“male”, “female”, “diverse” - A Critical Examination of Measures for Sex/Gender in Quantitative Empirical Social Research

Abstract

Since at least with the introduction of “diverse” as a legal sex category in Germany in 2018, quantitative empirical social research has been confronted with the question of how sex/gender should be measured in surveys. This article critically examines current survey practice and poses the question of how gender can be measured in surveys in a conceptually and methodologically valid way. The theoretical part discusses gender as a multidimensional concept and derives implications for quantitative empirical social research. The empirical part compares different possibilities for measuring gender (identity) and capture gender diversity. A boost sample of (sexual and) gender minority people from the Socio-Economic Panel and two online surveys focusing on gender (and sexual orientation) serve as the database.