Rabbi Kinsey is coming to town

Er. Ahem,

Well... Just read it for yourself.

Hello,

My name is Mark Guterman. I am a Clinical Psychology PhD student working with Orit Avishai of the University of California at Berkeley.

We are doing an internet survey of Jews of all denominations. The survey is for both singles and married couples.

The survey is online at: http://www.JewishSurveys.org

The study looks at issues regarding Negiah (premarital touching) and Niddah / Taharat HaMishpachah (family purity). Niddah and Negiah play an important role in the every day lives of Jewish men and women. The collection of handbooks on this topic grows from year to year, yet we know very little about how Jewish couples, men, and women experience and observe Niddah and Negiah. Anecdotal evidence and our previous research have led us to conclude that many couples and individuals are experiencing difficulties with this aspect of the Halachah. We are inviting the Jewish community at large to participate in this important survey to shed light on these difficulties and explore some ways to address them. Given the intimate nature of these matters, this brief, online survey is totally anonymous, and no identifiable information is collected.

I was wondering if you could allow post a link on your site for our research?

I ask you, because your blog draws readers of a type that we may not be able to reach through any other means. Please help us out. We are not making any money on this; we are simply trying to learn more about our community. Your cooperation in this would be greatly appreciated, and you would be doing a service to the Jewish community at large.

Thank you very much for considering this,
~Mark Guterman

In response to a question of mine, Mark emailed me as follows:

Regarding religious affiliations/denominations: This is a common complaint. We were forced to choose categories for the sake of this survey. In future research, we will surely expand these categories. However, perhaps this temporary solution will satisfy you: Many respondents have chosen to clarify their religious position in the comments field.




So believers and skeptics alike, now is the time to make yourself heard.