In a large number of these surveys people inflate how often they have sex. They are buying into this idea that great sex is measured by how often you have it.
We do have an anxiety about trusting sex research generally, partly because of worries over talking about sex but recently more because of the misuse of the survey tool as an advertising device.
It is hardly surprising that journalists and the public don’t trust sex research.
What they see shared in mainstream media is not the careful and more balanced work undertaken in social and health research.
As sex stories on relationships advice in media are pinned on “statistics“, then this allows the dodgy PR polls to be used to tell us how we should be having sex and set up ideas about what is normal.