Debate resumes on methods of psych professor's research

 Debate resumes on methods of psych professor's research

By: Michael Gsovski

Posted: 2/27/08

It's been nearly five years since psychology Prof. Michael Bailey's "The Man Who Would be Queen" was published, but it is still generating a steady stream of controversy. Earlier tussles have dissected the book's content, research methods and the methods transsexual activists employed to discredit the professor. Now there is a dispute over an article originally published online last year in the Archives of Sexual Behavior by NU visiting Prof. Alice Dreger that examined the methods the transsexual activists used in opposition.

Last month, Robin Mathy filed ethics complaints against both Dreger and Bailey with the American Psychological Association, which accredits NU's psychology department. Unlike the most vocal opponents of Dreger and Bailey's work, Mathy is an accredited psychologist and a clinical research fellow at the University of Minnesota's Medical School. She also filed a charge with the Illinois Board of Examiners of Psychology for Bailey's alleged misrepresentation of himself as psychologist.

Mathy's charges focus on the professional connections between the board of the Archives of Sexual Behavior and Bailey. In the article, Bailey and Dreger both expressed that having sex with a research subject is not inherently wrong.

Mathy said Dreger was wrong to submit her article to the ASB, which is edited by Kenneth Zucker, who has had contact with Bailey and has similar views on transsexuality. By doing this, she said Dreger sought to bypass the peer review process, which ensures research remains unbiased.

"This is a blatant conflict of interest," Mathy said. "(Dreger) exploited a key network friendship with Michael Bailey to get a truly horrible paper published."

While Bailey was accused of having sex with the research subject known as "Juanita", the charge was never proven conclusively. Meanwhile the research subject Dreger admitted to having sex with was her husband.

This did not matter to Mathy, nor did Bailey's alleged sexual activity.

"I'm concerned with his prurient attitude," Mathy said. "If you use people you have sex with in your research then the research is not objective and it is not unbiased."

Both Dreger and Bailey were tight-lipped on the subject.

Dreger denied any wrongdoing.

"Ms. Mathy's claims that I have acted unethically have no merit," she wrote in an e-mail. "I stand by my work."

Bailey wrote that he does not take Mathy seriously.

"I won't dignify these 'new charges' with a discussion of their accuracy," Bailey wrote in an e-mail.

Bailey also provided a string of e-mails to The Daily from Mathy from the summer of 2003, after the release of his book. In the first e-mail, Mathy wrote that while she also had some issues with his research, she was considering applying to study with him at NU. She wrote that her experience as a former transsexual could aid him greatly in studying the community.

He did not reply to this e-mail.

A month later, she sent him a second e-mail, in accordance to APA rules, informing him she was in the process of preparing an ethics complaint against him and asked for access to his research materials to pursue it. Four days later, she wrote that she did not understand Bailey's unwillingness to reply to her e-mails and was only interested in making sure his data substantiated his theories about transsexuals.

Mathy acknowledged the e-mails' authenticity. The reason she did not file ethics charges before was because her requests did not produce concrete evidence to substantiate her claims, she said. Now that Dreger has published the article outlining the views Bailey holds, Mathy said she has sufficient evidence.

As for her offers of help, she insists they are still on the table.

"We have to do something to move beyond this conflict," she said.

m-gsovski@northwestern.edu

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Below are the e-mails sent from Robin Mathy to NU psychology Prof. J. Michael Bailey, which were provided to The Daily by Bailey.


From: "Robin M. Mathy"
Date: June 21, 2003 4:16:28 AM CDT
To: "J. Michael Bailey"
Subject: Invitation and Discussion

Dr. Bailey,
Nice to see you engaging the controversy over your book so professionally. I am writing to invite you to contribute an article to a thematic issue of Journal of Gay and Lesbian Psychotherapy that I am guest editing. As you may know, the Nicolosis published in the December 2002 issue of Psychology Today an advertisement for their book, A Parent's Guide to Preventing Homosexuality. The thematic issue addresses the issue of Gender Nonconformity and the Development of Homosexuality. We have an all-star cast of contributors, including Richard Green, Ken Zucker, Jim Martin, Tony D'Augelli, Lynn Liben, Walter Williams, Anne Peplau, Daryl Bem, and yours truly. Please join us. Manuscripts (APA, 20-25 double-spaced pp.) are due December 31. Journal of Gay & Lesbian Psychotherapy is published by Haworth, which simultaneously reproduces thematic issues as a book. The journal and the books are well indexed (e.g., PsycInfo).

