Survey Questions on Gender

Question:  How to ask demographics questions about gender.

The scenario:  You are creating a survey that includes a demographics section and asks about the gender of the participant.  You are interested in equity and diversity as dictated by the policy of the University and respecting your participants rights under state and federal Law....


Old form of the question:

What is your gender?
A) Female
B) Male


Whats changed? The Australian High Court has upheld the right of individuals to be identified as being of "non-specific" gender. Note that this is a NSW specific issue, but other states are working on their own legislation.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-04-02/high-court-recognises-gender-neutral/5361362


New form of the question:

What is your gender?
A) Female
B) Male
C) Non-specific

Please note that this is not nearly as inclusive as it could be, but its a step forward.   There are more issues here that need attention if you are a social researchers.

• Distinction between public and private gender 
• Self selected terms used to identify current gender state
• Distinction between physical gender expression and social gender/role expression
• Distinction between biological gender (DNA) and physical gender expression
• Gender Role descriptions

 As always, with survey design, there is a tention between asking a question to shape the answers given for the conveinence of the researcher and asking a question to be as inclusive as possible.  If your question format is categorical (multiple choice) then you may need to include an "Other" text entry box to fully capture the range of answers your sample population may choose to respond with.