The interesting thing to me, regardless of whether the issue is increased contact or increased reporting, is that either way, people lie about sex. Overall, they'll lie about how frequently they're having it -- men generally say more often, women less -- and with whom. As the study author says: It's possible that the real number of people who have engaged in gay sex is actually higher than reported because people are still reluctant to admit it, Butler says. "You'll never know to what extent people are being truthful. With stigmatized behaviors, most estimates from surveys tend to be underestimates," she says.
If the survey data is anything like polling on racial attitudes, the actual numbers are likely to be 5-10% higher than those reported. Of course, this is simply about encounters, not about actual numbers of gay people. The one doesn't particularly imply the other.
Copyright © 2001, Iain Jackson, after-words.org
[Archives: 2001 and after]
Archives before February 5, 2001
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12/19/2001: vive la france
12/19/2001: princess, redux
12/19/2001: yemen and rumsfeld
12/18/2001: you're NOT in the army now
12/18/2001: interesting donation
12/18/2001: shame on winn dixie, indeed
12/18/2001: saudi princess
12/17/2001: new resolve
12/17/2001: a victim of the attack ... yeah, right
12/17/2001: polluters ho!