Setting the Agenda for LGBT Youth Research

Abstract

D’Augelli and Grossman have given us an elaborate description of their methodology of organizing a longitudinal research among LGBT youth. The well-thought through format of their research is a big step forward, setting a new standard for the quality of research into LGB issues. In our country, the Netherlands, similar attempts to raise the quality of research into LGBT issues are being made. Hanneke De Graaf and Theo Sandfort (2000) summarized and analyzed the 73 research projects that had been done during the past decade. As D’Augelli and Grossman point out, they found most of these projects lacking a sound methodology and often suffering under the almost inevitable weakness of convenience sampling. We would like to highlight one of their more general conclusions. Apart from weak methodology, De Graaf and Sandfort cited the meager impact of these studies. Most research was done with the purpose of clarifying a problem or generating recommendations to improve social realities. But many research projects did not actually clarify very well what the researchers hoped to find and how the results could impact ev-