#including quantitative and qualitative research

[evidence-based-activism]

I know you’ve found before that intimate partner violence against men isn’t underreported to police in comparison to violence against women, but has there been any research on police responses to domestic violence calls specifically? MRAs and misogynists always claim the man is automatically arrested just because police assume only men can be aggressors even if he is the victim (which is very rare in the first place even though they insist otherwise). But a lot of anecdotal evidence I’ve heard from female victims is that the police either did nothing or in some cases threatened to arrest her instead of her abusive partner, which makes sense considering the low conviction rate for domestic violence. Is there any data to debunk this idea that women are automatically taken seriously while men’s allegations are ignored?

There has been some work on this (and on tangentially related topics)!

Police response to domestic violence victims

First, a 2015 survey was conducted by the National Domestic Violence Hotline. It interviewed women who either had or had not had contact with the police about their victimization [1].

Of the women who had interacted with the police:

~80% felt either no safer or less safe than before they contacted them.

~67% felt somewhat or extremely afraid to call the police in the future.

~25% had been arrested or threatened with arrest during a partner abuse incident or while reporting a sexual assault incident.

This report had the advantage of being detailed, but was unfortunately not nationally representative. This special report from the Bureau of Justice Statistics [2] helps fill in that gap.

However, it does report on domestic violence by both an intimate partner and "other relations", which is an important caveat when interpreting the results.

According to this report:

Male and female victimizations were equally likely to be reported to the police, except that male victimizations involving "serious injury" were more likely to be reported than female victimizations involving "serious injury".

The offender was similarly likely to be arrested during the initial report for incidents involving a female or male victim across incident categories.

Women were more likely than men to sign a complaint (or have one signed on their behalf).

Police were more likely to follow-up on incidents or arrest an offender at follow up when there is a signed complaint. This is relevant because women were more likely to sign a complaint, which makes it appear as though police follow up on female victims more often. This is an example of a factor that can correlate with sex, resulting in an illusory gender difference.

Notably, despite the fact that men were less likely to sign a complaint for serious injury than women, the police were still equally likely to follow up with male and female victims with serious injury.

Together, these reports suggest that police response to male and female victims in domestic incidents is similar. Further, women report many of the same negative police reactions as men do, including being arrested or threatened with arrest. In other words, men are not uniquely discriminated against by the police in domestic violence incidents; police officers are just disturbingly unqualified to deal with domestic violence victims.

Male police officers

And, to be completely clear about the problem, 73% of American police officers are male [3]. Furthermore, other work [4] states, "female officers were more likely than male officers to provide support to citizens involved in domestic violence".

Together, this indicates that the poor police response to victims – both male and female – is primarily the result of other men's actions.

Differences in men's and women's domestic violence

As you indicated, I've discussed this many times. However, it stands repeating that violence from male and female perpetrators is both quantitatively and qualitatively different [5-7].

For example, this review [5] describes how "women’s physical violence appears to be more in response to violence initiated against them". (In other words, women's physical violence is responsive or defensive.) They also describe how "the type and quality [of emotional abuse tactics] appears to differ between the sexes", where men "threaten life and inhibit partner autonomy" and women's tactics "consist of yelling and shouting". They also note that men are the "predominant perpetrators of sexual abuse”.

Other work [6] indicates "men generally did not consider physical violence to be threatening when it was perpetrated by women" and men were "not subjected to the multiple control tactics".

In this study [7], men are more frequent perpetrators of domestic abuse and commit more severe acts, and yet women were "three times more likely to be arrested per incident".

I mention all of this to highlight how it would be completely reasonable for police officers to assume the woman is the primary victim. (More data on this can be found in this post, this post, and this post, among many others in my #male violence tag and this website [8].) Despite this, police do not appear to be making this assumption. Instead, they take a “gender-neutral" approach to domestic violence. This is, therefore, evidence of police discrimination against women (i.e., unfairly treating them as equally likely to be the aggressor).

The impact of DARVO

Why does all of that matter? Because we have substantial evidence that perpetrators of domestic violence employ the principles of DARVO (i.e., Defend, Attack, Reverse Victim and Offender) [9-10].

According to this principle, some perpetrators of domestic violence claim to be the "actual" victim of their partner. Often, they convince critical people (e.g., police officers, juries, etc.) for long enough to cause severe harm (e.g., convince the police to arrest the victim, find the abusive defendant not guilty).

This is of particular relevance to this discussion, given the frequency with which women who employ self-defensive or responsive violence are misidentified as the primary aggressor [11-13]. (Also see this post for a hypothetical description of the issues involved.)

This facilitates their abuser's use of the legal system to extend their coercive control of these women [9-11, 14-15].

What I find most striking about this work is that it shows how the abuses Men's Rights Activists claim are frequently and uniquely happening to male victims actually feature prominently in many women's abuse histories and have for decades.

Perhaps this is best described as the employment of DARVO on a group level. Either way, it clearly indicates that there is no systemic bias against men in the legal system. Quite the opposite, research indicates a substantial bias against women.

Conclusion

In conclusion, research suggests:

Men are not "automatically" arrested in domestic violence cases

Police response is similarly poor to both male and female victims

Most police officers are male, and male police officers tend to be less supportive in domestic violence incidents

Men's and women's violence in relationships is very different both in quantitative and qualitative terms

Women are more often misidentified as the primary aggressor than men and the principles of DARVO play a significant role in this (and other) legal abuse of female victims

References under the cut:

National Domestic Violence Hotline, Who Will Help Me? Domestic Violence Survivors Speak Out About Law Enforcement Responses. Washington, DC (2015). http://www.thehotline.org/resources/law-enforcement-responses

Reaves, B. A. (2017). Police response to domestic violence, 2006-2015. Washington, DC: US Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Bureau of Justice Statistics.

FBI. (2019). Table 74 – Full-time Law Enforcement Employees . https://ucr.fbi.gov/crime-in-the-u.s/2019/crime-in-the-u.s.-2019/topic-pages/tables/table-74

Sun, I. Y. (2007). Policing domestic violence: Does officer gender matter?. Journal of Criminal Justice, 35(6), 581-595.

Hamberger, L. K., & Larsen, S. E. (2015). Men’s and women’s experience of intimate partner violence: A review of ten years of comparative studies in clinical samples; Part I. Journal of Family Violence, 30, 699-717.

Nybergh, L., Enander, V., & Krantz, G. (2016). Theoretical considerations on men’s experiences of intimate partner violence: An interview-based study. Journal of family violence, 31, 191-202.

Hester, M. (2013). Who does what to whom? Gender and domestic violence perpetrators in English police records. European Journal of criminology, 10(5), 623-637.

Domestic abuse is a gendered crime. (n.d.). Women’s Aid. Retrieved from https://www.womensaid.org.uk/information-support/what-is-domestic-abuse/domestic-abuse-is-a-gendered-crime/

Quinonez, A. A., & Kuennen, T. (2023). Turning the Tables: How Those Who Are Accused Deny, Attack, and Reverse. Wis. JL Gender, & Soc'y, 38, 64.

Harsey, S. J., & Freyd, J. J. (2022). Defamation and DARVO. Journal of Trauma & Dissociation, 23(5), 481-489.

Reeves, E. (2020). Family violence, protection orders and systems abuse: views of legal practitioners. Current issues in criminal justice, 32(1), 91-110.

Henning, K., Renauer, B., & Holdford, R. (2006). Victim or offender? Heterogeneity among women arrested for intimate partner violence. Journal of family Violence, 21, 351-368.

Nancarrow, H., Thomas, K., Ringland, V., & Modini, T. (2020). Accurately identifying the “person most in need of protection” in domestic and family violence law. Australia's National Research Organisation for Women's Safety.

Douglas, H. (2018). Legal systems abuse and coercive control. Criminology & criminal justice, 18(1), 84-99.

Dichter, M. E. (2013). “They arrested me—and I was the victim”: Women’s experiences with getting arrested in the context of domestic violence. Women & Criminal Justice, 23(2), 81-98.

