The problematics of assessing trans identity in survey research: A modest proposal for improving question design

Abstract

One of the central issues facing the trans community today is not only to be counted, but also how to be properly counted. If and how trans people are counted has a huge impact on what we know, or what we think we know, about the trans community. When trans people are not counted, we know nothing, but when trans people are counted incorrectly, the results can be even worse. The question addressed in this paper, therefore, is how to develop a question(s) that will more accurately account for the trans population on national surveys. By drawing on cognitive interviews testing a gender identity and sexual identity question for a national official health survey, an argument is made for an improved method of understanding trans measurement on surveys.