2.+Tea+Room+Trade

**Background information on Humphreys' research**
 * Laud Humphreys--Tearoom Trade: Impersonal sex in public places**

What happened?
Laud Humphreys wrote his dissertation on the lives of men who frequented tearooms; public bathrooms where men go to give and receive fellatio. Humphreys played the role of the “watchqueen” meaning he would give a signal to the men in the tearoom if a cop was nearby, because men were often arrested for this at this time. He started off simply observing the types of men that would come to the tearooms. To some, he would reveal that he was a scientist and interviewed them. With others, however, he would follow them to their cars, write down their license plate numbers, then show up to their house at a later date to interview them under the guise of a health-service interviewer. His findings were surprising; 54% of the men were married, and living with their wives. Only 14% of the men identified and lived as homosexual men.

When?
He published his doctoral dissertation in 1970. **Humphreys' Research: Ethical violations** Review of Laud Humphreys' research on the tearoom trade found many violations of current research ethical practices. One significant violation was Humphreys deceiving the men using the public bathrooms (tearooms) that he was only a participant, a lookout for the police. He did not inform the participants he observed, then followed and surveyed, that he was a researcher observing behavior and using survey measurements to gather data for a dissertation study. Another significant violation was Humphreys not providing informed consent of his identity as a researcher to the participants, of the demographic data survey the "participants" completed, and his intentions of using the data from the survey. A third ethical violation that occurred was Humphreys' invasion of the participants' privacy. According to SexInfo Online (2015), after observing the men in the tearoom, " Humphreys wrote down the license plate numbers of the men whom he observed and traced them to their homes, where he had them fill out a questionnaire, pretending that it was for a general 'social health survey.'"

**How the Tearoom Trade influenced current research ethics** Researchers now have an obligation to adhere to guidelines and regulations in regards to the treatment and well-being of their test subjects and research participants. One of the first violations Humphreys committed was neglecting to inform all of the people he was observing that he was, in fact, using them for observation and study and further, neglected to fully and honestly disclose the nature of his research. Researchers must also now verify that participants completely understand their role in the study and how the findings will be used, and must assert their free and clear willingness to be a part of any such project. It is expected that researchers will exercise moral and ethical behavior in deeming the competency and ability of their subjects to agree to any and all terms and expectations. Most importantly, current research ethics mandate obtaining informed consent of all participants, assuring the protection of each individual’s freedom. References Lenza, M. (2004, March 4). Controversies surrounding laud humphrey's tearoom trade: an unsettling example of politics and power in methodological critiques. //International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy//, 24, 20-31.

SexInfo Online. (2015). //The tearoom trade.// Retrieved from http://www.soc.ucsb.edu/sexinfo/article/tearoom-trade. Sieber, J. (1977). Laud Humphreys and the Tearoom Sex Study. Retrieved January 29, 2015, from http://web.missouri.edu/~bondesonw/Laud.html.