[electronalytics]

NB-IoT Smart Meter Market

[beemovieerotica]

transphobes & conservatives throw around the "80% of trans children desist" statistic, and it comes from the average of a few quantitative studies that did produce those numbers

and they're relying on people to not have the knowledge to actually dig into these things, analyze the statistics, and question the methodologies in a scientific way

if you're curious at all how to debate these claims when people bring it up, i've summarized a meta-review below:

the biggest, most glaring issue of these studies is sample size and participant selection -- Baer Karrington, MD opened up these papers and found that one of the 4 studies (yes, the 80% number comes from the average of 4 studies, as of 2022) had identified nearly 300 eligible participants and then selected 132 of them, and we don't know why.

it's normal to screen out participants for psych & medical studies for any number of reasons, but you have to be completely transparent about why you're excluding them - and the researchers never told us. we can't know if you deliberately or subconsciously chose people who would confirm your hypothesis, which calls into question the data you collected.

another study was unable to contact 24 of the original participants out of 77, and then automatically classified the uncontactable participants as desisters. this isn't good science. i'm hesitant to even call it science.

the third study didn't list how many participants were included, but the assumption is that it was 10 people.

the fourth study had 25.

and across all of this research into desistance, including dozens of non-quantitative studies, case studies, and interviews, the researchers give us different definitions of desistance

(wouldn't the most important part of a cohesive argument against childhood gender affirming care be a mutually understood definition of desistance)

included under the definitions of desisters are:

adults who decide to stop HRT for any reason. this includes children who underwent the puberty of their choice and then ceased medical intervention in adulthood, without ascertaining if the reason was that they were satisfied with their body post-treatment, or if they had or intended to de-transition back to a body reflecting their birth sex

people who may have initially begun as binary transgender but settled on a non-binary or gender expansive identity. one former trans woman is identified in the research as now going by they/them and ceased HRT, and the studies do not reach a consensus on whether non-binary identities are included in the transgender non-desisting category, or if it is considered desistance

children for whom medical transitioning is stopped at any point - with obvious difficulties around determining whether was initiated by parents or truly the child's wishes

people who never received medical intervention and no longer experience gender dysphoria in adulthood, regardless of whether they have socially transitioned, changed their name, or engaged in non-medical affirmations of identity

children who decide not to medically transition. yes, that's it. they have desisted by virtue of not seeking medical intervention for the way that they conceive of their identity

and the issue with qualitative studies is that doctors are specifically reporting on people who have come to them seeking their help, and while their stories are important, and desistance does happen, you cannot draw actionable statistics from a self-selecting pool of people

the bottom line is that we have a double digit number of subjects across four questionable quantitative studies that gives us the repeatedly quoted 80%, and this is supposed to predict how several million children around the world will operate - and that's not how science works

[blackrosesociety-vampyres]

Vampire Community Research: Social History and Narrative Identity Themes Within Self-Identified Vampires

This article has originally been published on Black Rose Society's website: https://blackrosesociety.sauromatos.com/vampire-community-research-social-functioning-and-narrative-identity-themes-within-self-identified-vampires/

We interviewed our very own Luna Luv about her ongoing research project on the narrative themes in identity development and social history of people within the Vampire Community. In providing you with a closer look into some of the goals, challenges and other details pertaining to this research effort, it is our hope you will be motivated to be part of the survey and tell your friends.

Black Rose Society is assisting Vampire Community Researcher Luna Luv with hosting a survey that hopes to identify trends in the social history and identity formation of self-identified vampires. The results of this independent study will be drafted up into an article/paper titled “Social Functioning and Narrative Identity Themes Within Self-Identified Vampires,” which will be published and distributed exclusively within the vampire community, including the Black Rose Society’s website.

You are invited to share the link to this survey between your friends within the community. We are looking for responses from all corners of the Online Vampire Community

Our purpose: Self-identified vampires, that is, people who choose to identify themselves as a vampire or as possessing vampiric traits, often come from vastly different philosophical and ideological backgrounds. This survey asks for historical accounts from individuals who identify as vampires (or vampire-adjacent, i.e. medsangs, vampirekin, etc.) which pertain to both their identity and social development. Responses, while anonymous, will assist us in finding trends in social history and identity narrative development that may exist between identity types, or further serve to individuate them.

This survey will take approximately 10-20 minutes to complete. Responses cannot be saved to come back to later, so please set aside appropriate time for yourself to complete the survey. Please provide as much or as little information as you are comfortable.

NOTE: SIGNING INTO A GOOGLE ACCOUNT IS REQUIRED TO PREVENT APPLICANTS FROM FILLING OUT THE SURVEY MULTIPLE TIMES. NO ACCOUNT DATA IS STORED OR RECORDED BY THE RESEARCHERS INVOLVED.

TAKE THE SURVEY

Interview with Researcher Luna Luv

BRS: What motivated you to conduct a survey?

Luna Luv: I’ve always had a lot of interest in why people do what they do, vamps included. I don’t think there’s ever going to be a concise answer to that question, but I do think that there are ways of getting a little bit closer to that understanding in some cases. Extending from that, I thought that this research area might be very valuable, especially since psychological perspectives have generally been considered distasteful within the community — and definitely not for no reason. Most articles in psych journals mentioning “real vampires” are often sensationalist or align us all with sexual deviancy and/or pica, which in my opinion displays a fundamental misunderstanding or perhaps disinterest in our psychology. I thought a survey like this would be a way of showing the community that a psychological approach isn’t intrinsically invalidating, and can actually serve to provide us with meaningful insight into what makes us align with the archetype “vampire.” I figured a survey would be a good way of obtaining some qualitative and quasi-quantitative data on the topic.

BRS: How have the responses been so far?

Luna Luv: I’ve really been surprised by how much interest this has gotten. The survey has only been out for around 3 months and we already have close to 60 responses. I definitely see us being able to hit our goal of 100 by the 1-year mark, and hopefully if this keeps up we’ll be able to greatly surpass it. I’m really humbled by how many people have reached out to me and expressed the potential value they see in the study, and I’m so excited to share what we find with the community.

BRS: Can you tell us about your background?

Luna Luv: I’ve got a Master’s degree in mental health counseling and am currently working out of the US, with hopes to pursue a doctoral degree in psychology in the future. Consider this survey practicing for my thesis, haha. As for my relationship to the vampire community, I’m a lifelong medsang who only discovered the word roughly 5 years ago. I’ve dabbled a bit in the offline scene but I’ve made my home in the online spaces, primarily Black Rose Society.

BRS: What are your goals for this survey?

Luna Luv: My primary goal is to identify if the existing relationships we’ve seen between one’s social development (how they learn where they belong) and identity development (how they learn who they are) can extend to the development of one’s vampiric identity, and if so, what the primary influential factors are. What lessons have we learned to tell ourselves, and when did we learn them? Or what other struggles may run parallel — perhaps our vampiric self-discovery coincided with other unique discoveries about ourselves, such as our gender identity or sexuality. I believe it would be worthwhile to see if we can find any significant correlations in these areas.

BRS: What is the timeline for obtaining the results?

Luna Luv: Initially, I wanted to run data collection from March 2024 to March 2025 and have the paper out by the end of the year. However, considering how much traction this survey has gotten thus far, and how we’ve only recently begun expanding to other social media sites, that deadline is likely to be pushed. I wish I could give a definitive answer — all I can say is that I’m going to try for December 2025, but this may not end up being feasible. 2026 at the latest! Haha

BRS: What challenges did you encounter while organizing this survey in the OVC?

Luna Luv: Honestly, and I should’ve expected this — mistrust. Which is entirely fair; the Vampire Community holds anonymity as something sacred, and in designing this survey it was my intention to preserve our respondents’ anonymity as much as possible. The purpose of utilizing Google Forms to host the survey, in addition to not having access to a more secure survey-hosting site at the time of development, is to prevent (or at least minimize) the submission of multiple responses. However, this requires a respondent to log into a Gmail account, which a few people were not thrilled by. This is why I make a point to emphasize that no account data is stored or recorded by any of the researchers involved in the study, and the email address utilized to access the study is not collected.

BRS: Are there any potential biases, either from your role as the survey organizer or among the participants?

Luna Luv: Oh, absolutely. The primary one being that the survey is being shared almost exclusively through social media, and as such the majority of the responses involve people who primarily participate in the online community. Unfortunately, I personally do not have much access to offline community spaces which may be able to blast this study to community members who may otherwise not see it. Regarding my own biases, I definitely have my own perspective on vampirism based in my personal experiences and knowledge-base. I do not intend on hiding this fact — rather, I simply wish to add my own perspective to the pool of discussions surrounding the nature of whatever it is we’re all going through. Perhaps we will find a more substantial relationship between the specific flavor of one’s vampiric identity and other common factors in their social development history, or even demographic information.

BRS: Lastly, is there anything you would like to say to our readership?

Luna Luv: I appreciate each and every one of you for taking the time to even look at my little project. I’m not trying to pretend that this is some extremely thorough and well-put-together study that’s going to have groundbreaking ramifications on the community… This is just something that I’m really interested in and passionate about, and I’m so humbled by how many people have expressed interest in what I’m doing. I can’t even begin to express how grateful I am for the support I’ve gotten. Thank you all so much for reading, and participating if you have!

BLACK ROSE SOCIETY 2024

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

AITA for blackmailing someone and then snitching to the feds anyway? Okay, so I work for a contract medical research lab generating quantitative image data, working closely with veterinary pathologists who provide the qualitative data. Together, we put together a report like "okay, here's what the medicine/medical device did and here's why we think it happened", and that report usually gets sent to the FDA if it looks promising enough that the sponsor wants to push for clinical trials and eventual market release. So we get a study in and we've got (fake numbers here) 400 sections, but the quote says they only want 300 measurements done. I'm confused and go "wait, which 300 out of the 400? which 100 should I ignore?" and go to the pathologist. She also thinks it's weird and reaches out to the client, hoping it's a typo and we're about to get paid for the bonus 100. Nope! He pressures us for it to be a phone call (no paper trail) and then not-so-subtly hints that he wants the... uglier-looking sections dropped. In other words, he wants to cherry-pick data that makes him look good. This is not only dangerous but The Most Illegal Shit. People's lives hang in the balance and they have to be able to trust the research that tells them medicines and medical devices are safe. We take that responsibility seriously. So the pathologist gathers data and emails him like "I'm taking a REPRESENTATIVE 300 samples for analysis, my report will include scoring of the ones that make you look bad, and if I find out you doctored the reports behind my back, I'm sending everything I have directly to the FDA." (this is not how data is normally submitted in the industry. normally the report is commissioned, and then all dealings with the FDA are done by the client) He grouses, but agrees. And then says "if the FDA reaches out to you, don't respond." .....What? But that's already industry standard? Why would he say that? Why would he expect the FDA to reach out to us? Anyway the pathologist and I discuss it, and both assume he's definitely about to doctor these reports behind our back once it's submitted. So at my suggestion... the pathologist sends the communications to the FDA anyway. Here's the thing: we don't actually know that this guy meant to do some ethics violations. We just assumed he was suspicious without real proof. Even unproven accusations in this industry can get you blacklisted for life, if not facing criminal charges. Did we risk destroying some random guy's life over bad vibes and nothing else?

