referencebooks

Handbook of Sexuality-Related Measures, 2nd Edition

Edited by Clive M. Davis, William L. Yarber, Robert Bauserman, George Schreer, and Sandra L. Davis

Published by SAGE, 1998

This is an 8.5" by 11" hardbound book running to 589 pages including the index, plus a brief preferatory section.

This book is a compilation of about 200 questionnaires, scales, invetories, interview schedules and other instruments for measuring sexuality-related traits, attitudes, behaviors, and variations. All of the instruments included have been tested for validity and reliability by extensive use in research.

Here are the titles of a sampling of the measures included:

• The Sex Anxiety Inventory
  
• Hurlbert Index of Sexual Assertiveness
  
• Permissiveness of a Nurse's Sexual Attitudes (Brief)
  
• Sexual Irrationality Questionnaire (Brief)
  
• Condom Embarrassment Scale
  
• Styles of Conflict Inventory for Personal Relationships
  
• Sexuality After Spinal Cord Injury Questionnaire
  
• Indicators of a Double Standard and Generational Differences in Sexual Attitudes
  
• The Hyperfemininity Scale
  
• Herpes Knowledge Scale
  
• Power Sharing in Lesbian Partnerships
  
• The Anticipated Sexual Jealousy Scale
  
• The Sexual Self-Disclosure Scale
  
• Token Resistence to Sex Scale
  

Opening the book at random, I'll looking at the entry for The Derogatis Sexual Functioning Inventory (DSFI). This two-page entry does not have the instrument itself but simply describes it. The description is very detailed and provides plenty of information for a researcher to decide whether this is the appropriate instrument for his or her study, and gives contact information for the research organization that it can be ordered from. The entry finishes with a list of references to studies where the inventory was used. This entry is a typical one.

This is a very useful book for someone doing research in sexuality and sexual functioning, whether sociological or psychological. It's also interesting reading for someone who's interesting in getting a peek at the way social scientists view sexuality.

The Complete Dictionary of Sexology

Robert T. Francoeur, Editor-in-Chief.

Published by Continuum, 1995.

This is a 6" by 9" paperback book running to 790 pages, plus a brief preface, acknowledgments, and a seven page introduction.

It's a dictionary of words having to do with sex. The words are sometimes scientific and technical, and sometimes more common. (The editors excluded various types of slang words, a decision which kept the book to a reasonable-sized single volume.)

Definitions range in length from brief sentences (or a few synonyms) to full paragraphs or sometimes longer; typically a page has a half-dozen to a dozen definitions on it. Definitions usually end with a few see also references and in some cases an item or two for further reading.

For an idea of what's in here, here is the full list of entries in the "J" sequence (one of the smaller sequences):

• Jacquemier's sign
  
• janiceps
  
• Jarisch-Herxheimer reaction
  
• jealousy, sexual
  
• Jennifer fever
  
• Jobst breast support
  
• Jocasta complex
  
• jock itch
  
• Jorgensen, Christine
  
• Jung, Carl
  
• jus primae noctis (L.) See droit du seigneur.
  
• juvenile
  
• juvenile paresis
  
• juvenilism, paraphilic
  

Intriguing words, no?

This is quite a useful book, appropriate for research or reading aloud with a friend.