It’s rather unusual to have tutorials before lectures are held. I was also assigned to do some readings. This is going to shape up to be an interesting course. Basically the professor looked for the most extreme and sensitive topics and tossed journal articles relating to them in a customized text.
So what did we get for week 1?
A journal article proposing applying therapy to homosexuals in order to make them go straight. We’re not talking like a miracle drug. Just a simple sit-down and talk for hours on end. The rest of it just goes on and on about why it’s valid and should be accepted. It does state that homosexuality is not a mental disorder and all the standard cover-your-ass type stuff.
Who would want to make the most famous person in Austria go straight anyway?
In any case, this was a lesson in seeing if certain studies are full of shit or not.
Method
Always look at the method of study. Self report surveys are usually an indicator that one should dig deeper. Studies that involve control groups and experimental groups fare better and are more easily acceptable. In this case, the paper reported that people went into treatment with the intent of changing their sexual orientation. After therapy, all of them reported either they were straight or that treatment was ineffective.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but I think the administrator of the study should be the one who determines that not the ones that undergo it.
Dates
The article cites studies from the 30s and 40s. That’s not exactly recent work. There’s another red flag.
Sources
The paper cited Freud. Yeah, Sigmund Freud. I know he was instrumental to the development of psychology and stuff. But psychoanalysis went out of style decades ago.
Peer review
This particular study was not submitted for peer review in certain journals. Now why is that? Maybe it’s for political reasons or something else is at work here. But if you genuinely believe what you’re researching, why not lay it open for the rest of the community to critique it?
So how else did the rest of my day go?
They renovated my self-patented spot. All the seats that were against the wall were remade into solid wood. That’s going to suck for prolonged seating. I should bring a cushion or something.
For once, instead of sitting alone and letting others filter into my table, I decided to try something different. I noticed there were these two other girls sitting at a table and opted to sit with them. I basically asked if they had read the assigned reading and how they found it and then managed to just sneak in with a seat. After that, I introduced myself. Found out they were both first years and new to the university.
I’ve been in school for a long time. I want to get out.