| Chapter 1: | Operationalizing Fidelity |
about sex, love, and intimacy between partners. In this study (as with previous research), gender and sexual orientation are the foremost predictors of engagement in and experiences with monogamy, nonmonogamy, and polyamory. They are also essential in examining both how and to what extent fidelity is assumed, negotiated, or violated in such relationships.
The Study
In order to fully assess the importance of fidelity and feeling special in romantic relationships, I administered surveys and conducted in-depth interviews with monogamists, nonmonogamists, and polyamorists throughout the period 2004–2007. The survey questionnaires aimed to quantitatively assess general patterns of monogamy and nonmonogamy, whereas the in-depth interviews qualitatively addressed individuals’ experiences and negotiations within their romantic relationships.
I administered a thirty-question survey to respondents throughout California and other parts of the United States. The only requirements for survey participation were that the individual be over the age of eighteen and in a romantic or sexual relationship of some sort. I worked with small teams of advanced undergraduate students to administer surveys on street corners, in public waiting areas, and at coffee shops in the major metropolitan cities and surrounding areas of San Francisco, Los Angeles, Orange County, central California, and San Diego. We focused our efforts on several fairly homogenous geographic areas in order to draw a diverse sample based on sexual orientation. We also attended five different LGBT Pride parades, held in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Orange County, Long Beach, and San Diego. We stood with clipboards and bags of free candy and prophylactics (condoms and dental dams) and asked passersby whether they would like to answer a few questions about relationships. The survey was also posted on an Internet electronic