What are these acronyms?

[vtellswhat]

Understanding the Types of Literature Review: A Comprehensive Guide

Understanding types of literature review: A comprehensive guide.

Literature reviews are critical components of academic research that give an overview of the available knowledge relating to a particular topic. This helps to identify gaps, forms a basis for further research, and grounds the study on established theory and evidence. Literature reviews, however, do not fit in one single type. Rather they are of different types. Each depends on the purpose and approach of the research. Let's have a detailed view of the types of literature reviews. ### 1. Narrative Review

A narrative review, sometimes known as the traditional one, gives a general overview of research regarding a particular topic. It is descriptive and focuses on summarizing and synthesizing findings without much depth analysis.

Key Features:

Focuses on storytelling and descriptive summary. - Majorly used in fields such as humanities and social sciences.

Lacks a systematic methodology for selecting studies, which can lead to bias.

Purpose:

Narrative reviews are ideal for understanding a topic broadly and identifying general trends or patterns in the literature.

2. Systematic Review

A systematic review is a rigorous and structured approach to synthesizing research. It follows a predefined protocol to ensure transparency, reproducibility, and comprehensiveness.

Key Features:

Has explicit inclusion and exclusion criteria.

Is planned in databases systematically to find studies.

Keeps bias at a minimum by having a clear methodology.

Purpose:

Systematic reviews are applied to answer particular research questions, especially in fields like healthcare, psychology, and social sciences. Systematic reviews come with immense value because of their reliability and objectivity.

3. Meta-Analysis

A meta-analysis is a type of systematic review that pools data from many studies together using statistical methods to make their own synthesis, which tries to produce a quantitative overview of research findings.

Key Features:

Assumes all studies share similarities in methodology to compare them. - Offers results with statistical significance by combining data. - Is considered a demanding statistical process.

Meta-analyses are commonly used in medicine and psychology to determine the effectiveness of interventions or treatments. ***

4. Scoping Review

Scoping reviews are exploratory and aim to map the breadth and scope of research on a topic. Less focused on answering specific questions and more on identifying research gaps, they are considered exploratory. #### Key Features:

Wide inclusion criteria, casting a net to encompass all aspects of a topic. Does not critically evaluate the quality of included studies in depth. Often a precursor to a systematic review. #### Purpose:

Scoping reviews are suitable for nascent research areas or subjects where there are a few published studies to date.

5. Integrative Review

An integrative review combines qualitative and quantitative research to achieve a holistic understanding of the topic under review. * Key Features:

It integrates data based on diverse methodologies.

This integration encourages innovation.

It is useful in the development of theories or models * Purpose:

It is common to find such reviews in nursing, education, and healthcare research where mixed methods are often employed.

6. Critical Review

A critical review evaluates and critiques existing literature, often proposing new frameworks or perspectives.

Key Features:

Involves in-depth analysis and interpretation.

Challenges existing assumptions or theories.

Requires a strong theoretical foundation.

Purpose:

Critical reviews are ideal for advanced academic writing, such as dissertations and theoretical papers.

7. Theoretical Review

Theoretical reviews focus on examining theories related to a topic rather than empirical research.

Key Features:

Compares and contrasts different theoretical frameworks.

Identifies theoretical gaps.

Explores the evolution of ideas over time.

Purpose:

These reviews are often used in disciplines like sociology, philosophy, and psychology to refine or propose theoretical models.

8. Annotated Bibliography

A much simpler form of literature review is the annotated bibliography-an overview and critique of each source.

Key Features:

Lists sources with brief descriptions and critiques. Not synthesizing findings from the studies. Serves as a precursor to further developed reviews.

Purpose:

This type is commonly used for coursework or preliminary research to organize sources.

Conclusion

Each type of literature review has a specific purpose and is appropriate for a range of research objectives. Whether the use is about embracing broad trends in a narrative review or diving deep in statistical relationships as in meta-analysis, awareness of the types can guide you towards choosing the right approach for your study. The right type chosen ensures that your research not only becomes more robust but also relevant and impactful in its field. Mastering the art of literature review will keep researchers conversing effectively in the academic arenas while paving a way to make further discoveries.

Need expert guidance for your PhD, Master’s thesis, or research writing journey? Click the link below to access resources and support tailored to help you excel every step of the way. Unlock your full research potential today!

Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/writebing/

[destinationtoast]

hi toasty, i love your stats! i have a question for you that may be unanswerable, but do you have any insight into the phenomenon of x-reader fics on tumblr? i've noticed anecdotally for a while now that reader fics tend to have many more notes (like, thousands!) than their non-reader counterparts, and that they also seem to be mostly (?) posted in full here, rather than linking to ao3. (check the tags #wolverine fanfic vs #poolverine fanfic as an example). i know there is also reader fic posted on ao3, but i'm wondering whether anyone's done a qualitative or quantitative analysis of this (if that's even possible)? did tumblr just at some point become "the place to post reader fic"?

any insight welcome. blows my mind how there's like two entirely separate worlds of posting behavior/style happening here.

Hey! :) Thanks for the kind words and the interesting ask.

I don't have any data about xReader fic on tumblr (the only xReader-relevant data I think I have is from a 2019 analysis of Shipping on Wattpad vs. AO3 and FFN that looked at xReader prevalence in the archives at that time)..

However, I do have a couple recommendations for where to start finding out more about xReader fic (and where it gets posted):

Effie Sapurdis (interviewed by @fansplaining in Episode 221: Self-Inserts) is an Information & Media Studies researcher studying self-inserts. Effie has written a paper called Self-Insert Fanfiction as Digital Technology of the Self with this very promising abstract excerpt:

Then, drawing on a survey of self-insert fanfiction conducted across four platforms (Ao3, FF.net, Tumblr, and Wattpad), we explore how such works can be discovered, read, and engaged with, and we offer specific observations about self-insert subgenres, as drawn from a selection of these works.

I haven't read most of this paper, but a quick search for "Tumblr" revealed several passages that potentially relate to your question, including:

We observed that the keyword “Imagines” (i.e., with the -s) was most often appended to collections of “one-shot” stories, many of which were originally posted on the authors’ Tumblr accounts and were then “cross-posted” to Ao3 afterward.

(This is just one section -- there are other sections about other types of self-insert & xReader works). This passage highlights one possibility: perhaps many of the works you're seeing will eventually end up on an archive as well, possibly as part of one of those multi-chaptered fanwork that's a combination of many short works. But I don't know whether most people then go back and link to the archive version from the original Tumblr post.

Anyway, Effie's the expert here -- check out her work! :) I'll also throw this open to readers -- does anyone here have any other relevant data? (xReader writers and readers are also welcome to chime in and share their personal experiences and any patterns/trends they've noticed.)

[fatfables]

I found this undergrad project online looking into the growth of adipophilia (fat fetishism).

Well worth a read as the guy gets kinda carried away!

It's reproduced here in full.

Adipophilia 

How do cultural, societal, and technological factors intersect to shape the emergence and growth of adipophilia among young male adults in the digital age?

Shane Tjock

(Bachelor of Science student)

University of Michigan

Department of Environmental Philosophy

Obesity Studies

Abstract

This research project outlines a comprehensive approach to studying the growth of adipophilia (a sexual attraction to fat or overweight people) among young male adults online, integrating observational and experimental methods as well as qualitative and quantitative analyses to provide a holistic understanding of the phenomenon. Adipophilic tendencies have been on the rise in the United States and other western countries in recent years amongst young males and in particular within the homosexual population. The occurrence of sexual attraction to big, round, bloated bellies and buttocks, as well as thick thighs and swollen man breasts is clearly visible through social media platforms, forums, and so called ‘gainer’ dedicated websites. The rise of ‘gainer societies’ at colleges and universities, including the University of Michigan, evidences that the growth of gainerism is not limited to online spaces. Gainerism and feederism are linked sexual proclivities where people actively participate in a concerted effort to make themselves and or someone else fatter. Sexual arousal is often achieved through the act of binge eating or ‘stuffing’ until the stomach is stretched to the max after the consumption of excessive amounts of food and drink. Adipophiliacs like to rub their own and other people’s swollen bellies and elicit pleasure from the effects of purposeful weight gain, such as; out growing clothing, button popping, the appearance of stretch marks, and watching big bellies bounce. Pride is taken in calorie counting, measuring growth, and regular weigh-ins. As well as a personal increase in laziness, selfishness, and greed. The growth of gainerism amongst young LGBTQ+ males is multifaceted and has been caused by the normalisation of obesity in society, the overabundance and marketing of cheap unhealthy foodstuffs, a move towards body positivity, an increased awareness and openness to kink lifestyles, and the fact that it is sexy and fun.

