Structure of Romantic and Sexual relationship

In summary, the sociological survey conducted in Jefferson High school found that there is a lot of romantic and sexual activity going on amongst students. There are a lot of connected relationships amongst the students. It seems that the best place to find people to date are amongst friends of friends.
  • #1
jobyts
227
64
...from a sociological survey conducted in Jefferson High school.

http://researchnews.osu.edu/archive/chainspix.htm

Does the big circle represent their football team? :)
 
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  • #2
Neat-o. Very fractalish.
 
  • #3
Is it sex? Or does kissing or a date count?

There is some gay connections too. Interesting.

One girl had six.. wow.
 
  • #4
You know this guy has to be totally hot.
 

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  • #5
Maybe, maybe not. If you have a graph and randomly choose to connect each pair of vertexes with an edge with probability p, you expect to get one larger blob and a bunch of smaller disconnected things. So this high school seems to fit the model of people having sex at random
 
  • #6
Note the 63 monogomous couples in the lower right. Lumping them together like that gives a bit of a false impression to the graph, eh? Oh, and the 12 lucky guys in the lower right as well.
 
  • #7
Math Is Hard said:
You know this guy has to be totally hot.

Wow...I hope he's not allergic to antibiotics.
 
  • #8
berkeman said:
Note the 63 monogomous couples in the lower right. Lumping them together like that gives a bit of a false impression to the graph, eh? Oh, and the 12 lucky guys in the lower right as well.

yeah, also they didn't show the physics department, mostly with unconnected dots.
 
  • #9
jobyts said:
yeah, also they didn't show the physics department, mostly with unconnected dots.

:rofl: There went my coke. All over the monitor.
 
  • #10
Math Is Hard said:
:rofl: There went my coke. All over the monitor.

Mine too. LOL. :rofl:
 
  • #11
Don't let my wife get a load of this chart or I'm a dead man.
 
  • #12
JasonRox said:
There is some gay connections too. Interesting.

I couldn't find any with exception of one but they were also connected to other color dots.
 
  • #13
rootX said:
I couldn't find any with exception of one but they were also connected to other color dots.

Ya, there appears to be one girl who gets around.
 
  • #14
berkeman said:
Note the 63 monogomous couples in the lower right. Lumping them together like that gives a bit of a false impression to the graph, eh?

In the article, the guy wants to emphasize that there are too many linked relationships (and hence helps him in making a conclusion about STDs).
 
  • #15
JasonRox said:
Is it sex? Or does kissing or a date count?

It says "romantic relations" so I'm really not sure if all of those are sexual. And if it's just dating, the circle makes more sense. A group of students who hangs out together a lot is likely to date, and in high school, there are a lot of breakups and new partners within that circle of friends without anything sexual happening. Or, at least that's how it was when I was in high school.

Or, maybe it was just one crazy party where they were all playing spin the bottle.

And, it seems to support the notion that the best place to find people to date are amongst friends of friends.

If it was only reporting sexual interactions, wouldn't there have been at least a few dots all by themselves?
 
  • #16
Some guy is with 7 chicks... nice.

I really do want to know who make up the ring of sex there in the top left.
 
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  • #17
Moonbear said:
It says "romantic relations" so I'm really not sure if all of those are sexual. And if it's just dating, the circle makes more sense.

I'm not sure the circle makes sense, whether it's sex or just dating...or just saying "good morning." The other strings range from 2 to 7 dots...then we have this 37-dot string, where the first one just happens to "engage" with the last one in the string, forming a circle.

So even though there's a *lot* of side strings, none of the dots in that circle engaged in any other member of the circle? I find that hard to believe.

I'm making the assumption that each dot is unique.
 
  • #18
lisab said:
I'm making the assumption that each dot is unique.

Maybe it's not. Maybe some of those chains off the circle are there because it would be too messy to draw all the lines? I think they may have been trying more for aesthetics than accuracy. But, there isn't even a clear figure legend to help understand how to interpret it, so it's not terribly useful as it's being presented here.
 
  • #19
Moonbear said:
A group of students who hangs out together a lot is likely to date, and in high school, there are a lot of breakups and new partners within that circle of friends without anything sexual happening. Or, at least that's how it was when I was in high school.

Or so it seems ... According to Why Sex is fun? Jared talks about how most of our sex is done privately. Perhaps there was sex but no one "knew".
 
  • #20
Moody said the results generate a snapshot of the network of romantic and sexual relations among teens attending the school in this 18-month period –- the first such image of an entire population such as this.
.
.
The most striking feature of the network was a single component that connected 52 percent (288) of the romantically involved students at Jefferson. This means student A had relations with student B, who had relations with student C and so on, connecting all 288 of these students.
.
.
“From a student’s perspective, a large chain like this would boggle the mind,” Moody said. “They might know that their partner had a previous partner. But they don’t think about the fact that this partner had a previous partner, who had a partner, and so on.

“What this shows, for the first time, is that there are many of these links in a chain, going far beyond what anyone could see and hold in their head.”

http://researchnews.osu.edu/archive/chains.htm

Looks like it was for a study on STD's so sexual intercourse is assumed i'd think...
 
  • #21
Pengwuino said:
Some guy is with 7 chicks... nice.

I really do want to know who make up the ring of sex there in the top left.

As I said earlier, if you have people hook up at random you expect to get one large blob and a bunch of smaller figures, so it's not a huge surprise
 
  • #22
Office_Shredder said:
As I said earlier, if you have people hook up at random you expect to get one large blob and a bunch of smaller figures, so it's not a huge surprise

Oversimplifying the process of getting hooked up?

Try that.
 
