At the Hamburg Institute for Sex Research in Germany, a nationwide study is currently being carried out into the sexual experiences, attitudes and relationships of adults (18-75 years). The main focus of this pilot study is to test the comprehensibility and length of a data collecting instrument as well as the comparison of two data collecting methods with regard to reliability and representativeness of the results as well as of the refusal rate. To this end face-to-face interviews (n = 500) and questionnaires sent by post (n = 500) are to be compared with each other as methods. The data to be collected relates to sexuality, particularly the prevention of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections (STIs). The WHO definition of sexual health forms the basis for the study and thus connects up with the existing sex survey research in Europe and western industrial nations. Comparable surveys have been conducted over the past ten years in more than 30 European countries using a variety of methods. The focus of the study is placed upon the increase that has been observed for several years now in certain STIs. The article provides an overview of existing sex survey research in Europe. It becomes clear that the studies conducted so far are very heterogeneous with regard to chosen method, sampling techniques and the choice of content focus, so that no suitable data for cross-national comparability are currently available.
Keywords: Pilot study; Quantitative sex research methods; Sexual health; Sexually transmitted infections (STI); Survey research.