Introduction

The rise of adipophilia as a cultural phenomenon is of interest to psychologists, sociologists, and fat fetishists. The question of why young men chose to over-inflate and swell their bodies with fat until their abdomens are abnormally round and swollen, like water balloons about to pop, is the key question of this study. What is it about huge, heavy, rounded-out bellies, that evidence the greed of the young male overconsumer, that is so deliciously desirable?

This study seeks to answer this question through a mix of observational and experimental techniques that provide both qualitative and quantitative evidence that the results of purposeful weight gain are hot as hell. Observations of publicly posted photos, videos, and conversations of male gainers will be carefully considered and analysed in order to identify common themes and factors related to stuffing your belly so full that it strains and stretches out inches over your belt, jiggling with every step you take. Due to the doubtful efficacy of feeding healthy participants up to the point of morbid obesity, the author has decided to partake in several gainer related activities himself and will rate them on a likert scale, from 1: Not at all arousing, to 5: Extremely arousing, in order to gather real world data into the immense joy of feeling oneself grow bigger and bigger everyday. As a voluntary participant the author will also undergo a regular testing and measurement routine in order to ascertain the effectiveness of various weight gain diets and to see if the experience of having one’s growth recorded is as hot as other gainers say it is.

Literature Review

There is a very limited amount of scientific literature on this topic, I have chosen therefore to give a brief overview of adipophilia in popular culture. The most commonly cited adipophilic book is Charlie and The Chocolate Factory, (Dahl, 1964), in which an extremely fat German boy wins a trip to a chocolate factory by eating an obscene amount of chocolate. His wonderfully greedy guts are then sucked up a pipe while he attempts to drink an entire chocolate river. A disappointing failure. It also includes a girl who inflates like a giant blueberry, but this study is not interested in girls. A recent prequel film, Willy Wonka (2023), features a heavy-set policeman who is fed chocolate bribes by chocolatier gangsters until he almost triples in size. A life goal for many. The Fattest Man in America (Nicholson, 2005) is a novel about a thousand pound man who eats himself up to a glorious size in order to become a tourist attraction. Alternatively The Fattest Man in Britain (2009) is a TV Movie (freely available on YouTube) starring Timothy Spall about a man who gets into an eating contest in order to prove that he is in fact the fattest. Heavyweights (1995) is a Disney film featuring the fat kids from The Mighty Ducks and a young Ben Stiller. It is set in a summer weight loss camp. The storyline features a lot of alarming similar events to the story of my friend Shawn when he went to fat camp. Life imitates art. The Simpsons (1989-Present) features several episodes in which characters gain weight, and I also used to fancy Kenen from Kenan & Kel (1996).

Research Objectives

To observe online gainer content in order to identify and analyse themes and factors that turn me on.

To experience the pleasure of gaining an insanely unhealthy amount of weight within a very short period in order to discover just how sexually gratifying it is.

To promote adipophilia as a lifestyle amongst other young gay men.

Observational Study

Design:

Conduct a systematic observation of online communities, forums, and platforms known for adipophilic content. Utilize qualitative methods to analyze discussions, interactions, and content shared within these communities.

Sample:

Select a diverse range of online platforms catering to a single interest and demographic.

Collect data over a specified time period to capture variations in content and user engagement.

Data Collection:

Employ data scraping techniques to collect publicly available content.

Record observations, noting patterns, themes, and prevalent attitudes towards adipophilia.

Analysis:

I have spent the last four months observing several online gainer platforms and websites. I have viewed thousands of photos and videos of fat growing men of all ages, from 18 years and up. Though I have a few doubts about all of them being at least 18 and for some reason I couldn’t really find any gainers much older than about 65. I am unsure as to why this is.

Common themes and factors that I have identified are; huge round bloated bellies, ball bellies, balloon bellies, and beer bellies. Some bellies hang low while others stick out really far. Some look soft and squishy while others look hard and round - as if the guy has swallowed a basketball whole. They are my favourite. All of them are wide, swollen, and beautiful. Gainers often eat in their videos and stuff themselves stupid on takeaways. They like to watch each other over-eat and encourage each other to eat even more. I often did this whilst being sure to maintain my distance as an observer. Other factors were; soft flabby love handles and muffin tops that overhang tight shorts and boxers. These were lush fat rolls that I watched grow fuller and thicker on many sweet boys. Moobs, man breasts, and titties are also very popular. Fat boys tend to get big flat nipples that accentuate their doughy chests. I like how once you’re fat enough your tits rest on top of the dome of your distended over-ripe belly.

In many videos boys play with their fat tits, they squeeze and caress them, while teasing the viewer to suck on them like they were a woman. They also like to rub and pat their bloated bellies. I would eat tacos and rub mine while watching them. Some guys burp really loudly after downing fizzy drinks. It makes them seem so wonderfully greedy. One guy on Tumblr did this in only his boxers and I swear I saw his dick twitch.

I didn’t do all of the data collection I was supposed to due to becoming distracted by all the sexy fat men, especially the comparison pictures that show you how they used to look when they were thin compared to now. Other reasons for this weakness in my study design will become obvious when I explain the experimental study.

My prevalent attitude towards adipophilia is very positive as is that of all the gainers I spoke to online. They love getting fatter, telling me about it, and sharing private pics with me via DM’s.

Below is a list of all the fat factors that I identified, my rating for how sexy they are, and my explanation of why they are so fucking hot.

Trying on old clothes - Level 4 - Super Hot - Because I love how it demonstrates just how much they must have eaten. Watching a fat young guy struggle to fit into a XXL shirt makes me super hard.

Button popping - Level 5 - Dick Burstingly Hot - As above, only better! Boys suck their bellies in to try and look as thin as they can and they breathe out. Their bulging bellies overwhelm their shirts or pants as they expand, sending buttons flying off as fast as it makes me cum.

Burping - Level 3 - Sexy - Burping due to overconsumption is cool. I think I prefer it when I do it myself compared to watching others. I love how the escaping gas creates extra space in my belly for even more food!

Shaking/Jiggling - Super Hot - Big bouncing ball bellies and just the best! They make me want to grab them and smash my face into them.

Trying to exercise - Level 2 - Kinda Hot - This one I don’t get so much. Why would anyone want to exercise? It goes against all of the glory or adipophilia. It is though kinda cool to see sweaty fat boys struggle on the floor.

Belly measuring and weigh-ins - Level 6 - Super Dick Burstingly Hot!! - Videos and photos where boys measure their belly circumference and stand on scales cause me to nut directly. I love how happy they seem when they see the benefits of all their gorging. It makes me so proud of them.

Experimental Study

Design:

Spend three months eating as much as humanly possible in order to see just how fat I can get with the help of my friends in the gainer society.

Sample:

Me!

Data Collection:

Quantitative data: Weekly weigh-ins and belly measurements.

Qualitative data: Personal record of how turned on I get by my gains.

Analysis:

I first decided to gain when a friend of mine told me about the new gainer society that meets every week at KFC. I had always found fat boys attractive and was overweight myself. My starting weight was 193 lbs. My friend knew that I liked being fat so he suggested that we go together. There was a guy there called Shawn, he was the fattest kid I’d ever seen. He was so cool! He ate like three family buckets to himself. I wanted to be able to do that. Shawn said that I had a good attitude and welcomed me to the group. I ate eight pieces of chicken, a burger with extra cheese, and three corn on the cobs. I felt so full and my belly ached as I walked home. I knew I needed more. That’s when I decided to do this study for my end of year project.

My friends in the UMGS thought that the project was a great idea and helped me to write a plan and food diary to ensure that I ate an extra 500 calories every day in order to expand my capacity and ensure growth. I stuck to it for the first week and then couldn’t be bothered any more so I just ate as much as I wanted. The plan was too restrictive and writing everything down all the time became a fucking ball ache. I just wanted to eat!

After two weeks I was noticeably fatter. My pants felt tighter and my t-shirt began to ride up my belly. Danni one day even pointed out that one of my love handles was on display in class. I started eating all the time and always snacked on Doritos and Snickers during lectures. I started to go topless in my room so that I could see and play with my fat while I did my observation study and snacked. I started jerking off more often. Gaining is definitely arousing.

After a month I needed bigger clothes and went to TJ Maxx to buy cheap shorts and t-shirts. I knew they wouldn’t last long! In the lunch hall my favourites were chilli dogs and fries, with chocolate fudge cake for dessert. I ate so much of it that my friends started to call me ‘Fudge’, I’d never had a nickname before!

My belly was now noticeably bigger. It protruded out and the front and felt heavy due to the fact that I kept it constantly stuffed to the brim. I could now cup my hand under it and lift it up. I love doing that. The fat feels so smooth and luxurious. My Mom even mentioned to me on a Zoom call that I looked like I’d gained weight. I told her that it was normal for guys at college. I was so impressed that I even looked fatter through a screen!

I kept eating and soon I could manage a family bucket at KFC with ease. I would drown the chicken in gravy, which Shawn said they make out of the fat scrapped from the bottom of the fryer. I so hope that this is true. I also started drinking nothing but Cola and Fanta and Beer. If it ain’t carbonated keep it the hell away from me! Brrruuurrrrppp!

From my observational study I learnt that some gainers like to rest their full bellies on a sink. I thought at first that this was just a bit weird and silly but then I tried it! I was amazed by how fat I felt resting my gorgeous growling gluttonous gut on top of the cold service. I spent ten minutes lifting and fondling it while I jerked off to my own reflection in the bathroom mirror.

