Gender Theories

The use of the Internet for conducting research has found that the level of anonymity intrinsic to web based surveys is useful in deterring various participant biases. Though, concerns about Internet privacy could interfere with the effects of perceived anonymity and influence how a person responds. In this study, participants were asked to take an Internet survey and then were randomly assigned to conditions with varying degrees of implied privacy in which they answered questions about their desire for casual sex (sociosexuality) and their lifetime sexual partners. Only in the condition without any threat to the participant’s anonymity was there no difference between men and women’s reports of their sexual behavior. However, in every condition men reported having a significantly higher sociosexuality than women. Findings are consistent with both the biologic and gender-biased explanations in differences of self-report for sexual information. Implications for social constraints and Internet based research are discussed.

This report is the work of a group of six young Egyptian researchers. Based on semi structured interviews and focus groups it explores the notions of identity held by contemporary young Egyptians, „offline‟ and „online‟. It sets out to unravel some of the „distortions‟ and „confusions‟ they are subject to. It was conducted through a period of two years from 2008 till 2010.

The research and its design arose from a problem the researchers observed within the contemporary Egyptian context, and that is the struggle between the forces of tradition and Modernity that the Contemporary Egyptian society faces. This has led to „distortions‟ and „confusions‟ about what manifests contemporary Egyptian identity. This problem is particularly apparent among young people in Egypt. On the one side, a large number of young Egyptians today feel comfortable adopting „Western‟ lifestyles while on the other side, there are those, who categorically reject these „Western‟ lifestyles in favor of more „traditional‟ ones. And yet others, in fact a large number of young people, adopt both lifestyles, though often in what can be seen as contradictory and inconsistent ways.

The objectives of the study were to understand the capacities and vulnerabilities of women and men living adjacent to protected areas (Wetlands and forests), to engage Local Government, communities, private sector and civil society organisations in understanding climate change impacts for planning, budgeting, and advocacy for change. The study would also help in developing community based adaptation mechanisms based on local knowledge and trends and identify the roles of different stakeholders in the area of study.