"Sexual addiction"?: Are there research standards?

You referred to the "research and writings" of Patrick Carnes.

Are there standards for what constitutes research in human sexuality or in any other human science? Yes, if we are talking about standards for so-called courtroom "expert witnesses."

According to a Supreme Court Decision in Daubert vs. Merrill Dow, only peer-reviewed, generally accepted and appropriately tested scientific evidence should be so regarded.

The writings of many popular authors can be regarded as research of sorts if they make reference to this or that personal observation or opinion of the author or to citations of other sympathethic authors and researchers. This is the kind of research that, say, most advocacy journalism consists of.

This is also the kind of research one finds in popular folklore and in liteature associated with social movmements. Writings on so-called "sex addiction" are of this sort: the kind one associates with folklore, cultural studies, social movements, and advocacy journalism.

Such research may be persuasive to some persons who are unable or unwilling to make critical assessments of its scientific status. And such research may conform to good standards of journalism used for tententious advocacy. But such research should not be confused with the kind of research having to do with evidence that is generally accepted among professionals who are trained in and who specialize in a comprehensively scientific study of human sexuality and who submit their findings to a peer-review process of critical assessment.

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