Sam proposed a question to Hooker: Why not conduct research on homosexuals to determine whether homosexuality was some sort of disease or disorder and not relevant to a person's psychological makeup? Sam urged her to conduct research on homosexuals, saying it was "her scientific duty to study people like us". Hooker was intrigued by the question and further persuaded by her experience with social rejection as a child, witnessing the effects of racial and political persecution in her travels, and discrimination in her professional life.