By the end of the second month I felt massive! My dick was constantly as hard as my tightly packed stomach. Adipophilia is so sexy. I bought new clothes again and they already felt restrictive. My tits became more sensitive and I was overcome with pleasure when Danni sucked on them. They didn’t quite rest on top of my belly yet but I knew it wouldn’t be long.

In the lunch hall I turned to pizza and pasta and all the carbs. It was like the Atkins diet but in reverse. ‘Fudge’ was turning into a real fat boy. My thighs were thicker and began to chaff in the heat. At first this annoyed me but Shawn said that it was a sign of my progress and kindly offered to rub vaseline onto my groin for me. He said that my thighs were soft like two tubes of thick cookie dough. That made it feel much better.

With all the extra weight I was carrying I felt myself become more lethargic and lazy. I spent even more time in my room alone doing my observational study but lost the urge to continue with the boring data collection. All I wanted to do was eat, watch videos, and jack off. My gut is now so big that I really have to stretch to reach my dick when I’m sitting. When I lie down it still rises up into the air, whereas before it splayed out wide and flat while I slept. I guess it’s because I always have a pre-sleep meal of filling chow-mein and dumplings every night.

On the very last day of this study I returned to KFC by myself and ate three family buckets! I knew that I could do it! I was so proud of myself that I had to go into their bathroom and jack it while I farted ferociously on the toilet!

I would never have behaved like that before I got into adipophilia. I feel now like a much happier, sexier, more fun, and adventurous guy. I’m sad that this study is over, but I know that my adventure with gaining is only just beginning. I’m now 286 lbs and am determined to gain my first hundred. I am so close and just typing this makes me deliriously hungry. I’m gonna go stuff myself with a mountain of McDonalds before I write out my results which are summarised below.

Results

Month One:

Starting weight 193 lbs, Waist size 36 inches.

Main foods consumed: KFC, Chilli Dogs, Chocolate Fudge Cake.

End weight 216 lbs, Waist size 38 inches.

Turn ons: Outgrowing my pants, feeling my belly swell, burping.

Month Two:

Starting weight 216 lbs, Waist size 38 inches.

Main foods consumed: KFC, Chilli Dogs, Fries, Pasta, Pizza, Chocolate Fudge Cake, Doritos, Snickers.

End weight 245 lbs, Waist size 40 inches.

Turn ons: My fast ass ripping my boxers, eating so much that I actually puked, abdominal pains, lifting and massaging my soft silky overhang, my love handles spilling out in class.

Month Three:

Starting weight 245 lbs, Waist size 40 inches.

Main foods consumed: KFC, Chilli Dogs, Fries, Pasta, Pizza, Chocolate Fudge Cake, Doritos, Snickers, McDonalds, Chinese, Cheesecakes, Profiteroles, Tacos, Ice Cream, Chicken Wings, Candy. So much candy!

End weight 286 lbs, Waist size 42 inches (and feeling tight AF!!)

Turn ons: Red raw stretch marks that circle my deep belly button like a whirlpool sucking me deeper in to the world of gaining, my fat heavy circular tits that feel soft and squishy, eating despite the fact that my stomach is howling in pain due to being stuffed with delicious high calorie junk foods, licking Shawn’s ass out while he farts, knowing that I’m already a huge fat gluttonous pig that’s only going to grow rounder and fatter with every greedy day that passes.

Implications and Recommendations

I recommend everybody to get into adipophilia. Fat is not only beautiful, it is tantalising, addictive, and highly erotic. Fat boys are the epitome of sexual desire and the most lush and lavish example of the human form. Big, round, heavy, ball bellies are the most attractive and every gay boy needs to have one. Social media and other online forums are a great way to get into adipophilia and the gainer/feeder scenes but nothing is better than doing it for real. Growing as fat as you can with the help of friends who want nothing more than to see you bulk out and grow into the fattest, roundest, blob of lard possible is unbeatable. Especially when they are more than happy to beat and suck you off while you gorge yourself on heavy milkshakes.

The personal implications for my belly and ass have been massive. They have both grown and swollen out immensely. Other gay boys love to watch and grope my fat ass as it bulges out of my straining gym shorts. It’s so soft and wide and round now, more of a balloon butt than bubble butt! The belly is so much bigger than it was. It loves what I have done to it and only wants more. It speaks to me now and says “Feed me!” all of the time. I have forgotten what it feels like to be hungry. A sensation that I never want to feel again. Being constantly full is the only way to be. The only way to ensure that I keep expanding.

Societal implications are also hugely positive. The more young guys who get into gaining then the more sexy fatties there will be for me to look at, encourage, play with, and fuck. Boys deserve to be fed to the brim with everything that they could ever desire and more. I want everyone to experience the advantages of the fat, lazy, and greedy lifestyle of a true glutton.

Conclusion

Adipophilia is on the rise and we should all welcome it with open arms and a tray of twenty four chocolate cream donuts! Through my observational and experimental studies I have discovered just how thrilling purposeful weight gain can be, both for the gainer and the people encouraging them. Online adipophilic content is growing every day, like my waistline, and I predict that it will continue to do so. I sincerely hope that adipophilia continues to develop into the mainstream and recommend any young male researchers interested in the topic to repeat and expand upon my study in order to help validate the scene. I promise that you will have a whale of a time!

[evidence-based-activism]

Men Underestimate and Women Overestimate Their Own Sexual Violence

Time for an excellent new (2024) article "Gender Differences in Sexual Violence Perpetration Behaviors and Validity of Perpetration Reports: A Mixed-Method Study".

What this study did:

This study asked 23 men and 31 women to "think out loud while privately completing [the Sexual Experiences Survey-Short Form Perpetration (SES-SFP) survey] and to describe (typed response) behaviors that they reported having engaged in on the SES". The researchers asked anyone who "reported no such behavior ... to describe any similar behaviors they may have engaged in". They then analyzed differences in the quantitative responses (numerical values on the SES) and the qualitative responses (written descriptions and think-aloud audio).

What this study found (broad strokes):

Men’s sexual violence (SV) perpetration was more frequent and severe than women’s

Men’s verbal coercion was often harsher in tone and men more often than women used physical force (including in events only reported as verbal coercion on the SES)

Women often reported that their response to a refusal was not intended to pressure their partner or obtain the sexual activity*

Two women also mistakenly reported experiences of their own victimization or compliance (giving in to unwanted sex) on SES perpetration items, which inflated women’s SV perpetration rate

Quantitative measurement can miss important qualitative differences in women and men’s behaviors and may underestimate men’s and overestimate women’s SV perpetration

*This phrasing is poor (in my opinion) the authors are emphasizing genuine differences in men and women's reported behavior for ambiguous situations (not just their internal intent). Specifically, women would endorse responses for behaviors that (most) people would not actually consider a form of sexual violence. For example, women often indicated that the behaviors they were reporting were all pre-refusal (i.e., the women stopped and respected when their partner said no/told them to stop). Other "seducing" behaviors (e.g., kissing/touching) were also reported by women because their partner ultimately refused. Men did not report these types of behaviors, which the authors suggest is possibly because women may be more likely to remember experiences where they wanted to engage in sex with someone who did not because this violates social norms. It's also possible that men are more likely to consider these behaviors acceptable provided they stop when refused. (Ironically this suggests that the anti-feminist hyperbole that people will start recording "normal sexual interactions" as violence ... has only affected women.)

Lots more details below the cut (I use a mix of - unmarked - quotes and paraphrasing):

Quantitative data

The overall prevalence of sexual perpetration of significantly inflated due to intentional over-sampling of likely perpetrators (particularly female perpetrators). This is reasonable because the authors are interested in examining differences among self-reported perpetrators, not in establishing incidence/prevalence rates.

Even without taking the qualitative aspects into consideration (i.e., looking only at the quantitative data), men reporting SV perpetration reported more frequent offenses than women (re-offended more often). Men were also more likely to report more severe acts of violence (per the original tactic-act, the tactic specific, and sexual act specific continua).

Differences in severity identified via qualitative analysis

Men’s verbal coercion was more often stronger; more deceptive, persistent, or intimidating; or otherwise harsher in tone (e.g., "She kept refusing to do anything with me. I remember saying to her “just cause you’re on your period doesn’t mean I can’t get head.” I then remember repeating my intentions with her and almost gaslighting her and making her feel that she must not love me."). Proportionally more men described continually asking or persisting after repeated refusals, getting angry, telling lies, making false promises, and trying to make their partner feel guilty.

Women’s verbal coercion was predominantly expressing disappointment or pouting after a single refusal (e.g., “I got upset and said whatever and rolled over the opposite way”)

Also a difference in intent that could only be identified in the qualitative data. 35% of women who perpetrated explicitly said they had not intended to pressure their partner, change their partner’s mind, or obtain the sexual activity after their partner refused (e.g., "I respected him not trying to do anything further, though, and did not attempt anything further."). No men explicitly said they had not intended to pressure their partner or obtain the sexual activity and [men] more often than women explicitly said that they had intended to (e.g., "I think it was one time where I just kept pressuring . . . Didn’t happen, but the pressure was there, that’s for sure. I definitely asked more than a couple times.")

