Psyche Students Visiting This Site?

[Desirae]

I just wonder if anyone thinks that psychology students, grad students, doctoral students working on dissertations (or even Psychologists or Psychiatrists or other medical doctors) visit this site in order to glean information for their works? And I don't just mean by visiting as a visitor and perusing the threads. I mean by joining as a member and posing as a TG/CD/TS and then asking certain questions.

I only ask because it seems a few newer members have posted some questions to solicit very specific responses to certain things. I don't know. I'm probably wrong about this. At least about the newer members. I can't even name them by name and I don't feel like going back through all of the posts to find the "suspicious" posts.

I just wonder if anyone thinks it happens or knows of it happening in the past. I really don't have a problem with it myself. I'm really just curious.

[Shelly Preston]

Desirae, this is a support group.

If you think something is suspicious then you should report the post stating your concerns.

You can report any post by using the small triangle in the bottom left of every post.

[AllieSF]

I would guess that this site would be a great source of information for students and professors. I would just hope that they would be professional enough to reveal their presence, state their reasons for being here and then ask whatever they like, as well as request consented participation in their studies or research. There are probably a lot of fakes here in all the different sections, and hopefully the bad ones get weeded out sooner rather than later.

I believe that the more we are looked at, studied, researched or whatever, the less we will be considered rarities in the "normal" world and considered more just another minority among the whole. One can hope.

[Desirae]

I don't think I should have use the word "suspicious". To me suspicious would imply "ill intent" or something. As I said, I really don't have a problem with that kind of thing. I'm not sure how ethical it is if that is happening or has happened. I mean it would stand to reason, would it not, that students or doctors would visit a site like this in order to gain a better understanding of Cds or TSs? I'm not sure that their ethical guidelines would even allow for them to "pose" as a CD or TS in order to get better, more honest answers to questions than they would if their professional identity was disclosed. Like I said, I can't point to one post where I got this feeling that there was "something more" in the questions. I could be completely off base, too. That's probably more than likely. I cannot say that my gut feelings on things have always proved to be correct. I was just more curious as to what others thought. If this topic is inappropriate, it won't hurt my feelings if it is deleted or moved.

I don't think that they would get the same degree of honesty if they revealed their identity. Like I said, I don't know if this is happening or has happened in the past. I'm not sure if their ethics allow deception in order to gather information.

I'm not saying that it's not a good thing. Actually, I think it is a good thing. Or COULD be a good thing. I think that would depend on the hypothesis being explored and what information is gathered.

I'm mostly curious if anyone else has gotten that "gut feeling" about certain postings..........that there seems to be "something more" in the intent of the posting.

[Annaliese]

Who care,
probably a good thing,
I think if they want info to just ask,
the world is changing

[suchacutie]

Personally, I would be delighted to have any curious and open-minded individual looking at this site for information. I can't think of a better place to have stereotypes disabused. My only requirement is that anyone engaged in publishable research do so responsibly .

[Marcelle]

Hi Desirae,

If they were just reading the website then they would have as much right to read it as anyone who logs on and reads the "male to female cross dressing" section as it is open to the public.

Now if a registered psychologist or MD was posing as a TG/CD/TS to garner information for practice/research they would be in breach of their ethical code of conduct and could face sanctions . . . not saying they would not do it but it is a big risk. If were graduate students posing as TG/CD/TS to garner information for dissertations, once again they would be in breach of academic ethics. Specifically, if they cited case studies based on information garnered while posing, they would have to cite source and of course produce "informed consent" of all personal information used. No university would allow the use of personal information without consent for the purpose of academic research. At least this is how it is up in Canada and I am assuming the same would hold true in other countries.

But then again . . . you never know.

Hugs

Isha

[Robin777]

My opinion, if a psychologist or a psychiatrist visits this site and gets a better understanding about us, more power to them. If a student or a practicing professional is using this site to gain a better understanding on how our minds work ,I don't really have a problem with it. The way I look at it,once you put on the internet it is out there for everybody to see. I don't know if a professional therapist is on this site as a lurker.If they are, I encourage them to join. I wouldn't mind picking their brain.

