The Kinsey reports demonstrated several methodological severe weaknesses. Kinsey, the author, makes several mistakes from the very beginning of the study, preferring a rational sample of subjects from different social and racial groups to predominantly white, middle-class homosexual men (Goode, 2016). The stratified sampling method alone can be effective in small-scale, small-sample studies of small groups, but a large sample may not provide an accurate picture of subjects’ opinions. However, Kinsey applied it to a large number of people, and for the sake of the study’s accuracy, violated the rational approach to the choice of subjects. It was necessary to qualitatively expand the sample for the represented social and racial groups to make the study itself more relevant. Thus, Kinsey’s study quickly lost relevance and displayed its shortcomings.
The other similar survey was done, yet with a better methodological approach. The Chicago sex survey, in turn, used the quota sampling method, during which a relatively high number of adults were interviewed, representing all available racial and national groups (Goode, 2016). This approach is qualitatively different from Kinsey’s because it allowed the scholars to formulate a much more holistic picture of the perception of human behavior. In the quota methodology of obtaining samples, the researchers ensured that subjects represented the whole population regarding gender, race, and economic status. This fact has affected the relevance of the work; namely, the research gained more credibility due to the representativeness achieved by a varied sample.
There are several challenges that arise in the research of such a scale. Since in the quota method of obtaining samples, the researcher ensures that subjects represent the whole population regarding gender, race, and economic status, this may also affect the relevance of the work. A separate target sample may be negatively tuned to the research topic and, therefore, refuse to participate in the study. For example, a conservative subject may be against research related to sex or homosexuality, sabotaging and blocking it. Not always subjects, especially those with certain deviations, can represent their entire racial, cultural or ethnic group.
Reference
Goode, E. (2016). Deviant behavior (11th ed.). Routledge.