Keep Factually independent
Whether you agree or disagree with our analysis, these conversations matter for democracy. We don't take money from political groups - even a $5 donation helps us keep it that way.
Which national surveys include questions about specific sexual practices like pegging?
Executive summary
Major national probability surveys that explicitly ask about a wide range of sexual behaviors include the U.S. National Survey of Sexual Health and Behavior (NSSHB) and Britain's National Survey of Sexual Attitudes and Lifestyles (Natsal); both are designed to measure specific sexual practices across representative populations [1] [2]. Other national instruments mentioned in the inventory literature and violence-focused surveys (for example, the CDC’s NISVS and the Crime Survey for England and Wales) collect data on sexual victimisation or sexual violence but tend to focus on victimisation types rather than detailed consensual sexual practices such as named niche acts like “pegging” [3] [4] [5].
1. What the big sexual-behavior surveys cover — and why they matter
The National Survey of Sexual Health and Behavior (NSSHB) is described as “the largest nationally representative probability survey focused on understanding sex in the United States,” and its key findings pages illustrate that it collects detailed information on a wide variety of sexual behaviors and practices for population-level estimates [1] [6]. Similarly, Natsal (the National Survey of Sexual Attitudes and Lifestyles) is Britain’s flagship sexual-behaviour survey; fieldwork for its latest wave (Natsal‑4) has been completed and the programme historically has asked respondents about specific sexual practices to map population patterns [2] [7]. These surveys exist specifically to measure prevalence and correlates of sexual practices across age, gender and other demographics [1] [7].
2. Violence and victimisation surveys focus on harm, not detailed consensual acts
The National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey (NISVS) administered by CDC is an ongoing nationally representative instrument that collects comprehensive data on sexual violence, intimate partner violence and stalking; its focus is victimisation and harm rather than cataloguing consensual sexual practices with fine-grained labels [3] [8]. Likewise, the Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW) and related ONS redevelopment work concentrate on sexual victimisation questions and the nature of assaults — who the perpetrator was and the context — rather than listing specific consensual sexual acts like “pegging” [4] [9].
3. Academic inventories and reviews: where “specific practices” show up (or don’t)
A 2013–style inventory of U.S. nationally representative surveys noted that while many data systems include sexual-health variables, there are measurement gaps and opportunities to add indicators that capture positive domains of sexual health and a wider range of behaviors; the review recommends modifying existing surveys to include more indicators where appropriate, implying that not all surveys now ask about niche practices [5]. In short, scholarly reviews show national surveys vary in scope and many do not routinely include highly specific named acts unless designers explicitly include them [5].
4. Evidence about “rough sex” and other enumerated behaviors — an example of focused measurement
Recent research using nationally representative data has measured specific categories of “rough sex” behaviors (e.g., choking, spanking, hair pulling) and published prevalence estimates; this demonstrates surveys can and do ask about specific acts when research or policy priorities motivate inclusion [10]. The presence of such measures in one national study shows it is feasible, but it does not confirm that every large national survey asks about other specific acts like pegging [10].
5. What the available sources do not say about pegging specifically
Available sources do not mention whether NSSHB, Natsal, NISVS, CSEW or other listed national surveys explicitly ask respondents about “pegging” by name. The inventory and survey descriptions indicate variable coverage of specific practices and that some surveys are oriented toward victimisation, not enumerating consensual sexual acts [1] [2] [3] [4] [5]. Therefore, a claim that a particular national survey asks about pegging is not supported by the documents provided here.
6. Practical implications and how to check further
If you need to know whether a named practice like pegging is asked about, the decisive action is to consult the survey questionnaires or codebooks — NSSHB and Natsal publish instruments and key findings that would show item wording; victimisation surveys publish methodology and question modules that clarify scope [1] [6] [2] [3] [4]. The inventory paper also suggests that gaps exist and that survey content evolves, so absence in older instruments doesn’t prove absence in newer waves [5].
Limitations: this analysis uses only the provided documents; they list survey programmes, research inventories, and victimisation redevelopment work but do not include full questionnaires or explicit confirmations that any named survey asks about “pegging” [1] [2] [3] [4] [5].