University study- Please delete if not allowed

[ThePrincessLuxy]

OP, what are your personal views on sex work? Why did you select this subject and hypothesis out of all others? Do you personally and morally support this line of work? If you aren't offering compensation for our participation, will you at least be sharing your results and paper with us if it is not published? Will this be published?

 

[Dan Epstein]

I got tired of academic researchers from the faculties of social science that manifest a victim narrative biased approach.
I know of at least one woman in the U.K., Kent University to be exact, who has the complete opposite approach in her Phd. Maybe it's because she interviewed people and not treated them like anonymous patients in a public clinic.
Feel free to lynch my post at any moment, these are just my two novice cents about it.

 

[SaffronBurke]

MORE FOR ME!

Ah, yes, Karen and her juice boxes.

 

[AudriTwo]

Ah, yes, Karen and her juice boxes.

Can always learn a thing or two from Karen Walker

 

[caireen]

What is the purpose of doing a study in which you base your hypothesis on studies that have already been done? Sounds like a lazy, pseudo-science circle jerk to me.

Isn't this how most people come up with study hypothesis? I can think of quite a food studies that built on the work of others/looked at results of others and wanted to examine it more specifically within another or similar population/issue.

 

[caireen]

Yep. Any interest I had in this just died.

Sorry for the DP, but I don't think this hypothesis is inherently set out to paint sex workers/camgirls in a bad light. There are a lot of reasons we could experience less relationship satisfaction: jealous partners, partners unable to cope with our non-traditional work, potential stress on relationships from working at home, etc. Or maybe because we are intimately exposed to so many men we are more likely to measure our partners against them (I dunno, who knows.. but there are lots of factors that could be at play). Or maybe we are more independent and therefore less satisfied with relationships. Or because getting verbally assaulted and objectified by men all day (sometimes!) makes us not even want to look at our male partners .

I think it's an interesting question.

 

[caireen]

Isn't this how most people come up with study hypothesis? I can think of quite a food studies that built on the work of others/looked at results of others and wanted to examine it more specifically within another or similar population/issue.

* quite a few studies
incidentally i am thinking of nutrition studies, i wonder if my brain did that on purpose

 

[Lucid1]

In the past, and in most studies that I've been asked to participate in, the "bias" usually shows in the form of how the questions are formed and whether or not there seems to be any intentional/unintentional "steering" towards a preconceived, and often subconsciously planned outcome. I like the fact that she is providing a way to opt-out with the secret word mechanic. In some of the studies I've been a part of, I felt uncomfortable afterwards because my internal radar picked up on certain "steering" elements during the course of the study, and I didn't have the luxury of opting-out afterwards. The only thing I do not like about her OP explanation is that she seems to be asking a singular question that, as others have pointed out, hinges on what someone's definition of "satisfaction" is.

 

[AlexaCrush]

Sorry for the DP, but I don't think this hypothesis is inherently set out to paint sex workers/camgirls in a bad light. There are a lot of reasons we could experience less relationship satisfaction: jealous partners, partners unable to cope with our non-traditional work, potential stress on relationships from working at home, etc. Or maybe because we are intimately exposed to so many men we are more likely to measure our partners against them (I dunno, who knows.. but there are lots of factors that could be at play). Or maybe we are more independent and therefore less satisfied with relationships. Or because getting verbally assaulted and objectified by men all day (sometimes!) makes us not even want to look at our male partners .

I think it's an interesting question.

Yeah, I suppose I jumped the gun a bit. It's hard to say without seeing what the questions are. I think when I saw that the hypothesis was that camgirls had lower relationship satisfaction my brain automatically jumped to it being a "oh boo, look at those sad little camgirls" kind of thing. That said, I don't really know what I was expecting. Perhaps that camgirls have fewer but closer relationships because of their work? Something about the relationship between camgirls and the members that tip them? The relationship between camgirls and their pets (since it seems like we all have at least 50 hahah)? Idk. Maybe I was just disappointed that it was the obvious thing someone would be studying.

