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Manchester boots out masturbation paper PhD student
Karl andersson’s article about his use of provocative images of young boys caused outrage among mps and scholars.
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A PhD researcher who caused outrage with a journal paper describing how he masturbated to sexualised images of young boys has been booted off his course.
The University of Manchester faced heavy scrutiny last year over its funding of Karl Andersson’s doctorate following the publication of his article in Qualitative Research , subtitled “Using masturbation as an ethnographic method in research on shota subculture in Japan”, focusing on a manga comic genre depicting sexual encounters involving young boys.
With MPs and academics lining up to criticise the paper’s publication, a police investigation was also launched to consider whether UK laws on the possession of indecent images of children – which can include cartoon images – had been breached.
Manchester suspended Mr Andersson, while his paper was retracted by Sage , which promised to vet submissions on controversial topics more carefully in future.
Manchester has now confirmed that “the student’s association with the university ended” earlier this year – a move that followed an unsuccessful appeal against the decision, Times Higher Education understands.
“Another human resources investigation is ongoing, so we cannot comment on that,” a university spokesman added. It was unclear whether the masturbation paper was completed in Germany, prior to Mr Andersson’s enrolment at Manchester.
In his paper, Mr Andersson thanked his supervisor, Sharon Kinsella, “for always encouraging me to go where my research takes me”, but Manchester vice-president Nalin Thakkar later told MPs that Dr Kinsella only became aware of the research once it had been approved for publication .
Writing on his personal blog , Mr Andersson explained how he had been “shamed in British tabloids” after his article “went viral” and that “my university decided to halt my research”.
“I therefore conduct my research independently now, without university affiliation or funding,” continued Mr Andersson, who said he had spent “half a year conducting fieldwork among shota fans in Japan”, which included “creating my own comic and selling it at one of the events that are central to the [ shota ] culture”.
Standing by the “masturbation article”, he added that “the paper was praised by everyone involved in the publishing process (course convenor, journal editor, peer reviewers, supervisor) for its innovative approach, and its academic merit has subsequently been asserted by scholars”.
Mr Andersson did not respond to THE ’s request for comment. Greater Manchester Police said that it was still working with the university “to establish what, if any offences have been committed” and that no arrests had been made.
Alice Sullivan, professor of sociology at UCL, who was one of the first scholars to criticise the paper, said transparency was needed about why Mr Andersson’s PhD proposal had been approved.
“Manchester’s School of Arts, Languages and Cultures has questions to answer regarding the intellectual climate in which Karl Andersson’s research could have been deemed worthy of funding, notwithstanding the fact that the masturbation paper was not part of Andersson’s PhD,” said Professor Sullivan.
However, the controversial paper also “raised questions for the wider sector”, she added. “The editors and reviewers of the journal Qualitative Research apparently believed that an article about masturbating to images of children made a worthwhile contribution to knowledge,” she said.
“Quite apart from the ethical issues, academics and funders should be asking questions about the existence of queer theory as an academic niche where masturbation can be treated as a research activity. This suggests a radical lack of intellectual standards, which risks bringing higher education into disrepute.”
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Statement on investigation into work of PhD student
22 Aug 2022
Outcome of initial phase of investigation
We have completed the initial phase of investigation into the recent publication of the work of a student, who had registered for a PhD, which has raised widespread and significant concerns and complaints, all of which we take extremely seriously.
We are examining all aspects of the student’s work and academic supervision, the origin of the article, his prior background, the associated University processes for admission to our PGR programme and research conduct, and other questions that have been raised.
This investigation is not yet complete, however, we wanted to provide initial findings where we are able, and actions we have taken, particularly as there are significant broader concerns about the student beyond research misconduct.
Qualitative Research
The basis for the article published in Qualitative Research was a paper for the course "Topics in Interdisciplinary Queer Studies: Autoethnography" at the University of Stavanger, Norway.
The research involving participants described in the paper was conducted for his MA at a University in Berlin. There is contradictory information regarding when the period of self-immersive research activity took place.
The described research methodology and data collection were not submitted for University of Manchester research ethics approval. The production of the paper was not part of his supervised PhD programme of study.
However, there are wider questions for the University which we continue to investigate.
