Lesbian Relationship
Research Study
If you're a lesbian or same-gender-loving woman, I need you!
I am a lesbian PhD Candidate in social work and I am conducting
research regarding lesbians and women-loving-women
and their relationships.
Thanks for all your help.
The survey is now closed.
This research asks questions about lesbians and same-gender-loving-women and their relationships.
How do they get along? How do they feel about being a lesbian? How out are they? How satisfied are they with their relationships? Do lesbians experience violence and abuse in their relationships? We want to know.
I have a survey that will ask you questions about you and your relationship or past relationship. It is anonymous. You can complete the survey on line (click on link above) or you can contact me and I will send you a paper survey with a stamped envelope for returning it. Either e-mail me at studyoflesbians@gmail.com, or write to me at P.O. Box 706, Elmhurst, IL 60126 for a paper survey in a plain envelope. I will not keep any identifying information after sending out a paper survey and ask that it is returned to me without any identifying information.
What about the survey?
1. You must identify as a lesbian, same-gender-loving female, or woman-loving-woman.
2. You must either be in a relationship with another woman or you were in a relationship during the past 12 months.
3. You must be over 18 years of age.
The survey will ask you questions about your relationship with other important people in your life, (like your parents and your friends), and how comfortable you are with them, how you feel about being a lesbian, whether or not you experience any kind of abuse in your relationship, and how satisfied you are with your relationship. There are many questions about abuse and they are important because we do not know much about abuse in lesbian relationships. If you don't have abuse in your relationship, THAT is important information too, so please complete the survey. 
The survey can take between 25 and 45 minutes to complete online or on paper. You don't have to do the survey, complete the survey or you can skip any question you want. However, I ask that you try your best to answer all the questions because unanswered questions messes up the research! If you can't answer a question easily, please pick the closest answer that best fits.
This is completely anonymous. I am not asking for any identifying information and the online survey is specially designed for anonymous research so that no identifying information is sought or kept. Because of this I can't offer any thank you gifts for your completed survey except to say...
THANK YOU, and I will personally donate $1 to Lambda Legal for every completed survey. Lambda Legal does great work defending and supporting lesbian's legal rights. I need at least 200 completed surveys, so it will add up to a lovely donation for them if 200 or more people complete the surveys.
Why is this survey and this research important?
Many lesbians desire to create satisfying and long-lasting relationships and they experience the same challenges as heterosexual couples, in addition to unique challenges that can negatively impact their relationships. Minority stress and heterosexism and internalized heterosexism can take a toll on an intimate lesbian relationship resulting in poor relationship quality, and possible battering and abuse.
There is a need for research that focuses on understanding lesbian and female same-gender-loving relationships in order to provide effective support and services. Increased understanding of lesbian relationships can be used to assist social workers and other health and mental health practitioners in developing and implementing effective treatment and prevention interventions for lesbian and same-gender-loving women.
This study will benefit couples and family therapists so they may expand their understanding about the effects of heterosexism, internalized heterosexism, issues of outness, and relationship satisfaction specifically as they relate to lesbians and lesbian relationships. Information gained from this study can also be examined as it applies to theories of abuse in intimate relationships in general and how societal factors and oppression impact individuals and their relationships. Added knowledge about lesbians will contribute to social work’s overall commitment to learn about and advocate for marginalized communities.
Thank you again for your time. I do believe it will be helpful to learn more about lesbians and lesbian and same-gender-female-loving relationships and how social workers and other health professionals can provide the best possible services for lesbian and same-gender-loving women. Your completion of the survey helps advance research toward that end.
I will keep this website until the project is over and provide information regarding the results, so check back and see what we learned.
Sincerely,
Jude Hines,
PhD Candidate
Jane Addams College of Social Work
University if Illinois at Chicago
studyoflesbians@gmail.com
