Best Practices for Asking Questions to Identify Transgender and Other Gender Minority Respondents on Population-Based Surveys

September 2014 | Williams Institute

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““Transgender people and other gender minorities have long been an invisible group in population-based surveys, leaving researchers, policymakers, and service providers without crucial information about the backgrounds and needs of transgender people." ”

Most federally-supported population-based surveys do not include measures to identify transgender and other gender minority respondents. This report assesses current practices in sex and gender-related population research and offers strategies for establishing consistent, scientifically rigorous procedures for gathering information relevant to the needs and experiences of transgender people and other gender minorities. The report recommends various promising measures and measurement approaches for identifying respondents as gender minorities in general population surveys.