Just my 2 cents on the subject.

Robin

[ziggie]

I actually happen to be a Psychology professor, a fact that I don't mention much but also have no intention to hide. I also happen to crossdress on occasion, which is what brings me here. You are probably right, however, in guessing that students sometimes lurk or even join in order to glean information for papers and projects.

[mikiSJ]

Since most of us hide behind psuedonyms and thus are willing to bare our souls to the rest of the forum, I am not troubled by someone doing research on who we are, what we are or why we are.

If there are more therapists out there qualified in gender issues, then that is to our benefit - don't you think.

I would guess there are more trolls than researchers visiting the site.

[Eryn]

If reading my posts enables a student to come up with a more realistic view of the TG world that means that the forum has achieved one of its goals.

One of the groups I belong to maintains a speakers' bureau that is used by local college professors who want their students to hear things "from the horse's mouth." It's one thing to hear a lecture, but having a real breathing person there puts a human face on the issues.

[AllieSF]

To add to my previous post. I remember one or more posts where someone identified their intent to request interviews with members here, if they wanted to participate, so that the person could do some research. I think they they were post-graduate students too.

[paulaprimo]

i'm sure there are some here like that. but i would also wager that they are probably dressed en femme as they "study" us... :)

[NicoleScott]

Let's hope they do visit this site. Maybe they'll see that we're just normal folks who like to crossdress occasionally. Of course, I speak only for myself - I'm not sure about the rest of you. haha

[Krista1985]

Let's face it, we're a misunderstood bunch.

If someone were doing research on the topic, than this would be a treasure trove of information. And shedding some light on what it means to be a CD would not be a bad thing in my view. There are some limitations on the value of this site for academic research though. First, you can't really refer to a posting on an online message board in an academic study. The information is unreliable and to include it would require certain permissions to use (off the top of my head the O.P. and mods would have to sanction it.) I believe there is little risk that a member will one day stumble across one of their posts being cited in a research paper without their knowledge and consent.

More likely is the scenario put forth by Allie SF. A researcher might decide to sign up, log in and then request an interview with a member utilizing a series of prepared questions relevant to their thesis. That would likely be accompanied by some sort of release form.

That's my best guess. I'm no PHD but I did get a masters (not in Psych though) and when citing an interview in research always got a signed release from the interviewee.

[Wildaboutheels]

A sharp person of any kind [regardless of profession] should use multiple sources of information when doing research. You DO know the purpose of this site I hope?

[stephNE]

Yes, this would make an interesting study. One thing I am always surprised to find here, is that we have a lot in common.

[Sarah Beth]

They may use the site to obtain some general information or incite but it wouldn't be anything that would be of any value to a major research project because for that they have to have to control groups, and have to outline their study and do disclsures to participants. The information they uas has to be verifiable to be of any value to the academic community. Been there done that.

[Jaylyn]

Really as long as they are not being intrusive and can protect the identity of individuals that want to be protected then I'd say they can ask me anything. I wonder why sometimes myself that I love dressing and acting feminine from time to time. I'm with Nicole on this maybe they'll find why she and I just like to dress..... Lol. ( and wear creamy deep red lipstick )

[Tracii G]

I have no problem with them doing research here.
But it would be nice if they joined and stated their intent honestly be they students or professors.They would get more interviews if they were honest about who they were.
Some of the questions asked here by some make me wonder if they really are CD/TG and not researchers fishing for info because they tend to speak out their backside.
By that I mean quoting research material with footnotes and all trying to sound intelligent but have no real world experience in the matter.
We all know you can read all the books you want and claim to be smart but are you really?
When people come on here spouting numbers and percentages as fact I tend to dismiss the whole comment.
Why do I do that? Because it shows they appear to be the lazy type that rely on other people findings to form their opinions.
You want to do research be above board let us know who you are why you are here don't hide behind a fictitous screen name.

[Desirae]

Let's hope they do visit this site. Maybe they'll see that we're just normal folks who like to crossdress occasionally. Of course, I speak only for myself - I'm not sure about the rest of you. haha

HaHa


A sharp person of any kind [regardless of profession] should use multiple sources of information when doing research. You DO know the purpose of this site I hope?