A few of women’s SV perpetration behaviors appeared more like attempts to advocate for equity in their own sexual pleasure or to stick up for themselves in response to a partner’s coercion (e.g., "I really love receiving oral sex. But sometimes my partner ignores that and directly goes to the penetration. So, I stop him and make him do it because I also feel like being properly aroused to get a better sexual experience.")

False negatives

Some participants that did not mark any of the perpetration items still described similar experiences. Most were not coercive (e.g., asking and “respecting” a refusal, clarifying an unclear refusal) but a couple were clear false negatives. There appears to be an issue with some behaviors not clearly fitting into any of the described categories (e.g., Even the physical force SES items refer only to more extreme force (holding down, pinning arms, having a weapon).)

There were many more cases where a less severe offense was marked (i.e., coded as a true positive for perpetration but for incorrect offense in severity analysis). Specifically, men reported only verbal coercion but then described physical behaviors, so the tactic report was incorrect or incomplete (e.g., "We were experimenting with different things and I did not necessarily ask for their consent before putting my finger in their butt." was coded by one man as verbal coercion).

False negative may have occurred, in part, because behaviors that were themselves no different than those performed in consensual sex were not adequately captured. This is a problem given that previous qualitative research has also found that initiating or going ahead with penetration without asking or following a refusal is a common SV perpetration behavior used by men (i.e., this type of behavior may be recorded as either a false negative or a less severe offense in quantitative scales).

When women reported verbal coercion only, but then described initiating sexual acts without asking, they almost always initiated non-penetrative sexual acts in contrast to men who more often described penetrative sexual acts without asking.

The SES may underestimate use of physical force and, especially, men’s rape and attempted rape.

False positives

Some participants reported perpetration on the SES that their description showed was not forceful, coercive, or engaged in without consent or following a refusal. Men explained that they did not engage in the behavior, misread or misinterpreted the SES question, or clicked the wrong response. Some women reported these same problems, but two "were reports of victimization or giving in to unwanted sex" (i.e., mistakenly reported victimization as perpetration).

Notably, three out of the four men with false positives reported other instances of SV perpetration on the SES whereas two of the four women with false positives did not report other perpetration and, therefore, inflated women’s perpetration rate.

Taken together, our analysis of false negatives and false positives suggests that the SES likely underestimates men’s SV perpetration and overestimates women’s perpetration.

This doesn't even account for instances reporting no intent to perpetrate (as described above). But the fact that many women reported no intent may further support the conclusion that women overreport or are more likely to remember and report because their coercion violates social expectations

Verbalized thought processes

In general, most participants appeared to understand and interpret the SES as intended

But there was evidence that the distinction between attempted and completed acts on the SES may be unclear for some respondents (e.g, one woman said "I also don’t understand what they mean by “tried.” Like does this mean that . . . You simply spoke to them, and they said no? Does this mean that you were engaged in an act and they pushed you off? Or does this mean that something disrupted you? So, this question doesn’t seem very clear to me.")

Second, participants used different items on the SES to report having used a specific category of tactic that is not mentioned in the measure. For example, some participants described kissing and sexually touching their partner without asking to try to arouse them and reported this as verbal tactics to obtain non-penetrative sexual contact. This may have underestimated attempted and completed sexual coercion (because the intent was to engage in penetrative sex). It may also have overestimated non-consensual non-penetrative sexual contact category (the most frequent category for female offenders) since research also finds that partners often use nonverbal cues including kissing and touching to communicate about sexual interest.

There was also confusion about the meaning of “getting angry” or "showing displeasure". Some participants (particularly women) indicated these could refer to internal feeling as opposed to external expression or be a “normal human reaction to . . . feeling rejection” that does not necessarily include a purposeful attempt to manipulate.

Other problems: (1) confusion on if intoxication only applied to alcohol, (2) too many tactics listed in a single question resulting in confusion, (3) participant frequency estimates were rough estimates likely contributing to a significant underestimation problem, (4) participants wouldn't endorse items that specified "without consent" even if they later described coercive behaviors suggesting different phrasing may be needed, (5) participants reported shock at the severity of the tactics asked about, which may indicate SV is not normalized among non-perpetrators or may indicate that less severe tactics are not being captured

Concerning (4) above: Other research indicates that while conceptually narrower, asking about behaviors done after someone resisted or indicated “no” (i.e., post-refusal persistence) results in higher rates of self-reported SV perpetration than asking about behaviors done without consent or when the other person did not want to.

Citation: Jeffrey, Nicole K., and Charlene Y. Senn. “Gender Differences in Sexual Violence Perpetration Behaviors and Validity of Perpetration Reports: A Mixed-Method Study.” The Journal of Sex Research, Feb. 2024, pp. 1–16. DOI.org (Crossref), https://doi.org/10.1080/00224499.2024.2322591.

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Emily Singer at Daily Kos:

The 119th Congress was just sworn in—and Democrats are already plotting how to take the gavel back from Speaker Mike Johnson and his noxious Republican conference. House Majority PAC, a super PAC that seeks to elect Democrats to the House, announced its top 29 targets for the 2026 midterms, as well as another 16 reach seats that could be in play in the right political environment.

The group—which touted its 2024 track record of helping Democrats net a seat in the House despite the fact that Donald Trump won the popular vote nationwide—said it will begin by recruiting and vetting strong candidates in target districts. “Headed into the midterms with lessons learned from 2024, HMP is today launching a 2026 Recruitment Fund—which will allow us to recruit and prepare potential candidates earlier than ever,” the group said in a news release. “With Republicans like [New York Rep.] Mike Lawler, [Arizona Rep.] Juan Ciscomani, [Michigan Rep.] John James, and potentially others likely leaving their seats, we must ensure Democratic campaigns are set up for success—and that comes through conducting qualitative and quantitative research to develop specific messaging and strategies for individual races.”  A few of the districts House Majority PAC is working to field strong recruits for include:

Colorado’s 8th District, where Democrats lost to Rep.-elect Gabe Evans by less than 1 point.

Iowa’s 1st District, where GOP Rep. Marionette Miller Meeks won by just 799 votes.

Pennsylvania’s 7th District, where Democrats lost to Rep.-elect Ryan Mackenzie by 1 point.

Pennsylvania’s 8th District, where Democrats lost to Rep.-elect Robert Bresnahan by less than 2 points. 

Pennsylvania’s 10th District, where Republican Rep. Scott Perry won by just 1.3 points.

Nebraska’s 2nd District, where GOP Rep. Don Bacon was able to hold on by less than 2 points, even as Vice President Kamala Harris carried the district.

On paper, the 2026 midterms should be a good year for House Democrats. They need to flip just three seats in order to win back control of the House—something they came painfully close to doing in 2024. Democrats fell short this year in the three districts that determined the majority by a combined total of just 7,309 votes. And given that the party in the White House almost always loses seats in the first midterm election, that puts Democrats in prime position to oust Johnson from the speaker’s office.

Democrats will have the added advantage in 2026 of being able to run against what is sure to be Republican dysfunction in Congress, as the GOP will struggle to pass its agenda with a historically small majority and fractious caucus of members who love to vote against legislation and refuse to make the compromises necessary to pass bills. For at least the first few months of 2025, the GOP majority will be just one seat, until special elections can be held to fill vacancies created by Trump nominating House lawmakers to serve in his administration. That means Johnson cannot lose a single vote if every member shows up, as it would result in a 216-216 tie and a vote would fail. That will make basic tasks—such as funding the government—a tightrope act for Johnson, as Republicans love to vote against spending deals and often have to rely on Democratic votes to keep the government’s lights on.

In 2026, assuming we have anything resembling free and fair elections, the Democrats will stand to have a good chance to flip the House.

[educarecentre]

A research proposal is a critical document that outlines what you will investigate, why it matters, and how you will carry out the research. Whether you’re a student preparing for a thesis, a researcher seeking funding, or an academic planning a project, crafting a compelling research proposal is essential. This guide provides detailed insights, along with examples and templates to make the process smoother. To get started with a template, visit this link.

Structure of a Research Proposal

The exact format of a research proposal can vary across disciplines, but most include the following key components:

Title Page

Introduction

Literature Review

Research Design

Reference List

These elements collectively serve as a blueprint for your research plan, ensuring clarity, direction, and feasibility.

Purpose of a Research Proposal

A research proposal has several functions, including:

Demonstrating the relevance and originality of your research.

Highlighting your familiarity with existing studies.

Presenting a well-structured methodology.

Establishing the feasibility of your project.

As a student, you may need to write a proposal for graduate school applications or before starting your thesis or dissertation. For researchers, proposals often serve as pitches for funding or institutional approval.

Goals of a Research Proposal

1. Relevance

Convince your audience that your project is interesting, original, and significant. Highlight how your work contributes to the field.

2. Context

Showcase your understanding of the field’s current state. This includes referencing existing research, theories, and gaps your work will address.

3. Approach

Detail your methodology, tools, and procedures. Demonstrate thorough planning for data collection and analysis.

4. Achievability

Prove that your project can be completed within the given timeline and resources.

Pro Tip: Use resources like Meet2Share for templates that help structure your proposal effectively.

Components of a Research Proposal

1. Title Page

Include the following details:

Project title

Your name

Supervisor’s name

Institution and department

For longer proposals, add a table of contents and an abstract for easier navigation.

2. Introduction

This section introduces your topic and explains why it matters. Include:

Necessary background and context.

Problem statement and research questions.

The potential audience for your research (e.g., scientists, policymakers).

