Premium
Reframing Research on Sexual Behavior and HIV
Author(s) -
Obermeyer Carla Makhlouf
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
studies in family planning
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.529
H-Index - 68
eISSN - 1728-4465
pISSN - 0039-3665
DOI - 10.1111/j.1728-4465.2005.00037.x
Subject(s) - cognitive reframing , human immunodeficiency virus (hiv) , sexual behavior , psychology , discipline , perception , research methodology , social psychology , population , sociology , social science , medicine , family medicine , neuroscience , demography
This review of recent studies examines the conceptual and methodological tools that are used to understand sexual behavior and HIV. Whereas surveys have provided reliable indicators of behavior, their validity is uncertain, their correlation with biological indicators tenuous, and the explanations they offer limited. Microlevel research has called into question the rationalizing, medically informed, and risk‐averse frameworks used in the public health literature on HIV and behavior, but its impact has been limited. Thus, surveys and qualitative research have proceeded along two separate tracks, and this separation has hampered our understanding of sexual behavior. A small but growing number of studies, however, provide examples of less‐compartmentalized research that avoids oversimplification. They show that expanding the models that drive research in this area is possible, and that efforts to combine disciplinary perspectives result in deeper understandings of knowledge, risk perceptions, attitudes, and behavioral change.