ABSTRACT
As sex research developed into a scientific field in the late 19th century, researchers have struggled with how something as mysterious, ephemeral or to use the word that many other scholars have-fluid-could be ordered for scientific study. Sex researchers from the 1920s onward, including Robert Latou Dickinson, Katharine Bement Davis, and Gilbert V. Hamilton, experimented with quantitative measurements for their work to complement the qualitative (see Dickinson and Beam 1932 and 1934; Hamilton 1929; Davis 1929). Examining quantitative forms of sexual measurement illuminates not only what such measures have been for, but also whom they have been for-how effective (or not) they are in developing scientific thought, and also how useful they are for public and individual understanding of sexuality. This essay focuses on one of the best known quantitative measurements, the Klein Sexual Orientation Grid (aka KSOG, or Klein Grid)—its theoretical and historical development, its use in scientific study, its transference to the Internet, and its use in personal discovery, and what it does and does not show about human sexuality. Overall, the Klein Grid is a tool best designed for researchers and professional psychologists working with clients, although it, along with other tools, remains popular with and relevant to individuals seeking instruments for personal discovery.
