Laud Humphreys, Tearoom Trade, Duckworth and Co., London 1970 Reveiw

Laud Humphreys, Tearoom Trade, Duckworth and Co., London 1970

Laud Humphreys study looked into the illegal practice of gay men engaging in homosexual activity in public places. The aim of his research was to investigate how and why gay men engaged in casual sex, the rules that governed the activity and the type of men involved.

Humphrey's initially undertook a period of "information observation" whereby he observed as a non-participant which enabled him to go undercover in a 'tearoom' and conduct primary research into his study. He was able to take on the role of 'watchqueen', a lookout for police cars, which not only let him see first hand the activities of the 'tearoom' but to also slowly get to know the participants. After gaining the trust of twelve of the regular visitors Humphrey's conducted interviews and was able to gather primary quantitative and qualitative data about the men.

Concerned that his interviews was not a representative sample Humphrey's recorded the number plates of cars he saw arriving at the 'tearooms' and via his Police contacts and by mis-representing himself obtained the car owners name and address details.

With the information from the Police database Humphrey's was able to contact the car owners to conduct interviews. However, Humphrey's did not want the participants to know the true nature of his research or how he located them he then once again mis-represented himself and the nature of his research.

Through this deceit Humphrey's was able to gain primary quantitative data on the men such as occupation, marital status etc..

Although, Humphrey's study was a small sample and thus lacked representativeness, his findings challenged the accepted belief at the time, that the men participating in the 'tearooms' were an isolated section of society but in contrast many of the men involved in the study were married.

After concluding his study Humphrey's received criticism about his methods and the ethical issues as a result. In going undercover in the 'tearooms' Humphrey's had broken the law and even as a observer had participated in illegal activities. He had purposely deceived the Police in order obtain information. And he had deceived the participants of his study about his identity and the motives for his research.

At the time of his research homosexuals were a significantly stigmatised social group and the world of 'tearooms' highly secretive due to the repercussions to the participants. Humphrey's states that he took extreme care to ensure that his participants identities remain anonymous and that his methods were necessary in order to gain insight to this social issue which would have otherwise