“A remarkable number of claims you see in newspapers and magazines about sex are essentially made up.”

What does the average British person think about sex? For over 40 years the Natsal surveys have been recording sexual data, capturing striking changes in our behaviour and sexual lifestyles across the decades. They have been pivotal in the population measurement of the social, behavioural and biological aspects of sexual health. Its evidence has underpinned public health policy, practice and research for over 25 years.

So, how do you get someone to open up about something that’s so deeply personal and sensitive? Who decides what questions need to be asked and how much can we rely on the reported data? As a co-lead at Natsal, Prof Cath Mercer shares insights into the methodology and the survey’s broadening remit while Professor Sir David Spiegelhalter presents his argument for disrupting public health messaging.

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