On a separate matter, I am considering application to Northwestern to study with you. My willingness to apply would depend greatly upon your desire to have a keen and independent intellectual who knows the literature and transsexual culture well enough to disprove Blanchard's theories. I don't disagree with the "types" per se, except that they go much further back than Blanchard. Benjamin had exactly the same typology (primary and secondary transsexuals) long before Blanchard. This is nothing new. Nor is it particularly surprising that some individuals migrate from heterosexual transvestitism to transsexualism. This, too, is nothing new, and even DSM-IV-TR acknowledges this.
However, there is a fundamental flaw in Blanchard's work (and, I dare say, your own). It is actually a very old flaw, in that it confounds sex and gender. As Money and Tucker put it long ago, in Sexual Signatures (Little and Brown, 1975, if memory serves correct), no matter how much one may want to be a woman, that does not make them a transsexual. The autogynephilic transsexuals to which you refer are not "transsexuals." They are very likely male heterosexual transvestites who pursued SRS for secondary gain. This is, unfortunately, a byproduct of the commerical sex-change industry and the utter failure ot the Standards of Care.
Where you got yourself into difficulty with the TS community, by the way, was in your description of autogynephilic TS's as less feminine and less passable. That would require double-blind administration of the Bem SRI and not grad student appraisals of voice inflection or gross motor movements, all of which could be confounded by sampling on the dependent variable. The irony, you see, is that the vast majority of postop transsexuals pass into the woodwork. TS transition is significantly confounded by SES and age. TS's from liberal affluent families are able to undergo the transition sooner; hence, they appear more feminine. TS's from lower middle-class and working-class families must first work through the internalized transphobia and heterosexism, parental and peer rejection, and hence they begin the reassignment process later. Because of the development of secondary sexual characteristics in adolescence, this often leaves them mingling erotic fantasies with the desire/need to complete surgical sex reassignment. Hence, they become somewhat masculinized and have greater difficulty passing and effectively become both female object of sexual fantasy and pursuer of fantasy, which emerges as something similar to heterosexual transvestitism. The core difference is that transsexuals think of themselves as females, not males being (forced to) dress(ed) as women.
The true test of any theory is not in how many cases you can find to support your hypothesis. The true test is in overcoming the counterfactuals. I'm afraid that the counterfactuals in this case are enormous. First, there is considerable diversity in sexual orientation among transsexuals. It is significant enough, in fact, that the DSM requires clinicians to classify GID by sexual orientation. Your typology for "homosexual transsexuals" fails because over half of transsexuals are not homosexual; in fact, about a third are same-sex, a third are both-sex, and a third are other-sex attracted. To disprove your typology, we need only demonstrate that there are some "homosexual transsexuals" who are (a) feminine and (b) attracted to females. This is easily done, but it is extraordinarily difficult for a male heterosexual to find them--and they certainly don't hang out at gay bars!
As a well published, former TS with expertise in studying gender nonconformity, there is much I could teach you. Feel free to check PsycInfo. Feel free to re-read Male Homosexuality in Four Societies: Brazil, Guatemala, the Philippines, and the United States (Praeger, 1986). Working together, I'm sure we could do some fabulous research. First, however, I'm afraid we have to introduce you to some "real" transsexuals. The irony is that they do not identify as transsexuals. Most identify as intersexed or hermaphrodite, as did I.
You've done some great research, and it would be an honor to study with you. I think Blanchard's research and your own about transsexuals can be charitably described as the expected product of a foreigner surveying another culture and trying to fit the apparently alien culture into a preexisting cultural typology or cognitive map. Again, there's nothing new about the notion that there are two fundamentally different types of transsexuals. It is quite true that the evidence about brain differences in transsexuals is inconclusive. I have published as much. However, your own research is also inconclusive. It needs further work. I dare say it needs much revision. I would invite you--encourage you, even--to recruit a former TS doctoral student who can simultaneously do research with you and act as a cultural guide. If you want to find the "real" TS's, you've got to learn to play softball and realize that the vast majority of TS's do not hang out with gay guys, lesbians, or bisexuals. (Actually, my research has found a great affinity between bisexuals and transsexuals.) They're far more likely to be in the aerobics class, trying to keep their weight down, just like all the other heterosexual and many of the lesbian and bisexual women at the gym. They very, very seldom disclose their sexuality to others. The majority are married or in committed relationships and neither their partners nor their gynecologists know that they have had SRS. The fundamental problem in your research is that you are relying upon the transsexuals who identify as transsexuals--and most "true" transsexuals do not identify themselves with this label. Hence, you've identified a sample that captures two ends of a bell curve, which makes it appears (to you) as if there are two very different types of "transsexuals" rather than a continuum. The true population of transsexuals is a very long continuum. But this population is confounded by another group of individuals ("transgender"), who wish to live as men or women full or part-time, without undergoing SRS. Contrary to some of your assertions, there is a large and, in fact, growing number of genetic females who are sexually aroused by dressing as men, and the number of male-to-female transsexuals is growing exponentially. In some parts of the country, they outnumber male-to-female transsexuals.
In essence, although you're an excellent sex researcher, you're at an enormous disadvantage because you can't do first-order cultural research, you can't gain entre to the interviews and interaction with former TSs, and in many ways you're re-creating the wheel. I'd love one day to show you a book written in 1948 that has many of the same ideas that you present in The Man Who Would Be Queen. It's buried in the Kinsey Institute archives, along with some of my research :-)

