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“A good couple consists of a man and a woman”, “I find it disgusting when two men kiss”: These statements were part of a survey by the Institute for Sociology at the JKU Linz and were to be confirmed or denied by young people in Ansfelden (the OÖN reported). After the media reports on the problematic statements, Johann Bacher, university professor at the Institute for Sociology in the Department of Empirical Social Research at the JKU, commented on this today, Monday.
Apologies to those affected
In his statement, Bacher admits methodological errors in formulating the statements. “In addition to a statement such as ‘I find it disgusting when two men kiss’, which expresses a rejection of men’s homosexuality, another statement should be formulated that is positive about homosexuality, such as ‘I find it It’s true that marriages between two men are allowed’. Note: Questions for women can be formulated in the same way. Only one item was selected,” says a JKU broadcast.
At no stage would the responsible employees have intended to assess specific sexual orientations. “If the lack of an explicitly positive statement has led to personal injuries, I would like to sincerely apologize on behalf of the Institute for Sociology and personally to all those affected,” says Bacher.
Statement by JKU Rector Meinhard Lukas
Rector Meinhard Lukas also emphasizes in his statement that the JKU, which values diversity and inclusion, regrets this incident: “The specific survey in Ansfelden does not meet social science standards because unfortunately methodological errors occurred. The ones that arose in public impression contradicts the attitude and values of our university. We have therefore been holding intensive discussions with the stakeholders involved since the weekend in order to critically reflect on the process to date and to draw the necessary lessons from it,” says Lukas.
Source: Nachrichten
