The Impact of Sexual Orientation and Gender 

Identity (SOGI) and Disability Questions on 

Response Rates: Initial Results

Linda J. Young and Barbara R. Rater

USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service

October 27, 2022

1

The findings and conclusions in this presentation are those of the authors 

and should not be construed to represent any official USDA or U.S. 

Government determination or policy.
History of farm producer characteristics

2

• 2002 - 2012

• Total # of operators involved in 

day-to-day decisions

• Demographic information on 

up to 3 operators

• Designated the first operator 

listed as the “principal 

operator”

1978 1997 2002 2007 2012 2017

NASS takes 

over 

Census of 

Agriculture

Major Revision 

to Operator 

Characteristics

Sex of 

operator 

collected 

for first 

time

• 1800s - 1997

• Demographic data collected 

on only one operator

• Women

• Veterans

• New and Beginning 

Farmers 

• Decision-makers
Motivation for the Study

• Executive Order on Advancing Racial Equity and Support of 

Underserved Communities through the Federal Government

• January 20, 2021

• Section 7. Promoting Equitable Delivery of Government Benefits and 

Equitable Opportunities

• NASS is considering adding new content to the 2027 Census of 

Agriculture

• Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity (SOGI)

• Producers with disabilities 

3
Research Questions

1. Does the presence of disability questions affect either unit 

or item response rates?

2. Does the presence of sexual orientation and gender 

identity (SOGI) questions affect either unit or item 

response rates?

3. If both disability and SOGI questions are present, is the 

effect on unit response rates additive or is some interaction 

between the sets of questions present?

4
Experimental Study Design

1. Randomized sample of 75,262 – Active Farms on Sampling Frame

2. Four (4) treatment groups randomly assigned within each stratum

• Control – no test questions added (n =~12,500)

•Only Disability questions (n =~12,500)

•Only SOGI questions (n =~ 25,000)

• Both Disability and SOGI questions (n =~ 25,000)

3. SOGI treatment group – Split into two (2) subgroups 

• Subgroup 1 - confirmation question if their recorded sex at birth differed 

from their present gender identity 

• Subgroup 2 - respondents were not asked the confirmation question

5
SOGI Test Questions

6
Disability Test Questions

7
Data Collection

1. A four-page questionnaire was used for all treatment 

groups

2. Survey administered December 20, 2021 – February 25, 

2022 

• Mail, on-line, telephone (CATI)

3. Cooperation rate: 45.3% (34,059 returned)

8
Analysis

• Response: response/no response

• Generalized linear model with a logit link function

• 22 Factorial arrangement of treatments (SOGI and Disability Questions)— presence/absence

• Demographic stratum (LGBTQ+, American Indian/Alaskan Native, 

Asians/Native Hawaiians/Pacific Islanders, Blacks, Hispanics, Females, 

Others)

• All two- and three-way interactions

• Unweighted analysis—Sample Average Treatment Effects (SATE) estimates

9
Unit Nonresponse

• Presence disability questions not 

significant

• Response rate: 44.5% (±0.3%) 

when present

• Response rate: 45.0% (±0.3%) 

when not present

• Presence of SOGI questions 

significant 

• Response rate: 43.3% (±0.3%) 

when present

• Response rate: 46.3% (±0.3%) 

when not present

• Demographic stratum significant

10

Type III Tests of Fixed Effects

Effect p-value

SOGI <.0001

Disability 0.2991

Stratum <.0001

SOGI *stratum 0.4067

disability*stratum 0.4292

SOGI *disability 0.6983

SOGI *disability*stratum 0.7669
53.5%

38.2%

43.1%

43.7%

47.0%

49.6%

49.9%

51.3%

36.9%

46.9%

43.5%

45.5%

50.1%

49.2%

49.9%

35.4%

42.1%

43.7%

43.6%

44.2%

47.7%

46.7%

35.2%

42.1%

42.0%

43.2%

44.9%

46.3%

LGBTQ+ American Indians /

Alaska Natives

Asians / Native

Hawaiians / Pacific

Islanders

Blacks Hispanics Women Others

Control Disability SOGI SOGI & Disability

Estimated Response Rate for each Treatment-Stratum Combination

Mean ± SEM
Control: 95.7%

SOGI

• Gender identity: 95.3% 

• Sex recorded at birth: 94.6%

• Sexual orientation: 90.3%

12

Item Response Rate for the 

SOGI Questions by Stratum

Item Response Rates: SOGI Questions
Distribution of Farms vs People

13

Percent of Land Area in Farms by County

2017
Rate of Participation by Sex

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

Female Male

U.S. Producers U.S. Labor Force

14
Rate of Participation by Age

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

Under 25 25 to 34 35 to 44 45 to 54 55 to 64 65 to 74 75 and Over

U.S. Producers U.S. Labor Force

15
Rate of Participation by Race and Ethnicity

16

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

White Non-White Hispanic, Latino, or

Spanish Origin

Not Hispanic, Latino, or

Spanish Origin

Producers Civilian Labor Force
Rate of Participation by Race

17

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

American Indian or

Alaskan Native

Asian Black or African

American

Native Hawaiian or

Other Pacific Islander

More than One Race

Producers Civilian Labor Force
Discussion

• Unit response rate

• Presence of SOGI questions negatively impacted response rates

• Impact greater within some strata

• LGBTQ+ stratum: decreased 5.8% when both SOGI and disability questions added

• Women stratum: decreased 5.3% when SOGI questions added

• Item response rate: SOGI

• Gender identity question: 95.3% 

• Sexual orientation question: 90.3%

• Would asking gender identity and sex reported at birth meet the information 

need?

• Insufficient data for accurate measurement error assessment

• Only respondent reported—what about proxy reporting?

• Strength of the use case for collecting SOGI data?

18
References

Miratrix, L., J. Sekhon, A. Theodoridis, and L. Campos. 2018. Worth weighting? How to think about and 

use weights in survey experiments. Political Analysis 26(3): 275-291. https://doi.org/10.1017/pan.2018.1. 

National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2022. Measuring Sex, Gender Identity, and 

Sexual Orientation. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. https://doi.org/10.17226/26424.

US Bureau of Labor Statistics. Labor Force Characteristics by Race and Ethnicity, 2017: BLS Reports. Labor 

force characteristics by race and ethnicity, 2017 : BLS Reports: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

US Bureau of Labor Statistics. Civilian Labor Force Characteristics by Age, Sex, Race, and Ethnicity: 

Employment Projections. Civilian labor force, by age, sex, race, and ethnicity : U.S. Bureau of Labor 

Statistics (bls.gov)

USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service. 2019. 2017 Census of Agriculture: Volume 1. Table 63. 

Selected Producer Characteristics by Race: 2017. 

https://www.nass.usda.gov/Publications/AgCensus/2017/Full_Report/Volume_1,_Chapter_1_US/st99_1

_0063_0063.pdf

USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service. 2017. Acres of Land in Farms as Percent of Land Area in 

Acres: 2017. Ag Census Web Maps. 2017 Ag Census Web Maps | USDA/NASS.

Vivid Maps. 2022. U.S. Population Density Mapped. U.S. Population Density Mapped - Vivid Maps

Young, L.J. and B.R. Rater. 2022. The farm producer survey: Unit and item nonresponse. USDA NASS 

Research Report. Farm_Producer_Survey_Initial_Resultsnew_07_22_2022.pdf (usda.gov).

19
Thank You!

More details about the upcoming 2022 U.S. Census of Agriculture can be found at

USDA - National Agricultural Statistics Service - Census of Agriculture

20