This report was prepared at the request of the Kaiser Family Foundation to examine the methodological options for investigating the effects of sexual content in the media on children and adolescents. To discuss the issues and prepare the report, a forum of 20 scholars with expertise in sexuality, sexual development, media analysis, and media effects was convened. The report reviews what is known about the relations of entertainment media to sexual development during childhood and adolescence, considers methodological issues and challenges in studying the topic, and proposes some fruitful directions for future research. The report is not intended to debate opinions about the effects of sexual content in the mass media, rather it is a review and discussion of social scientific methods which provide publicly shared, objective, empirical, and replicable information that can be used to build a cumulative body of knowledge of this area. Two approaches to sexual development are reviewed in the report: healthy sex and sexual health. The report suggests that researchers can design and conduct important research within national and local guidelines and recommends research based on five premises. Following an Executive Summary, the report is divided into these sections: (1) Introduction; (2) Background and Literature Review; (3) What Outcomes Are Important?; (4) Controlling for Key Variables; (5) Methods Available; (6) Measurement Issues in Designing Effects Research; (7) Problems in Doing Research on This Topic; and (8) Recommendations for Future Research. Contains 151 references and a 59-item selected annotated bibliography. (NKA)