Question/ Request for help

[Artesia]

I am working on writing a gender inclusive survey for a class paper.  I was curious on how to include agender, bigender, and any others I may have missed.  The current writing:
Biological Sex: Male   Female  Intersex
Gender:  Male  Female  Agender  Bigender  Other
Gender Type:  Cisgender  Transgender  Gender Queer N/A


This just doesn't feel quite right.  Some assistence would be wonderful. I do need to keep the assorted responses low, so a complete list is unfeasable.

[StacyRenee]

Well just my two cents. I realize that you're trying to limit possible responses, but I would think gender non-confirming or non-binary would be more common than a-gender or bi-gender. There are so many possibilities, it's hard to limit the answers. Also are you only doing this on gender identity, or is sexuality part of the equation?

Something to keep in mind, people responding to this survey are likely to not be honest with their responses. These questions are deeply personal, and even with a promise of anonymity, many will not answer truthfully. That's why I don't think the estimates are accurate as to how many transgender people there are.



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[Artesia]

It will include sexuality, but the final point of the survey is to correlate suicidal ideation, gender, and social interactions.  Unfortunately there is approximately a 40% suicide rate in transgender people, which is even more than the rest of the LGBTQ community.  Some are claiming that it is because having gender dysphoria is a mental disorder, and people with mental disorders are more likely to attempt suicide.  Others claim it is due to the depressive and anxiety driven comorbid traits associated with gender dysphoria.  I believe that it is due to the preponderance of negative social interactions and loss of support from family and friends.  Of course not all suffer these negative responses, or have a strong support system, even in areas that are predominantly negative towards us.  I will divide each group and subgroup to correlate each of the respondents social interactions and responses and suicide preventative factors.  Survey's, unfortunately, are the only way to study suicidal patterns; even when it is to find a way to reduce it.

[Alice (nym)]

I believe that it is due to the preponderance of negative social interactions and loss of support from family and friends.

There in lies part of the problem. My recent dysphoria was brought on from the tick box exercise of equality forms at the end of job application forms. Ticking the male box was causing me emotional stress. But I couldn't tick the female box and then turn up to an interview as a man. And the forms that had a different option - I didn't feel I could tick the transgender box because again, I am currently not living in my true gender role. The last option was 'prefer not to say'... but then I thought if I tick that box then they will be curious as to why I ticked it... will they look more closely at me?  Will they discover my big secret? 

Again, on the recent survey for a government consultation paper that has been posted on here... I was fine completing the form in anonymity but when it asked me for my name etc. at the end. Well, I still have not overcome my fear, embarrassment, shame etc. These are things I am working on.

These are things that are going to be factors in your survey data. You are also going to potentially have the other problem in that many men and women who have gone through transition are going to want to identify with male/female because that is who they are and they might not wish to identify with transgender. It is a tricky problem that you are not going to be able to solve, so you will have to merely acknowledge these limitations in your study.

If you wanted to limit responses, I would go with:
Biological Sex: Male Female Intersex
Gender: Male Female Other
Gender assigned at birth: Male Female

It is fine to have limitations in a study as long as you acknowledge them.

I hope that helps

love
Alice

[TranscendingGender]

Gender Assigned at Birth: Male - Female (Correct me if I'm wrong but biological sex and what is assigned at birth are the same thing)

Gender Identity: Male - Female - Transgender - Non-Binary

Socially Presenting as: Male - Female - Non-Binary

So transgender covers the spectrum of terminology dealing with most gender queer individuals which could help limit your responses while providing that option for a wide variety of people.

Adding the socially presenting as would help determine if they're not able to present in the way they feel they should be. Since your study is about figuring out if someone identifies differently then they are able to appear is the main objective?

But I agree, these questions are extremely personal for a class paper of any kind. I'm not completely familiar with the terminology though either. I prefer being referred to as female or transgender myself, since it covers a spectrum instead of specifically labels, and from my experience trans-people have many personal opinions on how to refer to themselves in this way.

PS: My own personal struggle is the similar with Stacy. I've always felt feminine, my personality, the way I speak and how I act has all aligned with that so I've been a #1 target for a lot of abuse. People (mostly men) see a 'soft' guy and see a target for bullying and whatever else they can come up with to boost their own egos. Then there is the aspect of overwhelming anxiety when doing things like applying for jobs and going on interviews.

Using myself as an example, I'm trans 100% of the time in life... EXCEPT for work because I cant get a job with MALE stamped on my application, having a male name, handing over male birth certificate and license, then sounding, behaving and looking feminine. This is extremely nerve wrecking for me personally. The looks I get while standing there cashiering for 8 hours straight.. Ugh. I'd like to think if all trans people had the resources and community around them to support their transition those numbers would be MUCH MUCH lower. instead we are faced with crippling poverty and discrimination in the work place making it difficult for us to provide cash flow for ourselves. I mean, how should someone feel when they know that there are surgeries and resources available to help them with their dysphoria but.... you can't afford them so you don't get them, ever.

Being able to quantify all of that into a survey is very difficult.

[Alice (nym)]

I think the reason for the sex and gender at birth questions are to determine intersex people.

I was trying to think back to my darkest hour... the trigger was a friend who refused to see or talk to me anymore... but she was more of a catalyst for everything else that had been happening. It was quite complex, there was no one reason why I wanted to kill myself. It was gender related... it was hatred of being me, it was the immense loneliness, the despair of never being able to escape my masculinity, the fear of even further rejection if I was discovered, being tired of being different, feeling that I wasn't accepted in society, the constant having to listen to verbal attacks on people who I identified with inside, having to hide my own secret by denouncing who I was, etc. etc. and then my only friend abandoning me was the straw that broke my back at the time... it was complex and I didn't suddenly decide to end it, it was 2 months of sheer misery that finally drove me to writing my suicide note and making my plans for departure. Thankfully someone cared enough to worry about me.

Perhaps instead of doing a quantitative study, you should use a smaller sample size and do a qualitative study by having some group sessions with people who had attempted or contemplated taking their lives because of gender issues? 

[JannaLM]

I agree with Alice.

I think a lot of the paper you are writing might be too much for a class.

Boiling things down to these few options doesn't really encapsulate everything that could happen in a person's life. Of course, that is a problem with all kinds of statistics. Overall, I think the paper idea is a good one in theory, but in practice of actually getting the data, there are too many variables to account for. I suppose I considered myself almost suicidal when I was younger, and the only thing that kept me from writing a note and sliding a knife across my throat is the obscene amount of guilt I felt. I felt so beyond guilty to leave the people who care about me.

Anyway, I think maybe doing a smaller sample would be a better call for the paper as a whole. Looking at national/worldwide statistics might be a little ambitious for a class paper.

[Artesia]

I'm sorry, I should have been more specific.  I'm only designing a study for the class, we will not actually be sending anything out.  I had to choose a subject and do all my preparation for the goal of conducting the study.  I wanted to be as thorough as possible.  I'm sure as a second year student, I've missed far more things on my design than would be allowed for a real study.  I wont get to actually work in a study until I head for my doctorate, and even still I won't be the designer, I'd just be assisting or observing. 


The comments were helpful, and opened another avenue for my questionnaire design.


Now, just waiting on the grade.

[MeTony]

Can't you have a line where people who don't fit the options can specify their own gender? Leave the question open. Then you don't need to list every option there is.

Tony

[artesia2]

Howdy!  My old laptop died, and took my passwords with it.  I scored a 90% on my paper and questionnaire.  Thank you all for the input!!!!!

[MeTony]

Cool. Well done!