  • #23
maverick_starstrider said:
Ya, there appears to be one girl who gets around.

He was talking about the homosexual relationship. There is only one.
 
  • #24
rootX said:
Oversimplifying the process of getting hooked up?

Try that.

Yes I am, but you shouldn't go looking for special meaning into the big circle, because there's probably something similar in every group just by probability
 
  • #25
Pengwuino said:
I really do want to know who make up the ring of sex there in the top left.

I am pretty sure that the appearance of those connectons as a ring is an artifact of arbitrary organization. While factual, it has little meaning.

If you have a random set of dots laid out and make random connections, you get topological data minus spatial organization. Then you manually arrange all those branches and nodes to be as visually organized as possible, it will disproportionately highlight things like this. It's just unavoidable.


On a loosely-related note, the organization of connections in space has little meaning elsewhere too. Note that several of the structures in the lower left are toplogically very similar, yet they have been represented with completely different configurations.



[ Edit: Doh! ]
you shouldn't go looking for special meaning into the big circle, because there's probably something similar in every group just by probability
 
  • #26
Well it seems like they're trying to show how diseases could spread, is it possible the big connection is important when looking at how something could spread amongst people?
 
  • #27
DaveC426913 said:
He was talking about the homosexual relationship. There is only one.

I see three. One female-female, two male-male.
 
  • #28
lisab said:
I see three. One female-female, two male-male.
I fail.

I still see only one: male-male. Far NE "corner" of ring.
 
  • #29
DaveC426913 said:
I fail.

I still see only one: male-male. Far NE "corner" of ring.

The other male-male is actually on the ring...the SE part.

Then there's a female-female on a triangle that's not on the ring...in the NE section of the graphic.
 
  • #30
Wow, talk about kids being active now-a-days... Hahaha
 
  • #31
The key words in the web page are "romantic" and "observed". This indicates that the snoops taking data are not asking questions about sex, but looking for hand-holding and kissing n' similar stuff. They've been given (hopefully) some criterion to judge 'romantic relationship'.
 
  • #32
lisab said:
The other male-male is actually on the ring...the SE part.
Mph. Still not seeing it. Then again, they're pretty mashed together. I may be discounting an intersection of dots that you are considering a valid link.


mcknia07 said:
Wow, talk about kids being active now-a-days... Hahaha

I dunno, I had 3 gfs before leaving HS (and 3 more with HS students once I was in college, but they don't count those in the graph).

[ EDIT:eek:mg, did I just commit braggery? ]
 
  • #33
14ujdeb.jpg


Yes I agree, it's sort of bunched up in that corner. But the fact that there's an odd number (37) gives it away.
 
  • #34
DaveC426913 said:
I dunno, I had 3 gfs before leaving HS (and 3 more with HS students once I was in college, but they don't count those in the graph).

[ EDIT:eek:mg, did I just commit braggery? ]

Ohm, I'm tellin'... Well maybe I just wasn't cool or attractive in high school. I never had any boyfriends. It's so not the case anymore :biggrin: well the boyfriend part, I'm still unattractive, lol.
 
  • #35
lisab said:
The other male-male is actually on the ring...the SE part.

lisab said:
14ujdeb.jpg
Ah. I see the problem. You meant the other SE corner - i.e. SW. :wink:
 
<h2>What is the difference between romantic and sexual relationships?</h2><p>Romantic relationships involve emotional connections, while sexual relationships involve physical intimacy. However, the two can overlap and often coexist in a healthy relationship.</p><h2>What are the key components of a healthy romantic and sexual relationship?</h2><p>Communication, trust, respect, and mutual understanding are essential components of a healthy romantic and sexual relationship. It is also important to have a strong emotional and physical connection with your partner.</p><h2>How do societal norms and cultural influences impact romantic and sexual relationships?</h2><p>Societal norms and cultural influences can greatly influence the expectations and dynamics of romantic and sexual relationships. These influences can shape our beliefs and behaviors, as well as impact the way we view and approach relationships.</p><h2>What are some common challenges in romantic and sexual relationships?</h2><p>Some common challenges in romantic and sexual relationships include communication issues, trust issues, and differences in values and expectations. Other challenges may arise from external factors such as stress, financial difficulties, or family conflicts.</p><h2>How can individuals maintain a healthy balance between their romantic and sexual relationships?</h2><p>Maintaining a healthy balance between romantic and sexual relationships requires open and honest communication, setting boundaries, and prioritizing self-care. It is also important to make time for both partners and to work together to find a balance that works for both individuals.</p>

What is the difference between romantic and sexual relationships?

Romantic relationships involve emotional connections, while sexual relationships involve physical intimacy. However, the two can overlap and often coexist in a healthy relationship.

What are the key components of a healthy romantic and sexual relationship?

Communication, trust, respect, and mutual understanding are essential components of a healthy romantic and sexual relationship. It is also important to have a strong emotional and physical connection with your partner.

How do societal norms and cultural influences impact romantic and sexual relationships?

Societal norms and cultural influences can greatly influence the expectations and dynamics of romantic and sexual relationships. These influences can shape our beliefs and behaviors, as well as impact the way we view and approach relationships.

What are some common challenges in romantic and sexual relationships?

Some common challenges in romantic and sexual relationships include communication issues, trust issues, and differences in values and expectations. Other challenges may arise from external factors such as stress, financial difficulties, or family conflicts.

How can individuals maintain a healthy balance between their romantic and sexual relationships?

Maintaining a healthy balance between romantic and sexual relationships requires open and honest communication, setting boundaries, and prioritizing self-care. It is also important to make time for both partners and to work together to find a balance that works for both individuals.

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