Cheers,
Robin


Robin M. Mathy, M.A., PgD, PgC
MSW Cand., University of Minnesota--Twin Cities
MSt Cand., University of Cambridge
MSc Cand., University of Oxford


--------------------------
Begin forwarded message:

From: "Robin M. Mathy"
Date: July 25, 2003 4:44:23 AM CDT
To:
Cc:
Subject: Possible Ethics Complaint

Dear APA Ethics,
I am preparing a complaint of ethics violations concerning Dr. J. Michael Bailey's research for The Man Who Would Be Queen (2003, Joseph Henry Press). Before filing the complaint, I must exercise rights pursuant to Section 8.14 of the APA Code of Ethics, to verify data associated with Dr. Bailey's research and preparation of his book.
All data obtained from Dr. Bailey will be held in the strictest confidence and used solely to verify the research data (including sample, instruments, and procedures) associated with the preparation and production of The Man Who Would Be Queen.
I would appreciate your cooperation in ensuring that Dr. Bailey takes this request seriously and forwards these materials to me as expeditiously as possible, preferably within 24-48 hours to guard against the appearance of post hoc fabrication of data. The data may be sent to me at the Department of Psychiatry, Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, F257/2B West, 2450 Riverside Avenue, Minneapolis, MN 55454.

Robin M. Mathy, M.A., M.S.W. (eff. 8/31/03), M.St. (Cand.), M.Sc. (Cand.)
University of Oxford, Kellogg College & Evidence-Based Health Care
University of Cambridge, Wolfson College & International Relations
University of Minnesota, Social Work & Psychiatry

-----------------
Begin forwarded message:

From: "Robin M. Mathy"
Date: July 25, 2003 5:12:46 AM CDT
To:
Subject: APA Code of Ethics, Section 8.14

Dear Dr. Bailey,
Pursuant to Section 8.14 of the APA Code of Ethics, please send me copies of all data used in the preparation and production of The Man Who Would Be Queen. Please be assured that the data will be held in the strictest confidence, and will be used solely to verify the data used in the preparation and production of your book. Please send the materials to me via Federal Express. My address is the Department of Psychiatry, Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, F257/2B West, 2450 Riverside Avenue, Minneapolis, MN 55454. I will reimburse you for all shipping and duplication costs. To guard against the possible appearance of post hoc fabrication of data, please send these materials to me within 24-48 hours. Please respond to this email by 5.00 p.m. CDT, Friday, 25 July 2003, to provide assurances that you will comply with Section 8.14 of the APA Code of Ethics.
I sincerely regret, Dr. Bailey, that the responsibility for this task has fallen to me. As a former transsexual and an expert in the area of sexual orientation and gender identity, I would have welcomed the opportunity to intervene on your behalf. I very much regret that you chose not to respond to my prior email proferring cultural guidance. Unfortunately, the maelstrom created by your book has now swelled beyond any individual's control or influence. In part, I fear, your position as Chairperson of the Department of Psychology at an elite private university has made you an exemplary target for the transgender community to demonstrate its cultural cohesion and political power. You very probably would be a less likely target of the transgender community's animosity and politics if you were to retract The Man Who Would Be Queen and resign your position as Chairperson of Psychology at Northwestern University. Unfortunately, there is no guarantee that taking this action would appease the transgender community, though I am fairly certain it would help (me) influence a movement toward an amicable resolution of the animosities between your work and the transgender community and its allies.
Please note that a Commentary that includes The Man Who Would Be Queen is being submitted to a leading biomedical journal. The paper will be submitted at 5.00 p.m. today, Friday, 25 July 2003. I would like to be able to state in the Commentary that you have cooperated by providing the aforementioned data. If you provide assurances of sending these data, I will defer submission of the article to next Monday at 5.00 p.m., in anticipation of its receipt. The article will make no mention of the quality or quantity of data you provide; merely that its existence has been independently verified pursuant to Section 8.14 of the APA Code of Ethics.