Supporting a police investigation
Greater Manchester Police has opened an investigation. We are assisting them with their enquiries to establish what, if any offences, have been committed in the UK or elsewhere.
PhD continuation and next steps
The student was registered for a PhD but the research design which he developed, and the methods he proposed for conducting the research for his PhD was submitted to, and rejected by, our University Research Ethics Committee (UREC) on 17 June 2022.
As a precautionary measure, the student has been suspended pending the outcome of a full investigation under the Student Conduct Discipline regulation.
Important further University actions
There are a number of serious issues raised by this case, that we are still investigating. We have robust procedures for approving new research via our University Research Ethics Committee, in accordance with the standards applied by all research funders aross the sector. The student’s proposed research methods and data collection for his programme of study were rejected.
We were not aware of the background relating to this student which has now come to light, and this case has highlighted that we must ensure that our PhD student recruitment processes are sufficiently robust to appropriately scrutinise the legal, ethical and safeguarding issues of the proposed research and applicants’ prior related activities where relevant.
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University of Manchester investigating after being criticised for allowing ‘PhD in masturbation’
A spokesperson for institution said "it is very important that we look at the issues in-depth."
The University of Manchester (UoM) has confirmed it has launched an investigation following criticism that it allowed a student to publish a “PhD in masturbation”.
For an article recently-published in the Journal of Qualitative Research, PhD student Karl Andersson was conducting research into the “shota” genre of Japanese comic books – which are known for centring around prepubescent or pubescent male characters depicted in a “suggestive or erotic” manner.
In his 4,000-word article – which is titled ‘I am not alone – we are all alone: Using masturbation as an ethnographic method in research on shota subculture in Japan’ – Mr Andersson said he wanted to “understand how [individuals] experience sexual pleasure when reading shota”, and so to do this, he decided to undertake his own research.
He claims that he embarked on a three-month stint of masturbating to the comic books himself, and making notes on each session, the Telegraph reports .
Andersson added that he had recently come out of a long-term relationship when he began his research – which he said contributed to his “willingness and eagerness”.
Outlining the methodology for his research, Andersson explained: “For a period of three months, I would masturbate only to shota comics. For this purpose, I would use dōjinshi and commercial volumes that I have bought or been given during fieldwork in Japan.
“In short: I would masturbate in the same way that my research participants did it. After each masturbation session I would write down my thoughts and feelings – a kind of critical self-reflection – in a notebook, as well as details about which material I had used, where I had done it, at what time, and for how long.”
But shortly after the article was published, Mr Andersson and the University of Manchester came under fire and were berated by both members of the public on social media and politicians – who branded the piece “a PhD on masturbation”.
Conservative MP Neil O’Brien was someone who took particular offence to the publication of the article, taking to Twitter to question: “Why should hard-working taxpayers in my constituency have to pay for an academic to write about his experiences masturbating to Japanese porn?
“The non-STEM side of higher education is just much too big, producing too much that is not socially useful.”
The University of Manchester has since confirmed it has launched an investigation into the publication of the article, with a spokesperson saying in a statement: “The recent publication in Qualitative Research of the work of a student, now registered for a PhD, has raised significant concerns and complaints which we are taking very seriously.
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“We are currently undertaking a detailed investigation into all aspects of their work, the processes around it and other questions raised.
“It is very important that we look at the issues in-depth.”
SAGE Journals – which is responsible for the publishing of the Journal of Qualitative Research – has also addressed the criticism it received for allowing the article on its platform, saying it is “aware of concerns”.
We are aware of concerns about a paper published earlier this year in our journal, Qualitative Research. The article is under investigation, and we will ensure that any actions taken comply with the standards of the Committee of Publication Ethics. — SAGE Journals (@SAGEJournals) August 10, 2022
Taking to Twitter, SAGE Journals said: “We are aware of concerns about a paper published earlier this year in our journal, Qualitative Research. The article is under investigation, and we will ensure that any actions taken comply with the standards of the Committee of Publication Ethics.”
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A Manchester City fan has tragically passed away after a medical incident at the Manchester derby yesterday.
The club has confirmed that one of the club’s supporters died after collapsing during the match against Manchester United.