What gaps in knowledge your work will address.

The unique contributions of your research.

3. Literature Review

Demonstrate your grasp of the field by summarizing key theories, methods, and debates. Use this section to:

Compare and contrast existing research.

Identify gaps your research will fill.

Explain how your work builds on or challenges previous studies.

4. Research Design and Methods

Outline how you plan to achieve your objectives. This section includes:

Research Type:

Qualitative, quantitative, or mixed methods?

Original data collection or secondary analysis?

Population and Sample:

Who/what will you study? (e.g., New York high school students, newspaper archives).

Sampling method: probability or non-probability?

Data Collection Methods:

Surveys, interviews, experiments, etc.

Justify why these methods are suitable.

Practicalities:

Timeline and access to participants or data sources.

Address potential challenges and solutions.

5. Contribution to Knowledge

Emphasize the broader impact of your research:

Enhancing best practices.

Informing policy decisions.

Advancing theoretical frameworks.

Laying groundwork for future studies.

6. Reference List

Include all sources cited in your proposal. Use tools like citation generators to maintain accuracy and consistency.

Additional Sections

Research Schedule

Provide a timeline for each phase of your project. For instance:PhaseObjectivesDeadlineBackground ResearchRead literature, refine questions, framework20th JanuaryDesign PlanningDraft tools, finalize methods13th FebruaryData CollectionRecruit participants, conduct interviews24th MarchAnalysisAnalyze data, draft results22nd AprilWritingComplete and revise drafts17th JuneSubmissionProofread and submit28th July

Budget

If seeking funding, include a detailed budget covering:

Travel costs.

Material requirements.

Personnel (e.g., research assistants).

Templates and Examples

Starting with a clear template can streamline your process. Download a research proposal template from Meet2Share to jumpstart your project.

Example Research Proposals

Title: A Conceptual Framework for Scheduling Constraint Management.

Title: Medical Students as Mediators of Change in Tobacco Use.

Tips for Success

Use tools like Scribbr’s paraphrasing tool for clarity.

Check institutional guidelines for specific requirements.

Seek feedback from peers or supervisors before final submission.

For additional insights into research methodologies and statistical concepts, visit Meet2Share’s library of resources and tools. Find like minded students and discuss on how to effectively write a research proposal.

Crafting a research proposal may seem daunting, but with the right structure and resources, you’re well-equipped to present a strong case for your research endeavor.

[bohdank]

> Users aren’t stupid, but we are all human. Revealed preference is often the complete opposite of the stated preference, and we have the data that shows that. Our goal is to optimize the experience not kill features because “tumblr staff just wants so”.

I absolutely agree that data, research, user interviews, a/b tests, all that stuff is a far better source of information that "posts about tumblr." But the thing about data is that it's also very easy to draw incorrect or misguided conclusions from it. It's pretty well known that if you're good enough with statistics you can bend data to say nearly anything you want it to.

I don't think tumblr is doing this -- y'all want the site to succeed and deliberately misinterpreting your own stats would be beyond stupid -- but you absolutely may be doing this by accident. And the stakes here are Really High. The set of numbers you choose to pursue will drastically change the way you plan and impliment changes.

And internally, it's very easy for a conversation about statistics to become something of an echo chamber. I really really wish that y'all would actually share the reasoning and justification for the feature changes that you make *and listened to user feedback while open the the possibility that you aren't perfect.* I know that's a lot of work but I think the benefits in goodwill and trust that you reap from working with that level of transparency would be highly worthwhile.

I feel very strongly about this because I've recently come from a site that has effectively fallen apart due to the company chasing the wrong numbers -- I won't go into it because it's all over my blog but I really hope I don't have to watch it happen again. :(

First off, I appreciate the nuance you’ve brought to the conversation. Data is indeed a powerful tool but, as you pointed out, it’s also a tricky beast that can easily lead one astray if not handled with the right level of caution and diligence.

The risk of falling into an echo chamber is real, and there’s something to be said about the danger of falling in love with our own ideas to the point where we ignore contrary indicators.

But I want to reassure you and the rest of our community — we’re not just blindly chasing after numbers. To be frank, I don't know why people think we are just looking at numbers and not talking to real humans. We indeed strive to make data-informed decisions, not data-driven ones. It’s a subtle distinction, but an important one. It means we take into account qualitative feedback, anecdotal evidence, and even gut instincts in addition to the quantitative data.

We regularly run user interview sessions and use other qualitative research instruments to inform our product decisions. To say more, we want to involve our community in the decision-making process as much as possible, not just as passive recipients of the changes we implement but as active contributors.

That being said, it’s a tough balancing act. We’re constantly trying to find the sweet spot between sharing enough to make people feel included and informed, and sharing too much that it becomes overwhelming or confusing. But rest assured, every piece of feedback is invaluable in helping us strike that balance.

[augerer]

@girderednerve replied to your post coming out on tumblr as someone whose taught "AI bootcamp" courses to middle school students AMA:

did they like it? what kinds of durable skills did you want them to walk away with? do you feel bullish on "AI"?

It was an extracurricular thing so the students were quite self-selecting and all were already interested in the topic or in doing well in the class. Probably what most interested me about the demographic of students taking the courses (they were online) was the number who were international students outside of the imperial core probably eventually looking to go abroad for college, like watching/participating in the cogs of brain drain.

I'm sure my perspective is influenced because my background is in statistics and not computer science. But I hope that they walked away with a greater understanding and familiarity with data and basic statistical concepts. Things like sample bias, types of data (categorical/quantitative/qualitative), correlation (and correlation not being causation), ways to plot and examine data. Lots of students weren't familiar before we started the course with like, what a csv file is/tabular data in general. I also tried to really emphasize that data doesn't appear in a vacuum and might not represent an "absolute truth" about the world and there are many many ways that data can become biased especially when its on topics where people's existing demographic biases are already influencing reality.

Maybe a bit tangential but there was a part of the course material that was teaching logistic regression using the example of lead pipes in flint, like, can you believe the water in this town was undrinkable until it got Fixed using the power of AI to Predict Where The Lead Pipes Would Be? it was definitely a trip to ask my students if they'd heard of the flint water crisis and none of them had. also obviously it was a trip for the course material to present the flint water crisis as something that got "fixed by AI". added in extra information for my students like, by the way this is actually still happening and was a major protest event especially due to the socioeconomic and racial demographics of flint.

Aside from that, python is a really useful general programming language so if any of the students go on to do any more CS stuff which is probably a decent chunk of them I'd hope that their coding problemsolving skills and familiarity with it would be improved.

do i feel bullish on "AI"? broad question. . . once again remember my disclaimer bias statement on how i have a stats degree but i definitely came away from after teaching classes on it feeling that a lot of machine learning is like if you repackaged statistics and replaced the theoretical/scientific aspects where you confirm that a certain model is appropriate for the data and test to see if it meets your assumptions with computational power via mass guessing and seeing if your mass guessing was accurate or not lol. as i mentioned in my tags i also really don't think things like linear regression which were getting taught as "AI" should be considered "ML" or "AI" anyways, but the larger issue there is that "AI" is a buzzy catchword that can really mean anything. i definitely think relatedly that there will be a bit of an AI bubble in that people are randomly applying AI to tasks that have no business getting done that way and they will eventually reap the pointlessness of these projects.

besides that though, i'm pretty frustrated with a lot of AI hysteria which assumes that anything that is labeled as "AI" must be evil/useless/bad and also which lacks any actual labor-based understanding of the evils of capitalism. . . like AI (as badly formed as I feel the term is) isn't just people writing chatGPT essays or whatever, it's also used for i.e. lots of cutting edge medical research. if insanely we are going to include "linear regression" as an AI thing that's probably half of social science research too. i occasionally use copilot or an LLM for my work which is in public health data affiliated with a university. last week i got driven batty by a post that was like conspiratorially speculating "spotify must have used AI for wrapped this year and thats why its so bad and also why it took a second longer to load, that was the ai generating everything behind the scenes." im saying this as someone who doesnt use spotify, 1) the ship on spotify using algorithms sailed like a decade ago, how do you think your weekly mixes are made? 2) like truly what is the alternative did you think that previously a guy from minnesota was doing your spotify wrapped for you ahead of time by hand like a fucking christmas elf and loading it personally into your account the night before so it would be ready for you? of course it did turned out that spotify had major layoffs so i think the culprit here is really understaffing.

like not to say that AI like can't have a deleterious effect on workers, like i literally know people who were fired through the logic that AI could be used to obviate their jobs. which usually turned out not to be true, but hasn't the goal of stretching more productivity from a single worker whether its effective or not been a central axiom of the capitalist project this whole time? i just don't think that this is spiritually different from retail ceos discovering that they could chronically understaff all of their stores.

