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In this chapter, we review issues central to the use of phenomenological research methods in the psychological study of sexuality. Phenomenological methods are characterized by close attention to the details of participants' lived experience as well as an emphasis on participants' interpretation of their experience. This group of methods is essential in psychological research on sexuality because it helps researchers to understand the phenomenon of sexuality as it is experienced in everyday life and under constant change. Beginning with a summary of the epistemological foundations of phenomenological research methods in psychology, we present an overview of several popular approaches to data collection and analysis that facilitate phenomenological investigations of sexuality. Classical foundations, future directions, limitations, advantages, and clinical and policy relevance are discussed via key exemplar studies of sexuality-related phenomena using phenomenological research methods. SEXUALITY AS COMPLEX AND VARIED PHENOMENAHuman sexuality is complex, given that it is inclusive of a number of related, but distinct, phenomena. These phenomena include, but are not limited to, sexual behavior, desire, pleasure, orientation, and identity. Psychologists and other social scientists often operationalize these aspects of sexuality categorically at the level of groups and populations to facilitate comparative study (e.g., heterosexual vs. sexual minority; penetrative vs. nonpenetrative sex).

Extending our prior work on tungsten and molybdenum oxides, we have found that a wide variety of vanadium oxides can be prepared using hydrothermal methods. These include a number of layer compounds as well as cluster complexes. The starting reaction medium usually contained vanadium pentoxide, an alkali containing compound such as LiOH, an organic template such as tetramethylammonium, and the pH of the whole was controlled by the addition of acid. Reaction temperature was 150°C to 200°C, and time was up to 3 days. A new lithium vanadium oxide, which has the simplest structure of any layered vanadium oxide, was formed. The lithium could be readily removed leading to a new form of vanadium dioxide. This vanadium oxide was also capable of intercalating a variety of other ionic and molecular species. Several other new vanadium oxides containing the TMA cation were also formed; one of these TMAV3O7 readily absorbed oxygen to form TMAV3O8. Addition of zinc or iron to the reaction medium caused the formation of layer structures containing double V2O5 layers; for iron the TMA was retained in the structure whereas for zinc the TMA was excluded. Changing the organic entity resulted in other new structures, for example methylamine and dimethylamine gave tetragonal structures.

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