 

[Dan Epstein]

.
I failed phonetics and phonology about a decade ago in Linguistics, but I kept an important ace with regards to behavioral studies (yes linguistics can be behavioral and not just written languages). When you set the variables in an experiment to support your hypothesis, you might disregard everything else in the process.
Oh snap I almost forgot, Happy Birthday @AlexaCrush !

 

[HiGirlsRHot]

Yeah, I suppose I jumped the gun a bit. It's hard to say without seeing what the questions are. I think when I saw that the hypothesis was that camgirls had lower relationship satisfaction my brain automatically jumped to it being a "oh boo, look at those sad little camgirls" kind of thing. That said, I don't really know what I was expecting. Perhaps that camgirls have fewer but closer relationships because of their work? Something about the relationship between camgirls and the members that tip them? The relationship between camgirls and their pets (since it seems like we all have at least 50 hahah)? Idk. Maybe I was just disappointed that it was the obvious thing someone would be studying.

The point of having a hypothesis is to test it. Some of the most interesting scientific breakthroughs have occurred when the hypothesis was found to be false. I have no idea if the hypothesis is true or not, maybe being around assholes on cams, makes camgirls more appreciative of their SO.

I'll agree, this isn't the most original research, and I don't expect to see in published in The Lancet, much less win a Nobel prize. But I'd expect to see a bit more empathy for young women trying pass a uni course. Spend the 5 minutes to answer her questions or don't. God knows I spend enough time answering camgirl twitter polls, ACF polls, and Aellas constant research.

And to the OP if you don't get enough responses, you might want to try posting the question stripperweb.com or even better befriend a popular camgirl with large social media following and ask her help in promoting it.

 

[AlexaCrush]

.
I failed phonetics and phonology about a decade ago in Linguistics, but I kept an important ace with regards to behavioral studies (yes linguistics can be behavioral and not just written languages). When you set the variables in an experiment to support your hypothesis, you might disregard everything else in the process.
Oh snap I almost forgot, Happy Birthday @AlexaCrush !

Thank you!
Also, phonology sucks.Worst part of linguistics ever.

 

[AudriTwo]

And to the OP if you don't get enough responses, you might want to try posting the question stripperweb.com or even better befriend a popular camgirl with large social media following and ask her help in promoting it.

Lol um SW would tear this apart. You don't think we dont get college students coming to study us like zoo animals there too? I say we would get it more since over there SW covers other parts of sexwork. (Stripping, escorting, sugaring, prodomming, pso) I can assure you her first response will be what's the pay or if any compensation. She will more than likely get a low response from there.

I'm empathic to her going to school and working hard on her degree. Most of us were college students or still are. Questions are good. Questions make people think. I learned to challenge other people with thought and questions. Are we just gonna coddle people's feels cause it might hurt their feeling and we will look like a bunch of meanies. Or will they see this as an opportunity to grow?

You gents need to learn the difference between CRITICISM and ATTACKING. I swear.

 

[JickyJuly]

I probably crossed from criticism to attacking, but I stand by what I said. Could have been less snarky. Glad Rachel here is getting her education either way, but science should not be that predictable and boring at college level. It reminds me of when I was in 3rd grade and we had to write and present a paper on a famous person who was "inspiring". Oprah...over and over and over. Then, Michael Jordan over and over and over. If the rest of you can still smile and sit through the Oprahs and Michael Jordans with polite, feigned interest, you're doing better than I am.

 

[Dan Epstein]

I know that our people in SW will not grill her.
Neither did we. I do agree with Audri that brave and controversial questions should be asked, and that her lack of experience and decorum in first posting here does not tell about her personality as a human being. It's easier for me now, after being protected and catered countless times by my dear friends here, that's all.

 

[AudriTwo]

I know that our people in SW will not grill her.
Neither did we. I do agree with Audri that brave and controversial questions should be asked, and that her lack of experience and decorum in first posting here does not tell about her personality as a human being. It's easier for me now, after being protected and catered countless times by my dear friends here, that's all.

well tear apart as in ask more questions. not gril her, but really break it down. some members there ask a lot of great questions. she can try, but just be ready for more questions, possibly.

i want to clarify low response as in to her study.

