[Air-L] Gender and surveys

[Sarah Merry]

Agreed - I think I'll use that, next time I need gender information.
Thanks!

On 13 April 2016 at 14:25, Deller, Ruth A <R.A.Deller at shu.ac.uk> wrote:

> Thanks for that - yes, non-binary is probably better than other, thinking
> about it.
> ________________________________________
> From: Kinloch, Karen [k.kinloch at lancaster.ac.uk]
> Sent: 13 April 2016 14:11
> To: Sarah Merry; Deller, Ruth A
> Cc: Air-L at listserv.aoir.org
> Subject: RE: [Air-L] Gender and surveys
>
> I use male/female/prefer not to say and then rather than other use
> non-binary and that seemed to be agreeable to the students who took the
> survey.
>
> Karen Kinloch
>
> Department of English Language and Linguistics
> Lancaster University
> @Karrie_Don
>
>
>
> ________________________________________
> From: Air-L [air-l-bounces at listserv.aoir.org] on behalf of Sarah Merry [
> skmerry at gmail.com]
> Sent: 13 April 2016 14:03
> To: Deller, Ruth A
> Cc: Air-L at listserv.aoir.org
> Subject: Re: [Air-L] Gender and surveys
>
> 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.
> > >
> > > _______________________________________________
> > > The Air-L at listserv.aoir.org mailing list is provided by the
> > > Association of Internet Researchers http://aoir.org Subscribe, change
> > > options or unsubscribe at:
> > > http://listserv.aoir.org/listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org
> > >
> > > Join the Association of Internet Researchers:
> > > http://www.aoir.org/
> > _______________________________________________
> > The Air-L at listserv.aoir.org mailing list is provided by the Association
> > of Internet Researchers http://aoir.org Subscribe, change options or
> > unsubscribe at: http://listserv.aoir.org/listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org
> >
> > Join the Association of Internet Researchers:
> > http://www.aoir.org/
> >
> _______________________________________________
> The Air-L at listserv.aoir.org mailing list
> is provided by the Association of Internet Researchers http://aoir.org
> Subscribe, change options or unsubscribe at:
> http://listserv.aoir.org/listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org
>
> Join the Association of Internet Researchers:
> http://www.aoir.org/
>