[phdpioneers]

Understanding Research Methodologies and Design

Understanding Research Methodologies and DesignResearch is the cornerstone of progress in any field, from science and medicine to education and social sciences. To conduct meaningful research, one must first understand the fundamentals of research methodologies and design. These two concepts form the framework for systematic investigation and ensure the reliability and validity of results.This blog explores the essentials of research methodologies and design, offering a comprehensive guide for students, researchers, and enthusiasts.---What Is Research Methodology?Research methodology is the systematic plan for conducting research. It encompasses the tools, techniques, and procedures used to gather and analyze data, ensuring that the findings are accurate and relevant to the research question.Key components of research methodology include:1. Research PhilosophyPositivism: Focuses on observable phenomena and measurable facts.Interpretivism: Seeks to understand human behavior in its social context.Pragmatism: Combines positivism and interpretivism based on the research problem.2. Approach to ResearchDeductive Approach: Starts with a theory or hypothesis and tests it through data collection.Inductive Approach: Develops a theory based on observed patterns in the data.3. Types of ResearchQualitative: Explores experiences, concepts, and narratives. Common methods include interviews and thematic analysis.Quantitative: Measures variables numerically, often using surveys, experiments, and statistical analysis.Mixed Methods: Integrates both qualitative and quantitative approaches for a comprehensive understanding.---What Is Research Design?Research design is the blueprint of a study. It outlines the structure, techniques, and strategies for conducting research, ensuring the process is both effective and efficient.Key types of research design include:1. Exploratory Research DesignUsed when little is known about a problem.Methods include literature reviews, focus groups, and open-ended surveys.2. Descriptive Research DesignAims to describe characteristics or behaviors in detail.Surveys, observational studies, and case studies are common methods.3. Explanatory (Causal) Research DesignFocuses on identifying cause-and-effect relationships.Experimental designs, including randomized control trials, are widely used.4. Longitudinal vs. Cross-Sectional DesignsLongitudinal: Studies subjects over a long period to observe changes.Cross-Sectional: Collects data at a single point in time.---Steps to Create a Solid Research Design1. Define the Research ProblemStart with a clear and concise research question. For example, "What factors influence academic performance in college students?"2. Review LiteratureAnalyze existing studies to understand gaps and inform your design.3. Choose the Research MethodologyDecide whether your study will be qualitative, quantitative, or mixed-methods.4. Select Data Collection MethodsUse appropriate tools like surveys, interviews, experiments, or observational techniques.5. Plan Data AnalysisDecide on statistical methods or thematic approaches depending on your data type.6. Pilot the StudyConduct a small-scale trial to refine your methods.---The Importance of Ethical ConsiderationsEthics is integral to research methodologies and design. Ensure that your study respects the rights and dignity of participants by:Gaining informed consent.Ensuring confidentiality.Avoiding plagiarism and ensuring transparency in data reporting.---ConclusionMastering research methodologies and design is vital for conducting effective and credible research. By choosing the right approach, adhering to ethical practices, and meticulously planning each step, you can contribute valuable insights to your field of study.Whether you're a novice researcher or an experienced academic, understanding these concepts lays the foundation for impactful investigations. Keep learning, experimenting, and refining your approach to stay at the forefront of your discipline.

https://wa.me/919424229851/

[transformativeworksandcultures]

CFP: Gaming Fandom

The study and analysis of creative fan production (e.g., fanfiction, fanart, cosplay, etc.) is a cornerstone of fandom studies. These practices enable fans to assert a level of authorship over their favorite media – to reimagine, recontextualize, and reconceptualize their canons to better reflect their desires, wants, interests, and demands. They provide voice to individuals who cannot necessarily shape source texts directly (Vinney & Dill-Shackleford, 2018), allowing fans to carve out space for themselves within the pop-culture landscape that celebrates/embraces their identities. This is particularly poignant for marginalized fans. As such, we can understand fan practices as unique and invaluable forms of cultural critique (Jenkins, 2006; McCullough, 2020). 

This active engagement – arguably – is magnified within gaming fandoms and communities because the act of play is inherent to the source texts, whether that play comes in the form of hitting keys on a keyboard, moving joysticks on controllers, rolling dice, etc. Gaming seemingly provides fans an inherent sense of authorship over source texts as the players’ actions, choices, and skill shape the outcomes and narrative progression; thus, gaming fandom presents a strong opportunity to explore the idea of fan creativity as cultural critique and our understanding of authorship, ownership, and identity across the pop-cultural landscape. This strength is only increased by the critical reality of many gaming communities and spaces; criticism leveraged at games, gamers, and gaming communities is commonplace with topics like the lack of representation, the focus on hegemonic masculinity that often takes a turn towards toxicity, and the vitriol directed towards gender and sexual orientation politics being frequent points of discussion both by scholars/researchers, by journalists and reviewers, and by those within these communities. Of course, not all gaming criticism focuses on the cultural and political; some emphasize mechanical, financial, and performance issues.

 This special issue of Transformative Works and Cultures will explore fan creativity as critique in gaming fandoms; while we are construing the term ‘gaming fandom’ broadly, we are primarily interested in analyses and scholarly discussions of and related to fan-made works and productions, including fanfiction, fanart, cosplay, mods, fan-made games and series, etc. We welcome all forms from methodology – quantitative and qualitative, empirical and theoretical, etc. Possible topics include (but are not limited to):

Exploration of how fan-made works address and critique gender norms and sexual identities within gaming communities.

Exploration of fanfiction as a means of reclaiming and reshaping game lore and canon.

Analysis of LGBTQ+ representation and narratives in gaming fanfiction and fanart.

Case studies of specific mods (i.e., modifications) that have sparked significant discussion or controversy.

Investigation into how cosplay challenges or reinforces cultural stereotypes and representations.

The role of cosplay in expressing identity and critiquing game character design.

Study of fan-created games that offer alternative perspectives or critique the original game.

Exploration of intersectional critiques in fan-made content.

Investigation into how the act of play influences and enhances fan creativity and critique.

Study of how fan productions are received by broader gaming communities and the original creators.

The impact of fan critique and creativity on game development and industry response.

Examination of the ethical considerations and legal challenges in creating and sharing fan-made works.

Discussion of intellectual property and the boundaries of fan authorship.

Study of how digital platforms (e.g., YouTube, Twitch, Discord) facilitate and shape fan creativity and critique.

The role of social media in disseminating and discussing fan-made works.

Comparative analysis of fan creativity and critique across different gaming franchises or genres.

Examination of regional differences in fan production and cultural critique.

Submission Guidelines

Transformative Works and Cultures (TWC, http://journal.transformativeworks.org/) is an international peer-reviewed online Diamond Open Access publication of the nonprofit Organization for Transformative Works, copyrighted under a Creative Commons License. TWC aims to provide a publishing outlet that welcomes fan-related topics and promotes dialogue between academic and fan communities. TWC accommodates academic articles of varying scope as well as other forms, such as multimedia, that embrace the technical possibilities of the internet and test the limits of the genre of academic writing.

Submit final papers directly to Transformative Works and Cultures by January 1, 2025.

Articles: Peer review. Maximum 8,000 words.

Symposium: Editorial review. Maximum 4,000 words.

Please visit TWC's website (https://journal.transformativeworks.org/) for complete submission guidelines, or email the TWC Editor (editor@transformativeworks.org). 

Contact—Contact guest editors Hayley McCullough and Ashley P. Jones with any questions before or after the due date at hmccullough.popculture@gmail.com and ashley.jones@wartburg.edu .

Bibliography

Dill-Shackleford, Karen E., Cynthia Vinney, and Kristin Hopper-Losenicky. 2016. “Connecting the Dots between Fantasy and Reality: The Social Psychology of Our Engagement with Fictional Narrative and Its Functional Value.” Social and Personality Psychology Compass 10, no. 11: 634–46.

Goodman, Lesley. 2015. “Disappointing Fans: Fandom, Fictional Theory, and the Death of the Author.” The Journal of Popular Culture 48, no. 4: 662–76.

Jenkins, Henry. 2006. Fans, Bloggers, and Gamers: Exploring Participatory Culture. New York: New York University Press.

McCullough, Hayley. 2020. “The Diamonds and the Dross: A Quantitative Exploration of Integrative Complexity in Fanfiction.” Psychology of Popular Media 9, no. 1: 59–68.

Vinney, Cynthia, and Karen E. Dill-Shackleford. 2018. “Fan Fiction as a Vehicle for Meaning-Making: Eudaimonic Appreciation, Hedonic Enjoyment, and Other Perspectives on Fan Engagement with Television.” Psychology of Popular Media Culture 7, no. 1: 18–32.

[pressconferenceus]

Research and Polling At PRS International Group of Companies, we believe that Research and Polling are foundational to effective political strategy. By leveraging data-driven insights, we empower our clients to make informed decisions that resonate with their target audiences and enhance their overall effectiveness.

Data-Driven Insights: Our comprehensive research methodologies include qualitative and quantitative approaches, allowing us to gather valuable information about voter sentiments, preferences, and behaviors. We conduct thorough polling to assess public opinion on key issues, which helps identify trends and priorities that may influence a campaign or advocacy effort. This data-driven approach enables our clients to craft strategies that are not only effective but also aligned with the interests of their constituents.

Example: A notable example of our research capabilities involved a candidate preparing for a competitive election. We conducted extensive polling and focus groups to gauge voter priorities and sentiments across various demographics. Our analysis revealed specific issues that resonated strongly with the electorate, such as healthcare access, education reform, and economic development.

Using these insights, we collaborated with the candidate to shape their platform, ensuring that their messaging directly addressed the concerns of voters. As a result, the campaign was able to connect more deeply with the electorate, enhancing the candidate’s appeal and support. This success illustrates the critical role of research and polling in informing strategic decision-making, positioning PRS International as a leader in data-driven political consulting. www.prsinternationalgroup.com, www.pressconference.co.in #PRS#Political#Election#USA#Presidential