Assessing the Feasibility of Asking Questions on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity on the Current Population Survey (CPS)

• Activity Number: 647 - Current Federal Research on Improving Measurement of LGBT Populations
• Type: Invited
• Date/Time: Thursday, August 2, 2018 : 10:30 AM to 12:20 PM
• Sponsor: ASA LGBT Concerns Committee
• Author(s): Renee Ellis* and Jessica Holzberg and Matthew Virgil and Jennifer Edgar and Polly Phipps
• Companies: U.S. Census Bureau and U.S. Census Bureau and U.S. Census Bureau and Bureau of Labor Statistics and Bureau of Labor Statistics
• Keywords: Sexual Orientation; Gender Identity; LGBT; Current Population Survey; Cognitive interviews; Proxy

Abstract

There has been interest in collecting sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI) information on Federal surveys, to allow statistics to be produced on these subgroups. While there has been research exploring question wording and sensitivity of SOGI questions, and some implementation of SOGI questions on surveys which respondents report only about themselves, there is currently no information about the feasibility of collecting SOGI information through proxy reporting, where one respondent reports for everyone in the household. This study explores the feasibility of collecting SOGI data in the Current Population Survey, which uses proxy response. Cognitive interviews were used to understand if LGBT (n=65) and non-LGBT (n=67) respondents were willing and able to answer for themselves and other household members. Results indicate that respondents generally understood the SOGI questions and were able and willing to answer for themselves and other household members. A majority of respondents did not indicate difficulty or sensitivity, though of those that did, most were LGBT. We will present the results and offer suggestions for future research on proxy response for SOGI questions.