Research Request: Aspects of Romantic and Platonic Relationships

[Jarle]

Hi all, 

 

We received the following from Jared from Oakland University:

 

Quote

I am Jared Edge, psychology graduate student, under the direction of Dr. Jennifer Vonk, Psychology department. I am conducting a research study to examine how sexuality predicts aspects of romantic relationships and friendships.

 

I am recruiting individuals who are at least 18 years or older  to complete a series of questionnaires. The research will take approximately 45 minutes to complete.

Your participation in this study is voluntary. For participating in this study, you can choose to be entered into a raffle to receive an Amazon gift card.

The research will take place online through Qualtrics.

 

https://oakland.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_a2CWi9T4bnb9npj

 

If you have any questions concerning the research study, please contact me at jarededge@oakland.edu.

 

This study has been approved by the Research Approval Board. 

[LeChat]

Gee, a lot of questions are related to those who are in a relationship with a partner. I don't know how they're going to score those who have never had a partner or don't currently have one, who can't answer several of those questions.

 

It sort of feels a bit alienating, as though those who came up with the questions are assuming that everyone has been in a relationship, before. The same thing about the questions about "a close friend:" not everyone has one, especially if they've already graduated from school; live in a small town where not many people their age live, etc.

 

I wish they'd included a space for those to explain their answers or their lack of responses to the questions because they don't pertain to them.

[Hylethilei]

I would love to do this!

[Acing It]

15 hours ago, InquisitivePhilosopher said:

Gee, a lot of questions are related to those who are in a relationship with a partner. I don't know how they're going to score those who have never had a partner or don't currently have one, who can't answer several of those questions.

 

It sort of feels a bit alienating, as though those who came up with the questions are assuming that everyone has been in a relationship, before. The same thing about the questions about "a close friend:" not everyone has one, especially if they've already graduated from school; live in a small town where not many people their age live, etc.

 

I wish they'd included a space for those to explain their answers or their lack of responses to the questions because they don't pertain to them.

I agree. I started answering the relationship questions the best I could, but two questions on I had to leave everthing blank, including all the close friendship questions. It's strange that people setting up and compiling questionnaires don't allow for a neutral answer. I'm not going to email them as I don't want to impart my email address but I hope someone managing the study will read this. Or maybe we could feed this back to them as 'aven' because I'm sure there will be many more on here, given the site it is, in the same position.

[LeChat]

1 hour ago, Acing It said:

I agree. I started answering the relationship questions the best I could, but two questions on I had to leave everthing blank, including all the close friendship questions. It's strange that people setting up and compiling questionnaires don't allow for a neutral answer. I'm not going to email them as I don't want to impart my email address but I hope someone managing the study will read this. Or maybe we could feed this back to them as 'aven' because I'm sure there will be many more on here, given the site it is, in the same position.

Yeah; it seemed like they weren't really aware of aromantic people. The beginning of the survey appeared to be more inclusive because it allowed for people to give a number as to how many partners and sexual encounters they've had, including "0."

 

Since I didn't, and couldn't answer most of the questions, I'm thinking the researchers will probably mistakenly assume that I was tired with the questionnaire taking too long and gave up answering them.

[Acing It]

1 hour ago, InquisitivePhilosopher said:

it seemed like they weren't really aware of aromantic people.

Or that it's not that easy for asexual people to find a partner.

 

1 hour ago, InquisitivePhilosopher said:

Since I didn't, and couldn't answer most of the questions, I'm thinking the researchers will probably mistakenly assume that I was tired with the questionnaire taking too long and gave up answering them.

I was thinkikng the same thing, about not answering most of the questions about relationships and friendships. You can see how results can become skewed!

[DogObsessedLi]

I don't find many of these questions suitable for an aro ace who is in a committed platonic relationship. I don't think they have thought the questions through at all. I bombed out after struggling to answer the questions.

[DogObsessedLi]

They also don't seem aware of split attractions, the difference between romantic attraction and sexual attraction, but also the difference for example wanting a long term romantic relationship and wanting a long term platonic life partner.

[Guest]

True, since I'm aromantic, I had a lot of trouble answering the part about relationships. The only romantic relationship I had was in primary school and it was an accident. 🤣 And I don't have any friends either, so I had to leave all of that part blank. I wonder if the researchers really understand what 'aromantic' means.  I hope I don't end up falsifying the results! 

[griffinej5]

I had to leave several pages blank as well. 

[Guest]

On 7/3/2019 at 7:51 PM, Acing It said:

I'm not going to email them as I don't want to impart my email address

I have a second email address, so I plan on sending them a message; it is likely they are simply misinformed.

 

I've sent it now. If you'd like to see my message, let me know and I'll post it here.

 

Okay, I've received a reply! I'll put it in a spoiler box. 

Spoiler

Thank you for the feedback.

 

You have touched upon a prominent issue with asexuality research in general. Unfortunately, there are not currently any good measures that capture the experiences of aromantic individuals. The questions that I used are standardized measures that I could adapt to come close to measuring what I am interested in. When performing this kind of research, using well-established measures is very important. My interest in this research is partially because I myself am aromantic and I fully agree that the measures I used have issues. I hope to improve this deficiency with future research, but I am unable to alter the current survey without invalidating the results that I have already gathered. Please do not worry about having to leave pages blank. I appreciate any responses I can get and I will be sure to emphasize that current measures are inadequate when reporting my findings. Again, thank you for your feedback and I look forward to working with the AVEN community in the future.

 

-Jared Edge

 

[Acing It]

On 7/20/2019 at 12:24 PM, Aldis Friedman said:

I have a second email address, so I plan on sending them a message; it is likely they are simply misinformed.

 

I've sent it now. If you'd like to see my message, let me know and I'll post it here.

 

Okay, I've received a reply! I'll put it in a spoiler box. 

  Reveal hidden contents

Thank you for the feedback.

 

You have touched upon a prominent issue with asexuality research in general. Unfortunately, there are not currently any good measures that capture the experiences of aromantic individuals. The questions that I used are standardized measures that I could adapt to come close to measuring what I am interested in. When performing this kind of research, using well-established measures is very important. My interest in this research is partially because I myself am aromantic and I fully agree that the measures I used have issues. I hope to improve this deficiency with future research, but I am unable to alter the current survey without invalidating the results that I have already gathered. Please do not worry about having to leave pages blank. I appreciate any responses I can get and I will be sure to emphasize that current measures are inadequate when reporting my findings. Again, thank you for your feedback and I look forward to working with the AVEN community in the future.

 

-Jared Edge

 

I've been away since then so haven't been able to respond. It seems they are aware at least. Thanks for your effort!