Parade queried 1,100 men and women who were randomly selected nationwide from all walks of life. Mark Clements, president of Mark Clements Research, Inc., supervised the data collection.

“The Parade survey is the first study of American sexual behavior and attitudes ever conducted with a national probability sample,” Mr. Clements says. “This means that the respondents are a cross-section of the United States population.”

Ranging in age from 18 to 60, they included married, single, and divorced people.

The questions were designed by Dr. Carol C. Flax, a sex researcher and therapist and adjunct associate professor of biology at New York University, and me. The data were then computer analyzed by Dr. Philip Merrifield, professor of educational psychology at New York University, and Deborah Hecht, his student.

Dr. Flax says that the concept of sexual styles could help in treating sex problems. “If we can get troubled couples to understand each other’s sex styles,” she says, “we can draw partners closer together.”

And sex problems do abound: one person in seven reported trouble. The rate was about equal for men and women. However, women most often complained about sexual incompatibility with their partner (18 percent), difficulty reaching orgasm (17 percent), and low sex drive (17 percent). Men were mostly troubled by impotence (18 percent), feelings of sexual inadequacy (13 percent), and low sex drive (11 percent).

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The principal display panel for a packaged or canned food product must include (1) the common name of the product, (2) the net weight in ounces, including the liquids used for packing as well as the solids, and (3) the name and address of the manufacturer, packer, or distributor. A description of the product is also given; for example, “condensed” for soups that are to be diluted when used; “cream style” for corn; whole, halves, pieces, etc., for fruits.

The ingredients for non-standardized products must be listed in the order of their predominance; that is, the ingredient in the largest amount listed first, the second largest next, and so on. This listing includes the common names of ingredients. The common names of additives are chemical terms that have little meaning to most consumers. Nevertheless, their listing represents a protection to the consumer.

More than 300 products are manufactured under a standard of identity. Manufacturers are not required to list the ingredients for these products, since they are formulated according to standard recipes set by the Food and Drug Administration. However, manufacturers are now being urged to list ingredients in these products so that consumers can be better informed.

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