They wrote: “ Manchester City are aware of the tragic news that one of our supporters passed away following a medical incident at yesterday’s match.
“The thoughts of everyone at the Club are with their family and friends at this incredibly difficult time.”
Man City and Manchester United faced off at the Etihad Stadium yesterday, with Man United eventually taking the win thanks to a 90th-minute goal by Amad Diallo.
An eyewitness told the Manchester Evening News they saw the fan being administered CPR at around 4:10pm.
People have been leaving tributes to the Manchester City fan, who has not yet been named, online.
One person wrote: “RIP that city fan. No one should go to a football match and not come home again. RIP”
Another said: “An important reminder amongst all the squabbling over yesterday’s result is that the football isn’t everything. Thoughts are with his family, RIP blue.”
Someone else posted: “Rip blue. Thoughts are with your family and friends at this sad time.”
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The new B plates – with the ‘B’ standing for ‘bad parking’ – are designed to be attached to a vehicle so you can apologise to other motorists for your lack of parking prowess.
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74% of new drivers aged between 17 and 24 say they could benefit from more guidance in lessons.
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It’s hoped that the new B Plate stickers will encourage drivers to ‘own’ their parking pitfalls, the company says, as well as seek the additional guidance required to gain more confidence behind the wheel.
“Just like a P plate enables new drivers to ask for patience from other road users, our B plates will give people the chance to hold their hands up, say sorry and ask for forgiveness, if they know their parking leaves a lot to be desired,” explained David Kottaun, who is the Operations Manager at Scrap Car Comparison.
“We hope the plates also serve as encouragement for drivers to seek additional parking guidance to build up their confidence.”
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PhD student says he’s masturbating to ‘young boy’ comics for research
Manchester University is investigating a PhD student after he wrote a paper documenting his experiences of masturbating while looking at ‘extreme’ comics featuring drawings of ‘young boys’.
Karl Andersson spent three months deriving sexual pleasure from a subgenre of underground Japanese comics and keeping a journal, eventually writing a 4,000-word study on the subject.
The books depict young males in a ‘cute or, most often, sexually explicit way’, according to the author himself.
In the paper, which was first published in April but has only just come to the university’s attention after it was seized on by social media users, Mr Andersson gives graphic accounts of his sexual habits.
He writes that he began the practice after he ‘hit a wall’ in his studies of comics, adding ‘I realised that my body was equipped with a research tool of its own that could give me, quite literally, a first-hand understanding’.
Mr Andersson, originally from Sweden, says he eschewed ‘regular’ porn and sex during a three-month ‘research’ period, claiming it ‘deepened my understanding’ of why people read the comics.
According to his own Twitter account, his studies are funded by the The School of Arts, Languages and Cultures at The University of Manchester and focus on ‘how fans of subcultural comics in Japan experience desire and think about sexual identities’.
His paper was published in the Journal of Qualitative Research under the title: ‘I am not alone – we are all alone: Using masturbation as an ethnographic method in research on shota subculture in Japan’.
In it, Mr Andersson writes: ‘I therefore started reading the comics in the same way as my research participants had told me that they did it: while masturbating.
‘In this research note, I will recount how I set up an experimental method of masturbating to shota comics, and how this participant observation of my own desire not only gave me a more embodied understanding of the topic for my research but also made me think about loneliness and ways to combat it as driving forces of the culture of self-published erotic comics.’
He records how ‘my desire did not only emanate from the content…but from the fact that other people too were excited by this often extreme content and masturbated to it’.
Mr Andersson said the ‘feeling was enhanced when I read a secondhand [comic], which I assumed had been used for masturbation by its previous owner, and thus been “charged”, like a magic charm that would continue to bring happiness to new owners’.
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A University of Manchester spokesperson said: ‘The recent publication in Qualitative Research of the work of a student, now registered for a PhD, has raised significant concerns and complaints which we are taking very seriously.
‘We are currently undertaking a detailed investigation into all aspects of their work, the processes around it and other questions raised.
‘It is very important that we look at the issues in-depth.
‘While that investigation is ongoing, it would not be appropriate for us to comment further at this time.’
Metro.co.uk has contacted Mr Andersson for comment.
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