Paul Cameron: Introduction


		Paul Cameron

Psychologist Paul Cameron has used his own studies to claim that homosexuals threaten public health, social order, and the well-being of children. His conclusions are generally at odds with other published research, and objective indices show that his work has had no apparent impact on scientific research on sexual orientation.

See Dr. Herek's blog
for updates.

Although Cameron has been criticized in the popular press, extensive scientific critiques of his group's research have not been widely available. Those that have been published have been brief or appeared in obscure journals. This inattention by the scientific community is perhaps not surprising, given the poor quality of the Cameron group's data and the low prestige of the journals in which they have published. Most scientists have simply ignored the Cameron studies.

Lacking training in research methods and statistics, however, nonscientists may not be equipped to subject the Cameron group's results to the rigorous scrutiny that they warrant. Consequently, they may mistakenly assume that the Cameron group's papers are basically sound because they included lengthy bibliographies, reported many statistics, and were published in academic journals. Some members of the lay public may not understand that the mere presence of bibliographic references does not guarantee an assertion's accuracy or validity, that statistics can easily be generated from faulty data, and that academic journals vary widely in their quality and their criteria for accepting papers for publication.

This section of the site includes a critical review of the principal source of data for the Cameron group's publications, their 1983-84 surveys conducted in eight US municipalities. Six serious errors are identified in the Cameron group's sampling techniques, survey methodology, and interpretation of results. The presence of even one of these errors would be sufficient to cast serious doubts on the legitimacy of any study's results. In combination, they make the data virtually meaningless.

In addition, a brief note describes the fundamental methodological flaw in the Cameron group's study of obituaries in the gay press.

And data from objective indicators are reported to show that the Cameron group's studies have had no discernible impact on scientific research. Their papers have been published in journals with extremely low levels of professional prestige and scientific impact, and have been cited in only a handful of other academic articles, most of which criticized their methodology.

Information is also provided about censures of Paul Cameron by various professional associations, along with links to other relevant sites.



			Paul Cameron: Introduction
			The Cameron group's survey studies
			The Cameron group's "gay obituary" study
			The Cameron group's publication outlets
			Fact sheet about Paul Cameron
			Paul Cameron's own web site, with newsletters, reports, pamphlets, and audiotapes.
			Online copies of some Cameron pamphlets: Medical Consequences of What Homosexuals Do Child Molestation and Homosexuality What Causes Homosexual Desire and Can It Be Changed? Same Sex Marriage: Till Death Do Us Part? The Psychology of Homosexuality Violence and Homosexuality Born What Way?
			Jim Burroway at Box Turtle Bulletin monitors Paul Cameron's activities. Relevant posts include: Paul Cameron's World Eastern Psychological Association’s Statement on Paul Cameron Paul Cameron Denounced in Anthropology News
			EJSSSB.org: Exposing Junk Science about Same-Sex Behavior.
			Links to other pages about Paul Cameron
			Return to Facts About Homosexuality and Child Molestation


All original content of this website is copyright © 1997-2012 by Gregory M. Herek, Ph.D. All rights reserved