Respectfully,
Robin M. Mathy



----- Original Message -----
From: Robin M. Mathy
To:
Cc:
Sent: Friday, July 25, 2003 4:44 AM
Subject: Possible Ethics Complaint

Dear APA Ethics,
I am preparing a complaint of ethics violations concerning Dr. J. Michael Bailey's research for The Man Who Would Be Queen (2003, Joseph Henry Press). Before filing the complaint, I must exercise rights pursuant to Section 8.14 of the APA Code of Ethics, to verify data associated with Dr. Bailey's research and preparation of his book.
All data obtained from Dr. Bailey will be held in the strictest confidence and used solely to verify the research data (including sample, instruments, and procedures) associated with the preparation and production of The Man Who Would Be Queen.
I would appreciate your cooperation in ensuring that Dr. Bailey takes this request seriously and forwards these materials to me as expeditiously as possible, preferably within 24-48 hours to guard against the appearance of post hoc fabrication of data. The data may be sent to me at the Department of Psychiatry, Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, F257/2B West, 2450 Riverside Avenue, Minneapolis, MN 55454.

Robin M. Mathy, M.A., M.S.W. (eff. 8/31/03), M.St. (Cand.), M.Sc. (Cand.)
University of Oxford, Kellogg College & Evidence-Based Health Care
University of Cambridge, Wolfson College & International Relations
University of Minnesota, Social Work & Psychiatry


------------------------
Begin forwarded message:

From: "Robin M. Mathy"
Date: July 29, 2003 11:00:31 AM CDT
To:
Subject: Question

Dear Michael,

I confess that I do not not understand your reluctance to reply to my serious inquiries. On your webpage you wrote that "I am most likely to respond to comments that suggest a serious effort to understand my arguments (especially by reading my book)." Having raised a serious issue with your work, you have chosen not to reply. I have no intention to "take sides" in the issue about your book until I have had the opportunity to examine your data--or unless you violate APA ethics and fail to provide it. As well you know, no other critic of your work has said, "I need to see the data" before making up her or his mind.
I am sorry that I had to be the one to inform you that an ethical complaint is being filed with the APA. However, I felt ethically compelled to let you know that issues about the process of acquiring data for your book have been rasied, and not merely with Northwestern University.
You have done excellent work over the years, and I remain your colleague. Notwithstanding that I am a female born intersexed (XX/XY mosaic) and former MtF transsexual (95% of XX/XY appear male at birth) who has studied sexual orientation and gender nonconformity for over 2 decades, I am first and foremost a scientist. I care deeply about the truth. I could care less if there are one, two, or two zillion kinds of transsexuals. I do care about the process by which scientists reach their conclusions. In this case, your data and the process by which it was acquired is critical to your argument. So, let me ask one more time to see your data, even as I must move forward with the APA ethics complaint. That should not be perceived as a punitive process. The process is designed to secure science from unethical research. As a researcher, it is something we are compelled to follow.
I've called you at your office, your home, and left emails. So far, I have not had the favour of a reply. Please reply. I cannot engage in a dialogue with you about your book and its effects on the transgender community without your willingness to engage in a dialogue with me. As I mentioned in my first email to you, it is clear that you (and Blanchard) and many others who have written about childhood gender nonconformity and sexual orientation or transsexualism simply "don't get it." You can't "get it" because you're all white heterosexual males in privileged positions of power. However, a good cultural guide could help highlight the nature of some of the misunderstandings. Who better than a colleague who has expertise in the area and who is a member of that culture?
The ball is in your court. I won't be reaching out to you after this email. My time is too valuable, too. However, evasiveness in response to a legitimate request to see your data speaks volumes, even if you won't speak to me.

Very best,
Robin M. Mathy
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