To get more crossdressers out of the closet??????



Let's be real. There are some very drama-laced stories and soul baring revelations made by some of the members on here. Some of them could be the basis for a movie. And let's face it, a lot of representations in the media still show us in more negative light. If there are "incognito" researchers on here, they could certainly acquire a lot of anecdotal information for which they wouldn't have to cite sources. They could, also, use postings to form hypotheses for later exploration. As I stated, I'm all for anything that presents our community in a more positive fashion. Not all people have good motives, though.

[MissTee]

OMG, I hope not! They might discover I wear panties and love cute shoes!! I'm sure that would upend the whole psychiatry community forever :daydreaming::battingeyelashes:

[Elisa Lace]

I would've loved to come in here back when I was still studying psychology to know more about what I then thought of it as a "disorder".. gee I would've felt much better to know that I wasn't the only one.

Now... I'm not really inclined to research, but if I ever do, I will sure ask for help on this site. :)

[phoenix1105]

I have a Master's and Doctoral Degree in Social Work, both from a state University in the US. That being said, any student using material they found on this, or really any other message board would not fly with the professor of the class. All the papers I wrote I had to write up a list of sources. Just the logistics of getting informed consent from the OP and possible conflict with the mods would be huge. If the student wrote up what they observed or found out about the subject matter of this site, and didn't provide a legitimate source the professor would propably rip them a new one. I know my professors would have.

[bridget thronton]

More importantly - there is the matter of obtaining informed consent from research subjects and having the study protocols approved by the institutional review board. So there may be some poking around, but no serious work.

[Amanda M]

As many of you know, I am a practising psychotherapist. I am also a crossdresser - and that is the reason I am here. It is interesting from a professional point of view to understand what makes us all tick, but I am not on a fishing expedition. Just another member who gets a lot of support and friendship here. Thanks to all of you.

[donnalee]

I have seen some requests for info from purported "graduate students". In order for a study of this kind to be successful, the identity of the information source must be traceable, a hard thing to do on an anonymous site; so I tend to doubt they are as they advertise. There is also a lot of fiction and a lot of trolls; we had one here that kept up a fictional ID for 5 years or more before this was discovered even though her story bordered between highly unlikely and improbable. Wishful thinking can fool you more often than anything else.
So I tend to take anything written here with a bit of salt (not to say there aren't perfectly truthful people here; most of us are).

[Lynn Marie]

PersonallyI feel the newbies here post so many new threads simply to get noticed. Maybe they're anxious for acceptance.

[Kate's at home]

One of the 1st things I would hope that any researchers or students would find is how open most everyone is here, and the implied sense of safety that comes with it. This is very rare anywhere.

Another factor that makes this site so helpful to us is we get to tell our stories, and the unfolding realizations and meaning in the process, and the shared value we collectively gain in acknowledging and validating our sense of who we are. This could also be very useful to researchers qualitatively in better understanding the range of motivations and experiences we have if they would be so interested. Of value to us would be the knowing that the vast range of stories told here would make simplification and categorization much more difficult.

If they are visiting, I say watch, listen and learn...and keep it safe.

Kate

[Beverley Sims]

How many surveys have you seen here from those purporting to be CDers.

I don't want to out myself but I have seen an assignment quoting me, along with some posters of of long standing about SRS.
No names were used but the situations were taken mostly from arguments and closed controversial threads in the Transsexual forum about twelve months ago.

[Gillian Gigs]

I believe that with knowledge comes understanding, with understanding hopefully comes acceptance. Anything that helps others understand that we are just people who have different interests, or ways of thinking, is good. If we can support each other and at the same enlighten the curious, then this site has done a good job. Isha brought up the subject of ethics, if we have concerns, we have moderators to help protect us. That is the whole purpose of the moderators, to protect, and we need to trust them to help keep this site in a healthy state.

[Michelle789]

No university would allow the use of personal information without consent for the purpose of academic research. At least this is how it is up in Canada and I am assuming the same would hold true in other countries.

