, funpozbottom said:

There are a couple things I have a problem with here. First, you don't seem to see the irony of asking people who intentionally seek anonymity to do in-person interviews. Second, when questions about the project are expressed, you simply dismiss them and shut down the conversation. You said: "Girl, bye!" How is that professional? If I were one of your professors, reading that would have meant an instant fail. If you can't handle a modest critique on a sex site, how will you handle criticism or other challenges posed by a dissertation committee? As a sociologist, you want to get people talking and not shut them down. It would have been so easy to turn the conversation around and ask: "What do you think would improve the project?"

In order to answer that last question, I offer the following:

• Realize it's not about you, so don't take critiques personally.
• Realize that you are studying sociology to better understand how people in societies interact. They are not always predictable so don't be surprised when your assumptions are challenged or are found to be untrue. Moments like that should not be seen as frustrating as they are opportunities to ask more questions and devise new research.
• If you were raised in the age of Google, you may be used to freely sharing personal data without a second thought, however as a researcher, you will be interacting with people with wide ranges of ages, backgrounds and other experiences. This may lead to some having differing opinions and/or being more cautious about sharing information. Be careful not to be dismissive of alternate views, and don't limit your research to only one mode of data collection.
• Create a separate project specific email address and not use a personal address. The university should be willing to set one up for you. Make the user name relevant to the project so it's obvious it is going to the research team and not a personal email.
• Create a website for your research project. If you do it well, it may help to impress your professors and improve your grade. It would also be  place to point people who have questions about the project. On it, you can post documentation showing that your research has been approved by the university.  Also post an abstract detailing examples of current research. Explain why you think their conclusions may be faulty. And finally, explain what you hope to show with your research.  You'll need to write an abstract for your dissertation anyway, so posting your rough drafts as you go along allows for some informal feedback from your site visitors. And along with that, ask for comment and feedback as that may bring up perspectives you had not though about, which could trigger a new line of research. The third thing I think you should post is an anonymous questionnaire that can be filled out on line. This will allow those who wish to remain anonymous an opportunity to participate which will increase your sample size and most likely provide more candid opinions.  You can include an option to leave a email for a follow-on interview, or provide your email address for anyone interested in being interviewed to be able to contact. 

One other thing: why not post some of your questions here? It would give you an idea of how much interest there is for your research, offer feedback on the types of questions you are asking, and might give you insight on whether you should alter the scope or focus of your research topic.

 

To your first point, I don't really find it ironic to ask people that want to stay anonymous to sit for in-person interviews because I am not collecting any identifiable information from them. What identifiable information they do share I redact and/or delete from any records. That really is not much different from meeting someone in-person for sex but it's still anonymous. Plus, just because you are being interviewed over Zoom or Skype doesn't mean you have to have your camera one, so it's not even like I am going necessarily see someone's face if they don't want me to see it.

Regarding your second point, I have never dismissed anyone's questions or concerns. I offered to send my research proposal, IRB docs, and the interview questions to anyone who wanted to see them. All of these documents address the concerns that ErosWired brought up. Moreover, my last comment was more of a dismissal of him since he did not bring anything new to the table. I told him I would give him the information he wanted if he reached out to me and asked for it, but as far as I know he never did, yet he is still making the same insinuations and assumptions about me and the research. Furthermore, I found the fact that he kept insinuating that I constructed this elaborate ruse to trick people into a sexual situation not only asinine but flat out offensive. First off, why would I go to so much trouble to "trick" guys into a sexual situation under the false pretenses of research when the site is dedicated entirely to guys creating sexual situations amongst each other? It's not just a weird insinuation, it's illogical. Moreover, why would I go to all the trouble of making this my thesis project just to fuck up my research and my reputation by engaging in sex with participants? Totally not worth it.

You tell me to not take critiques personal, but some of his critiques were very much personal because they assumed things about my character as both a person and a researcher that is not just untrue but insulting. It would be one thing if he had read over my documents and had legitimate critiques about my methodology, but that's not what happened. He basically said that he is uncomfortable with anyone doing this research at all... hence, the "Girl, bye" because I realized there was nothing I could say or do that was going to convince this person that I am trustworthy and legitimate.