 

[Dan Epstein]

Their moderators are compassionate and understanding people (I know of at least two), and so are the veteran models here. We've seen worse reach out attempts by Polish students, and curious guests, so I guess we can cut her some slack

 

[Just_A_Guy]

MORE FOR ME!

Well Karen Walker IS the party! I'll bring the wine anyway.

 

[slazenger]

I would read this research piece even if it's (somewhat) flawed. (Aren't they all, in some way?) Sounds interesting. I suspect there's been a lot of similar research done with non-cam sex workers, but since the cam work, by comparison, is relatively new there might not be much out there.

 

[Gen]

I’m annoyed this person never came back to answer questions about their potential research. That feels really entitled to me. I wanted to potentially participate but asking for something from people without even giving back a few minutes of your own time doesn’t jive with me.

 

[rachael_k]

Hi everyone, I'd like to apologise for taking so long to come back to you all. I've had a few assignments due in this week and have had a manic week. I don't mean to come across as rude or insensitive. I'll try to answer everyone's questions so I'm sorry that this will be a long post.

Firstly, I realise I may have made an error saying that those not in a relationship currently can take part. I'm currently discussing this with my supervisor and will get back to you will the final decision. I realise your concerns with this and I appreciate your questions and criticism regarding it.

The articles I am basing my hypothesis off are mainly Bradley (2007)- Managing stigma in exotic dancer relationships, Thomson et al (2010)- Managing stigma in a 'deviant' occupation and Morrow (2012)- Exploring the challenges of stereotype performance among exotic dancers. These studies are becoming a bit outdated and there are very limited studies including cam girls. Due to changing attitudes and the growing online industry, I feel there is a gap for up to date research involving cam girls.

SMuser69- I understand your concern with only asking one half of a couple to answer the questionnaire, however, the main focus of the study is how cam girls themselves feel in their relationships rather than their partner's opinions. Although I do think, depending on this study, further research including partners as well may be beneficial.

JickyJuly- Sorry if you feel my hypothesis is biased towards cam girls in anyway. The purpose of basing my hypothesis on previous studies is to test whether it still applies and if their hypotheses apply to 'online' sex workers as well as 'offline' workers, since previous research has focused on the latter. As those studies are a few years old now, I would also like to see if they still apply as attitudes have changed in recent years. The reason why I have chosen this topic for my dissertation us because I've always been interested in relationships and have taken a focus on this throughout my studies. Last year I did a literature critique on several studies looking at sex work and relationship satisfaction and noticed that these studies focused on offline sex workers (mainly exotic dancers) rather than cam girls.

Kiki Jane- As mentioned in my OP, I'm asking participants to send the questionnaire link to a same sex friend to a same sex friend to also complete. This is because I feel that you yourselves can provide a better control group for those 'outside the industry' than I can by recruiting participants totally unrelated to you.

Luxy Reid- I fully support cam girls and have the upmost respect for you all. I aim to portray you all in an accurate, positive light with no stigma surrounding this line of work. I have always taken an interest in the industry since my early teens. I'm not fully sure why, I think it's due to my own low self confidence and the admiration I have for people who have or can at least appear confident in themselves.
I'm happy to provide feedback and will provide a section in my questionnaire to leave an email address I can send results and information to for those who wish. The study will be completely anonymous and you will be asked for a code word during the questionnaire rather than providing your name to then quote if you need to email me with any questions. I can also send my full results to anyone who wants after the study and send my full paper after July when the marks have been finalised. There is a chance of the work being published, however, due to this being for my bachelors degree this is unlikely.

Dan Epstein- Unfortunately as an undergraduate student I have limited resources and it is very difficult to gain interviews with participants. It's difficult enough finding people to answer a 5 minute online questionnaire. Although, I would have loved to interview participants to gain a much better insight. Do you know if the lady from Kent University has finished her PHD? If so, I'd love to read her work if possible.
My hypothesis is based purely on other research into 'offline sex work' due to the limited research including cam girls. It does not represent my personal view on the relationships of cam girls and I feel there are many factors that may actually benefit relationships. However, due to there being very limited research in this area, I have been advised to base my hypothesis on these studies.

