The results of the third British National Survey of Sexual Attitudes and Lifestyles (Natsal-3), in The Lancet, provide extensive data from a large, representative population sample collected with the aim of better understanding sexual lifestyles and improving sexual health. Major advances in research on sexuality and sexual lifestyles have been made in the past 25 years. When the first large-scale surveys of sexual behaviour were undertaken in the 1980s-the impetus provided by the emergence of the HIV epidemic-they were politically controversial in the UK and elsewhere. Since then, sexual behaviour has been surveyed worldwide;8 sampling strategies, question standardisation, and computer-assisted methods of data collection have improved data quality, and biological measures, such as prevalence of sexually transmitted infections (STI) and hormonal status, have been added to behavioural measures.
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