Inhalt: In the social sciences, many quantitative research findings as well as
presentations of demographics are related to participants’ gender. Most
often, gender is represented by a dichotomous variable with the possible
responses of woman/man or female/male, although gender is not a binary
variable. It is, however, rarely defined what is meant by gender. In this
article, we deconstruct the concept ‘gender’ as consisting of several facets,
and argue that the researcher needs to identify relevant aspects of gender
in relation to their research question. We make a thorough exposition of
considerations that the researcher should bear in mind when formulating
questions about each facet, in order to exemplify how complex this
construct is. We also remind the researcher that gender is not a binary
category and discuss challenges in the balance between taking existing
gender diversity into account and yet sorting participants into gender
categorisations that function in statistical analyzes. To aid in this process,
we provide an empirical example on how gender identity may be categorised when using a free-text response. Lastly, we suggest that other
measurements than participants’ gender might be better predictors of the
outcome variable.
Schlagwörter:Fragebogen; Gender; Geschlechterbinarität; measurement; questionnaire; sex; Skala; survey design; Umfrage
CEWS Kategorie:Frauen- und Geschlechterforschung, Sexuelle Belästigung und Gewalt
Dokumenttyp:Zeitschriftenaufsatz