[Air-L] Gender and surveys

[Sarah Merry]

I'm cautious of using 'other', since it can be offensive to some people.
Though it is difficult to know what to use in its place.

I used 'trans*' with an asterisk because my reading at the time suggested
it was the best option.  I wouldn't use it now, because I think it is (or
rather can be) problematic in itself.

I tried to find some clear and straightforward guidance to the best way of
asking for gender in research and couldn't.  (My supervisors weren't much
help because they couldn't really see past the binary.)

Some students in my research methods classes have also mentioned it as a
difficult issue, so it looks as though that this question is going to run
and run.

On 13 April 2016 at 13:46, Deller, Ruth A <R.A.Deller at shu.ac.uk> wrote:

> I mainly use male, female, other and sometimes 'prefer not to say'
> depending on how important gender is to the research. With 'other', I
> usually have a text box for people to write in. I don't tend to use 'trans'
> as a separate term because many trans people identify as either male or
> female rather than 'other' or non-binary, and there are people who are
> non-binary but wouldn't necessarily call themselves trans.  It depends on
> what your research involves-if you are working with trans or genderqueer
> communities specifically, you might want to have a selection of different
> identity options around that.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Air-L [mailto:air-l-bounces at listserv.aoir.org] On Behalf Of Sarah
> Merry
> Sent: 13 April 2016 11:28
> To: sky c; Air-L at listserv.aoir.org
> Subject: Re: [Air-L] Gender and surveys
>
> In my PhD three/four years ago I used radio buttons (male / female /
> trans*) plus a text box for anyone who felt they could not click one of
> the buttons. This was successful, in that some (about 2% IIRC) respondents
> used the text box.
>
> Now I mostly just use a text box, or don't ask for gender at all.
>
> Sarah Merry
>
> On 13 April 2016 at 02:43, sky c <skyc at riseup.net> wrote:
>
> > I seem to be sending a similar email quite often lately, so I thought
> > it might be worth sending out a version to the list more generally.
> >
> > Many of the surveys I see sent out over this list still include a
> > 'gender' option that offers users the choice of only 'male' or 'female'.
> > If you're developing a survey to send out, it might be worth
> > considering:
> > * Whether gender is relevant to your research question/topic? (If not,
> > you may consider leaving out a question about gender)
> > * Offering more options for gender. Gender is complex, and many people
> > don't identify as either male or female. Offering an option for a text
> > field is a useful way to allow people to answer the question honestly:
> > http://www.sarahmei.com/blog/2010/11/26/disalienation/
> >
> > I'm also curious how people who are already addressing the gender
> > spectrum in research surveys are approaching this: do you use a text
> > field, 'male'/'female'/'other', or something else?
> >
> > Thanks,
> > sky.
> >
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