Regarding your other suggestions, I genuinely appreciate you taking the time to point these things out. However, what I find a little funny is the idea that these things are not already known by both myself and my thesis committee. As a team, we have actively thought through many of your suggestions. The current structure and methodology of this project was developed over the course of a year with my thesis committee and every decision has a purpose, regardless of whether or not the potential participants understand those decisions. You mention doing a survey, but that is a quantitative methodology, which is not suited for addressing my research questions for this project. Again, everything about this current project was designed in a way that can best answer those research questions. Doing some of the things that you suggest would not only alter the research design of this project, which would mean I would have to reformulate my research questions since you design your methodology around the questions you are asking. Basically, I would have to start all over again from scratch. I'm not quite ready to give up on this current project just yet.

Once again, I appreciate the feedback, and I want to reiterate that anyone who is interested but would like to see the research materials first simply needs to ask for them. I definitely knew that this was going to be an issue with this research, but there really is not much else I can do for guys that aren't willing to at least ask for the materials to review.

[ErosWired]

On 7/27/2022 at 1:53 PM, on2thenxt87 said:

Furthermore, I found the fact that he kept insinuating that I constructed this elaborate ruse to trick people into a sexual situation not only asinine but flat out offensive.

I did nothing of the kind. I pointed out that, given the context in which you posted your recruitment, some might possibly perceive it as such. It is a potential shortcoming in your presentational strategy that could potentially have an effect on your ability to recruit candidates.  Any observations I made regarding your presentation were made with the explicit notation that I was drawing parallels with past experience I have had in similar situations. I made no remarks of a personal nature; you simply took them personally. There is a difference.

I did not request any additional materials to review simply because your responses left me with no desire to engage with you further.

Your response even to @funpozbottom’s his reasonable, sensible, perceptive suggestions above was basically, ‘How funny you are to think we haven’t already thought of everything.’ He is quite correct - if you are unable to objectively and dispassionately evaluate critical review of your recruitment strategy, one wonders how you’ll withstand the rigors of defense in peer review, even at the thesis level.

 

[Rawdawg13]

Wow,  you just never really know in what direction things are gonna go.  Thats the last thing I would have thought to happen....

[Guest]

11 hours ago, ErosWired said:

I did nothing of the kind. I pointed out that, given the context in which you posted your recruitment, some might possibly perceive it as such. It is a potential shortcoming in your presentational strategy that could potentially have an effect on your ability to recruit candidates.  Any observations I made regarding your presentation were made with the explicit notation that I was drawing parallels with past experience I have had in similar situations. I made no remarks of a personal nature; you simply took them personally. There is a difference.

I did not request any additional materials to review simply because your responses left me with no desire to engage with you further.

Your response even to @funpozbottom’s his reasonable, sensible, perceptive suggestions above was basically, ‘How funny you are to think we haven’t already thought of everything.’ He is quite correct - if you are unable to objectively and dispassionately evaluate critical review of your recruitment strategy, one wonders how you’ll withstand the rigors of defense in peer review, even at the thesis level.

 

Clearly you do not know the definition of insinuation...

Also, my responses left you with no desire to engage with me further yet here you are still engaging... 

Lastly, while I appreciate funpozbottom's response and his suggestions, I would hardly call what either of you have said a critical review of my recruitment strategy or any other aspect of my methodology, especially since you haven't actually read my methodology. Moreover, the fact that I have two solo authored papers in two different peer reviewed academic journals and that I am speaking on a sexualities methodology panel at a national conference next week would seem to disprove any of your concerns about my ability to withstand the rigors of peer review.

I have honestly appreciated this interaction though. It has been enlightening and will make a great methodology paper.

[Hairypiglet]

Just. Wow.

[Guest]

FWIW I volunteered. Everything has been professional and private. I connected with OP and set up a google meet for tomorrow using my “anonymous” google account. I reviewed and acknowledged an informed consent document and scheduled a time to connect.

I understand some on this site have concerns about privacy (and methodology, Apparently), but the way I see it is there are a few possibilities here.

— The first possibility is that this is a legitimate, well developed  research project  and my participation contributes to a body of knowledge and offers insights into this community (by which I mean anon MSM, etc and not per se BZ).

— The second is that this is a legitimate, but poorly designed/flawed, research project and my participation contributes little or nothing to this subject area. 

— The third possibility is that this is a scam project with no academic merit and is, in fact, some guy pretending to do a study so he can record men talking about their psychosocial/sexual behaviors.  My participation at best gets him off, or at worst ends up online somewhere. 