Exactly. This is true in the US too. If someone is here doing research, they would have to, at least ethically and probably legally, need to make us sign release forms if conducting a study to gain information for their thesis. This applies to any study, including academic and market research. We can't assume that everyone who asks questions that look like research questions are psych students posing as CDs or TSs.

I've asked a few questions and made some observations that sound like a psych student. My thread on male privilege was one such thread where I asked people to answer specific questions that seemed like data collection. The reason I posted that thread is because the subject of male privilege is literally a button, it literally is a subject that triggers my gender dysphoria. Talking about either viewpoint of male privilege, whether it's men having privilege over women, or women having privilege over men, literally is one of my GD triggers. Someone posted that thinking the genders are equal but different, is a sign of being a white male, and that person PMed saying she felt no remorse hurting the feelings of a privileged white male. That night and for much of the next day I wanted to die and be reincarnated as a girl - it triggered my GD and caused me to really hate being male. I also had a dream that night when I was sleeping that I told my parents at the age of 4 that I really was a girl, and they told me that I could get arrested for saying that. I posted because I was curious to see if other people who were suffering from serious gender issues felt the same way as I do on male privilege. I'm concerned with self-discovery and seeing if other people can relate to me and my feelings.

Some of the questions I've seen here that sounded like psych research could also be the wives of CDs wanting to understand the differences between CDs and TSs.

I'm also curious and like to see if there are patterns, such as certain zodiac signs being more common amongst gender variants, hence why I counted the number of Geminis and Pisces on the zodiac thread.

I also used to work for a market research firm so I'm familiar with how they conduct surveys.

I think it's dangerous to assume that someone who posts questions or comments that sound like a psych student survey must be a psych student doing research. Very dangerous. Some of us here are suffering from very serious TG/TS issues. Even those of us who are CDs still have very serious issues. We have issues with acceptance from others, self-acceptance, where to buy clothes, beard covering, safety while out en femme. The SOs of CDs are concerned if their CDing husband is TS and will someday transition. We all have our legit concerns here.

One last thing, I really hope that people will visit this site and gain understanding of all gender variants, including CDs and TSs, so that people will gain acceptance of us and realize that we're just human like everyone else is.

[SherriePall]

Ethical questions aside, I wonder what they must think every time one of us posts a "What color panties are you wearing?" or "What kind of bra do you love to wear?" thread. Sometimes we really get down to the heart of the matter here. Actually, they must find (if they really are visiting this site) that the really tough questions are the ones we can't answer and would like to know for ourselves.

[Valarie]

Exactly. This is true in the US too. If someone is here doing research, they would have to, at least ethically and probably legally, need to make us sign release forms if conducting a study to gain information for their thesis. This applies to any study, including academic and market research. We can't assume that everyone who asks questions that look like research questions are psych students posing as CDs or TSs.


One last thing, I really hope that people will visit this site and gain understanding of all gender variants, including CDs and TSs, so that people will gain acceptance of us and realize that we're just human like everyone else is.

You are correct, there are many consent forms needed. Plus grad students must have all research material available for their thesis advisors to view, to make sure that there are no chances for plagiarism, or lying about information on a thesis or study. I have to have everything approved when I conduct oral histories or research topic. Not trying to create fear or anything but I would be more concerned about anthropologist or sociologist conducting an ethnography study to emerge themselves in a culture to understand it better.

It is possible to use forums and sites like this in research, with proper citation. However it is highly unethical to use ones words and personal stories without giving credit or asking permission every PhD I know will tell you that, and in my Historiography and Anthropological Methods it is drilled into use that you might as well change your identity if you are caught plagiarizing.

[Stephanie47]

This site is akin to the voting booth. Nobody knows who I really am. I would think someone doing research will get a better sense of the angst, insecurities, etc in the relationships we have. Frankly, I feel for the posters whose lives have been shattered by revelations of their identities.

[Kate Simmons]

I would venture say that this site is rich fodder for psyche students or anyone else seeking to understand CDing and TG folks. The more the merrier I say. Who knows , some may be our future "co-conspirators". :battingeyelashes::)