The Internet and Research Methods in the Study of Sex Research: Investigating the Good, the Bad, and the (Un)ethical

Abstract

The Internet has thoroughly revolutionized sex. On an individual level, the technology has become a key source in exploring sexuality, researching sexual interests, and participating in erotic activity, both vicariously and potentially even physically. For scholars, the Internet has given effortless access to academic databases and archives, to social media sites and public diaries, and notably to a world of possible research participants, in turn dramatically altering the ways sex gets studied. This chapter outlines, analyzes, and problematizes the use ofthe Internet in sex research, drawing on a wide range of literature on research ethics as well as my own background as a sex researcher, an author of a range of recent material specifically about the Internet, a supervisor of several dissertations on new media, and a long-time member ofmy university’s human ethics committee