Caireen- Thanks for your support! I definitely do not want to paint cam girls in a bad light and I am to portray you all with respect and without stigma. As said earlier in this post, my hypothesis is based purely off previous research, mainly on relationship satisfaction in exotic dancers. I understand that camming is very different to this and that the physical distance between yourselves and clients, the possibility to remain anonymous etc. may all prevent against many aspects of relationship satisfaction. Attitudes towards sex work are changing and I'm interested to see if this has lessened any stigma cam girls may face in relationships. Personally, I believe everyone deserves to be satisfied in a relationship and if my hypothesis is proved wrong then I think this would be a good thing.

Lucid- There will be several questions in my questionnaire exploring different aspects of relationship satisfaction to test this rather than simply asking how satisfied you are in a relationship as I understand that would be very difficult to answer. These aspects will be based on those used in previous studies such as openness, trust and intimacy etc.

Alexacrush- If you'd like to see the questions before participating it would be possible to answer the questionnaire link but then close it after answering rather than submitting if you did not feel comfortable with the questions and having your answers included. I'm also giving the option to withdraw your data (up to the point of my submitting my project) by sending me an email quoting the code word you provided at the beginning.

HiGirlsRHot- Thanks for your support, I really appreciate it! I definitely agree with you, that it would be more interesting if the hypothesis was proved wrong. In fact, if the hypothesis is proved wrong this would be a good thing and may reflect changing attitudes and less stigma towards cam girls.

Gen- I'd like to apologise for me taking so long to come back to everyone. I honestly haven't meant to be rude or insensitive, I've just been very busy with other assignments.

Again, sorry for the really long post! I just wanted to try to answer everyone's questions. I'd like to reiterate that I honestly haven't meant to come across rude, biased or insensitive to any of you! Thanks for your support, questions and even criticisms (they've actually pointed out many good points!). If anyone is not happy with any part of my study or feels I've said something insensitive, I'd much prefer for you to point it out so I can try and fix it.

Thanks again!
Rachael

 

[Dan Epstein]

Hi everyone, I'd like to apologise for taking so long to come back to you all. I've had a few assignments due in this week and have had a manic week. I don't mean to come across as rude or insensitive. I'll try to answer everyone's questions so I'm sorry that this will be a long post.

Firstly, I realise I may have made an error saying that those not in a relationship currently can take part. I'm currently discussing this with my supervisor and will get back to you will the final decision. I realise your concerns with this and I appreciate your questions and criticism regarding it.

The articles I am basing my hypothesis off are mainly Bradley (2007)- Managing stigma in exotic dancer relationships, Thomson et al (2010)- Managing stigma in a 'deviant' occupation and Morrow (2012)- Exploring the challenges of stereotype performance among exotic dancers. These studies are becoming a bit outdated and there are very limited studies including cam girls. Due to changing attitudes and the growing online industry, I feel there is a gap for up to date research involving cam girls.

SMuser69- I understand your concern with only asking one half of a couple to answer the questionnaire, however, the main focus of the study is how cam girls themselves feel in their relationships rather than their partner's opinions. Although I do think, depending on this study, further research including partners as well may be beneficial.

JickyJuly- Sorry if you feel my hypothesis is biased towards cam girls in anyway. The purpose of basing my hypothesis on previous studies is to test whether it still applies and if their hypotheses apply to 'online' sex workers as well as 'offline' workers, since previous research has focused on the latter. As those studies are a few years old now, I would also like to see if they still apply as attitudes have changed in recent years. The reason why I have chosen this topic for my dissertation us because I've always been interested in relationships and have taken a focus on this throughout my studies. Last year I did a literature critique on several studies looking at sex work and relationship satisfaction and noticed that these studies focused on offline sex workers (mainly exotic dancers) rather than cam girls.