There may be other possibilities, but I think these capture the basic buckets in which this study lands. 

In all three options I’ll be anonymous. I’ll not be on camera, and while I may have my voice recorded, it is highly unlikely anyone will recognize my voice (and if they do, they couldn’t be certain it was me). But what about details identifying me, you may ask? Again, in my case, there is likely little if any chance that my details will provide sufficient info to identify me (e.g. I am from Chicago and live in DC — that is the case with hundreds of not thousands of people in DC — especially after Obama); but  if somehow someone does connect the dots, what are they going to say — “I was listening to a recording of a guy talking about anonymous gay sex and it sounded like you?” But, if you are that concerned about your identity being revealed, there is a simple fix: don’t participate.

Likewise, for all these options, I’ll likely get off sharing my experiences. Most of us on here enjoy this to some degree given that many of us post about these exploits openly on Breeding Zone. If this falls into option three and the OP gets off on this too, so what? I hope lots of guys get off on my sexual exploits. If this falls under the first two options and you believe this challenges his scholarly objectivity, then his study will be flawed and his conclusions suspect.  Wouldn’t be the first (or the last) time a study was compromised by a researcher and the rigors of peer review are typically equal to such challenges.

I guess what I’m saying is that, in the worst case, this is a scam (this, btw, is highly unlikely given the .edu email and transparency offered by OP — including access to research plan, questions, his own identity, etc) and I get to talk to some stranger about my sex life while he records it for posterity (possibly while stroking his junk).  The best case scenario is that I get to talk to some stranger about my sex life (junk stroking optional) and this contributes in some small way to advancing knowledge of my lifestyle and others who share in it.

For me, the downside is remote and minimal; the upside is more likely and will play to the exhibitionist in me (well, sadly, no one is in me at present).  

You don’t have to participate and no one is suggesting you must — if you’re not comfortable with it, don’t do it — its really that simple.  It is unfortunate that some folks on this platform seem eager to sow doubt and distrust, and sillier still when many of these same individuals pivot to critiques of a research project and its methodology they know little about. 

Yes, I suppose there is a chance this is some deep state plot to secure information about sluts like me — but isn’t the deep state too busy for that? I mean faked moon landings and mind-controlling space lasers aren’t going to happen by themselves!

Let the flaming commence.

 

 

 

[Guest]

36 minutes ago, DCSluthole said:

In all three options I’ll be anonymous. I’ll not be on camera, and while I may have my voice recorded, it is highly unlikely anyone will recognize my voice (and if they do, they couldn’t be certain it was me). But what about details identifying me, you may ask? Again, in my case, there is likely little if any chance that my details will provide sufficient info to identify me (e.g. I am from Chicago and live in DC — that is the case with hundreds of not thousands of people in DC — especially after Obama); but  if somehow someone does connect the dots, what are they going to say — “I was listening to a recording of a guy talking about anonymous gay sex and it sounded like you?” But, if you are that concerned about your identity being revealed, there is a simple fix: don’t participate.

Thank you @DCSluthole for your comments. I really appreciate you being willing to volunteer info about your participation and experience so far.

I also want to take the opportunity to note that all recorded interviews and research info is stored on an encrypted flash drive that only I have the access code, and once I finish transcribing the interviews the recordings are deleted. My thesis advisor will not even hear them... just me. Other than the email address used to contact me, which I also immediately delete after the interview is over, I do not ask for any identifiable info from guys.

[partying.hard]

Damn, this post certainly went down hill fast.  It’s not at all unusual for grad students to do research, including things that include IRB review and approval.  Many of today’s licensed health care professionals have done the same thing as they move forward in their career track.

Dont be a drama queen….without doing a fair and diligent review yourself.  I don’t know if he’s legit or not, but I’m not going to castigate him without looking at all the info, documents, etc he’s offered.

I’m not sure how it is in Tennessee.  But I’m familiar with California's Committee for the Protection of Human Subjects (bad name).  They post every IRB approval on their website.  There are plenty of ways to verify the study being conducted by a student moving forward in his career without impugning his integrity and insinuating nefarious ulterior motives.  Jeez.

OP, shoot a DM if you want another person to consider participating in your project.  But tighten your seat belt.  I’m not for the fair-hearted.