BRRRRING!
Hello?
Good evening, I'm calling from Paradigm Market Research Services. Would you have a few minutes to answer some questions?
...Sure, I guess so.
Thank you so much, Ma'am - or do you prefer Ms?
"Ms." would be good, thank you.
Thank you, Ms., this shouldn't take very long. So, first, what is your occupation?
I teach in the Social Science Faculty at Chandling University.
And do you live in a house, condo, apartment, or other residence?
I own a condominium unit.
How many people reside there?
What do you mean by "reside"?
How many people live there?
Well that's my point. What counts as "living here"? I'm here almost every night, so there's me, but Max stays here when he's in town. So he lives here then, but not most of the time. Does that count?
Is Max your sexual partner?
I beg your pardon?
Is Max your sexual partner? Does he sleep in your room, or in a separate room?
Oh, um, yes, Max sleeps with me when he's here. And we have entertaining conversations on the phone when he is not.
And is he your only sexual partner?
...
You mentioned that you slept in your condo "almost" every night, so I was trying to determine what would take you elsewhere.
Who did you say you worked for again?
...Paradyne Marketing Services.
Yes, Max is my only sexual partner.
Currently?
Currently.
And how many sexual partners have you had?
...What kind of question is that?
It's a scripted conversation, Ms.
No, I understand that, but it's a poorly-constructed question - it's ill-defined and it's purely summative. A summative question is too crude.
I'm sorry?
Well, what I mean is, if all you get is a total number, that might be quite misleading. For instance, ask me how many sexual partners I had up until the end of my third year of university.
Um...
Go on, you ought to be able diverge from your script for good reason.
I suppose I could enter it in the comments section.
There you go! So ask me.
How many sexual partners did you have in your third year of university?
No, "until the end of".
How many sexual partners did you have until the end of your third year of university?
One. Now ask how many sexual partners I have had from the start of graduate school till now.
How many sexual partners did you have from the start of graduate school until now.
Three. Including Max. Now ask -
Yes, I get it. How many sexual partners have you had in your entire life, including the year between third year and graduate school?
Four.
What!? But...so why did you make me split it up that way? Did you just want to say you didn't have sex with anybody in your fourth year?
That would be a useful finding not revealed by your summative question, wouldn't it?
I...guess. But it doesn't seem all
that
surprising a fact. You spent, what, something like eight months not in a relationship? I thought you were going to reveal that you had some really large number of sexual partners that year.
Well, that points to the other big problem in your question.
Which is?
That your question is ill-defined.
...Because "sexual partner" could mean various things?
Exactly! You didn't define it, so I answered as though "sexual partner" meant "person with whom you have had penetrative vaginal intercourse", but you quite plausibly might mean lots of other things. I could be bisexual for all you know.
Are
you bisexual?
No, but that's an important variable you ought to have excluded.
What about anal sex?
What about it? Have I had it? With how many partners? When?
Yes, all of those. I'll enter it in the comments section.
Yes I have had it. Only with Max. When he stays here and is my sexual partner. Most recently the last time he was here, which was unfortunately almost a month ago.
And did you enjoy it?
That time and every time, as I explained to him at some length in a recent telephone call, thank you for asking.
Oral sex?
It doesn't become a proper question just because you raise your voice at the end.
How many sexual partners have you had, including "people you have had oral sex with" as part of "sexual partner"?
Performed by me or on me?
I think "with" pretty clearly implies either one will do.
That is still a purely summative question. Didn't you learn anything?
...Including "people you had oral sex with" as part of "sexual partner", how many sexual partners did you have up until the end of your third year of university?
There you go! Two.
So you had oral sex with someone you did not have vaginal sex with before the end of third year...was that before or after?
Was what before or after?
You mean that you went down on someone who you never otherwise had sex with, and I'm guessing that that was probably your first boyfriend, then you had sex with your next boyfriend. What I mean is you were willing to suck off your first boyfriend, but not sleep with him.
You should not make assumptions. But to answer your implied question, yes, that's correct, I had oral sex with my high school boyfriend but never vaginal sex. Or anal, as we've already covered.
Ok. Now, including "people you had oral sex with" as part of "sexual partner", how many sexual partners have you had since starting grad school?
Three.
Including Max?
Including Max. Both "by me" and "on me". He's
very
good at it.
Ok, and including "people you had oral sex with" as part of "sexual partner", how many sexual partners have you had in your entire life?
...
Ms.?
...
Ms.?
I'm counting.
...
...about thirty?
Thirty!!??
Now you see why you shouldn't just ask summative questions. If you just had that number you'd be making all sorts of inaccurate assumptions about the kind of person I am, rather than recognising that you have information about the kind of person I was for a relatively short period of time.
Thirty??
You're not looking at the data in context. Look, here's how it began. I was not long out of the relationship I had been in for nearly three years when I went to Bermuda to visit a friend of mine. It's an "everybody knows everybody" kind of place, and so we started hanging out at clubs with some friends of hers, and in that group there was one guy I started dancing with quite a lot. One night he and I found ourselves walking alone on the beach, and then we found our lips on one another's, and our hands on each other, and after a little while I found my knees getting sandy and my mouth ...well, you get the idea. And it was hugely satisfying! And just as satisfying the next night - and the night after. It was an eye-opener for me, you see.