Kiki Jane- As mentioned in my OP, I'm asking participants to send the questionnaire link to a same sex friend to a same sex friend to also complete. This is because I feel that you yourselves can provide a better control group for those 'outside the industry' than I can by recruiting participants totally unrelated to you.

Luxy Reid- I fully support cam girls and have the upmost respect for you all. I aim to portray you all in an accurate, positive light with no stigma surrounding this line of work. I have always taken an interest in the industry since my early teens. I'm not fully sure why, I think it's due to my own low self confidence and the admiration I have for people who have or can at least appear confident in themselves.
I'm happy to provide feedback and will provide a section in my questionnaire to leave an email address I can send results and information to for those who wish. The study will be completely anonymous and you will be asked for a code word during the questionnaire rather than providing your name to then quote if you need to email me with any questions. I can also send my full results to anyone who wants after the study and send my full paper after July when the marks have been finalised. There is a chance of the work being published, however, due to this being for my bachelors degree this is unlikely.

Dan Epstein- Unfortunately as an undergraduate student I have limited resources and it is very difficult to gain interviews with participants. It's difficult enough finding people to answer a 5 minute online questionnaire. Although, I would have loved to interview participants to gain a much better insight. Do you know if the lady from Kent University has finished her PHD? If so, I'd love to read her work if possible.
My hypothesis is based purely on other research into 'offline sex work' due to the limited research including cam girls. It does not represent my personal view on the relationships of cam girls and I feel there are many factors that may actually benefit relationships. However, due to there being very limited research in this area, I have been advised to base my hypothesis on these studies.

Caireen- Thanks for your support! I definitely do not want to paint cam girls in a bad light and I am to portray you all with respect and without stigma. As said earlier in this post, my hypothesis is based purely off previous research, mainly on relationship satisfaction in exotic dancers. I understand that camming is very different to this and that the physical distance between yourselves and clients, the possibility to remain anonymous etc. may all prevent against many aspects of relationship satisfaction. Attitudes towards sex work are changing and I'm interested to see if this has lessened any stigma cam girls may face in relationships. Personally, I believe everyone deserves to be satisfied in a relationship and if my hypothesis is proved wrong then I think this would be a good thing.

Lucid- There will be several questions in my questionnaire exploring different aspects of relationship satisfaction to test this rather than simply asking how satisfied you are in a relationship as I understand that would be very difficult to answer. These aspects will be based on those used in previous studies such as openness, trust and intimacy etc.

Alexacrush- If you'd like to see the questions before participating it would be possible to answer the questionnaire link but then close it after answering rather than submitting if you did not feel comfortable with the questions and having your answers included. I'm also giving the option to withdraw your data (up to the point of my submitting my project) by sending me an email quoting the code word you provided at the beginning.

HiGirlsRHot- Thanks for your support, I really appreciate it! I definitely agree with you, that it would be more interesting if the hypothesis was proved wrong. In fact, if the hypothesis is proved wrong this would be a good thing and may reflect changing attitudes and less stigma towards cam girls.

Gen- I'd like to apologise for me taking so long to come back to everyone. I honestly haven't meant to be rude or insensitive, I've just been very busy with other assignments.

Again, sorry for the really long post! I just wanted to try to answer everyone's questions. I'd like to reiterate that I honestly haven't meant to come across rude, biased or insensitive to any of you! Thanks for your support, questions and even criticisms (they've actually pointed out many good points!). If anyone is not happy with any part of my study or feels I've said something insensitive, I'd much prefer for you to point it out so I can try and fix it.

Thanks again!
Rachael

Hi! Feel free to ping me and I’ll do my best to hook you two up

 

[rachael_k]

Hi everyone! If anyone is interested in participating in the study here's the link.
https://nupsych.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_5j3ubRn5CLLjgwJ
The study has received full ethical approval from the faculty of health and life sciences at Northumbria University and there is a participant information sheet included at the beginning of the questionnaire for you to read before you decide whether to proceed with the study. Also if anyone who takes part could please ask a female friend who does not work in the industry to also complete the questionnaire that would be great.
Thanks!
Rachael