Identifying Transgender Respondents in Surveys

Chapter: Identifying Transgender and Other Gender Minority Respondents on Population-Based Surveys: Special Considerations for Adolescents, Race/Ethnicity, Socioeconomic Status, and Intersex Status

By: Greytak, E.A., Gill, A., Conron, K., Matthews, P.A., Scout, Nfn, Resiner, S., Herman, J.L., Viloria, H., Tamar-Mattis, A.

Full report: Best Practices for Asking Questions to Identify Transgender and Other Gender Minority Respondents on Population-Based Surveys (2014)

Editors: Herman. J.L.

"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.  Among the most effective is the “two step” approach, which includes measures of self-reported assigned sex at birth (the sex recorded on one’s original birth certificate) and gender identity at the time of the survey. When collecting data to identify transgender and other gender minority respondents, special considerations must be taken into account based on age, race/ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and intersex status."