Every year, Oberlin students undertake ambitious research projects for their capstones and honors theses. College fourth-year Sophie Aaron is currently conducting a study on Oberlin’s hookup culture during COVID-19 for her Sociology thesis, and there is still time for you to take part in it.  

“The purpose of the project is to basically understand why hooking up is such a big part of the Oberlin experience: why people try to engage and the social impact of that,” Aaron wrote in an email to the Review. “The twist is why do students continue to engage in hookup culture when the social benefits are gone (due to COVID) and what does that say about the core of our hookup culture.”

The survey asks students to reflect on their lives before the pandemic, and is perfect for anyone dying to talk about their sex life (or complain about a lacktheoref) but whose friends are tried of hearing about it. Any current Oberlin student, besides first-years, can take the survey.

While the survey itself is completely anonymous, respondents are advised not to include anyone else’s actual name or other identifying information in their responses. The anonymous data cannot be reported to ObieSafe for guideline violations. 

Aaron hopes to hear more from people in polyamourous or open relationships, as they are currently underrepresented in the data. In addition, she also hopes to hear from immunocompromised students, especially if they are willing to speak about their experiences communicating their health and safety needs to new partners.

“The pandemic is hitting immunocompromised folks especially hard,” Aaron wrote “While many people in our age bracket can feel invincible, immunocompromised folks may be feeling especially vulnerable and isolated. As a chronically ill person, I know that my health status also impacted the way in which I felt able to interact with hookup culture, even before COVID. So, I guess there is also a personal interest in seeing if that was a shared experience, and how other immunocompromised folks are approaching hooking up during the pandemic.”

If you’d like to share your experiences, click this link to get started. And stay tuned for when the Review talks to Sophie again to discuss her findings.