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Best Practices for Collecting 

Gender and Sex Data

Suzanne Thornton, Dooti Roy, Stephen Parry, 

Donna LaLonde, Renee Ellis, David Corliss, and 

Wendy Martinez (presenting)

FCSM Research & Policy Conference 

November 2021
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The views expressed are

those of the authors and not necessarily 

those of the U.S. Bureau of Labor 

Statistics or the U.S. Census Bureau

Any errors are Wendy’s.
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Who are we?

 Suzanne Thornton, Swarthmore College

 Dooti Roy, Boehringer Ingelheim

 Stephen Parry, Cornell University

 Donna LaLonde, American Statistical 

Association (ASA)

 Renee Ellis, US Census Bureau

 David Corliss, Peace-Work

 Wendy Martinez, Bureau of Labor Statistics
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How I got Here

 Moderated a panel at the Women in Statistics and 

Data Science Conversation

 Co-wrote a resource article for Significance Magazine

 Established an LGBTQ+ Working Group as an ASA 

Presidential Initiative

 Participated in a project to offer guidance for 

statistical best practices regarding gender and sex 

data

 Established the ASA Pride Scholarship with the goal 

of supporting LGBTQ+ statisticians
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How I got Here

 Moderated a panel at the Women in Statistics and 

Data Science Conversation

 Co-wrote a resource article for Significance Magazine

 Established an LGBTQ+ Working Group as an ASA 

Presidential Initiative

 Participated in a project to offer guidance for 

statistical best practices regarding gender and sex 

data

 Established the ASA Pride Scholarship with the goal 

of supporting LGBTQ+ statisticians
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Wrote white paper to ...

Equip statistical practitioners with better 

understanding and practices for collecting 

and analyzing data about gender and sex
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Background & Terminology

 Gender is a continuum & can change with 

time.

Gender identity: comes from within – personal 

understanding of oneself

Gender expression: many possible expressions of 

gender – clothing, hair, mannerisms, etc.

 Biological sex – not really binary – could be:

Chromosomes

Genitalia at birth
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Background & Terminology

 Primary and secondary sex characteristics

Physical characteristics

Primary present at birth

Secondary present at puberty

 Sexual orientation is emotional, romantic or 

sexual attraction to other people.
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Background & Terminology

 Three different aspects of sex & gender identity. 
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Background & Terminology

 For many people, all three characteristics 

overlap.

 For gender or sex minorities (GSM) one or 

more of these characteristics may not align 

with the others.

 Note: GSM is catch-all label includes 

transgender, non-binary, other gender nonconforming, and intersex people
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GOAL:

Motivation for 

Inclusive Data

the ethical 

treatment of 

human subjects

the collection of 

better-quality 

data
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Identifying the Relevant 

Gender and Sex Information 

for a Study
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Statistical Considerations

 Consideration 1: Identify relevant information – sex 

and gender are not interchangeable & do not 

necessarily need to be included in every study

 Consideration 2: Embrace inclusivity and respect –

the Belmont Report identifies “respect for persons” 

as a basic ethical principle of research 

 Consideration 3: Protect the participant and the data 

– data privacy is complicated by a lack of general, 

consistent standards
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FCSM SOGI Work

 SOGI – Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity

 2016 reports – research on terminology

 Literature Review (2020) of SOGI terminology

 Discusses response option terminology and 

methodological implications

 Focused on youth and SGM (sexual and 

gender minority) population

https://nces.ed.gov/FCSM/SOGI.asp
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Sexual Orientation – Takeaways

 Terms used for sexual identity/orientation are 

not exhaustive

 Some sexual minority groups do not like using 

labels for sexual orientation

 Sexual orientation is a continuum and can 

change over time, but terminology does not 

address it as such
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Gender Identity – Takeaways

 Terminology does not work for all transgender 

individuals

 Self-identification can

Change over time

Use a variety and/or multiple terms

 Can be affected by 

Culture and language

Age, sex at birth and educational attainment
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Call to Action

 Work to change standard data collection of gender 

and sex for the sake of inclusivity and to decrease 

measurement error and bias.

 Be thoughtful in identifying what information is 

relevant and necessary.

 Understand the importance of respecting and 

protecting participants' identities.

 Plan in advance of data collection for statistical 

measurement and disclosure issues.

 Continue the conversation .... 
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It’s complicated and 

evolving, but we have to

keep working on it.
Contact Information

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Wendy L. Martinez

Director

Mathematical Statistics Research Center

Office of Survey Methods Research

www.bls.gov

202-691-7400

martinez.wendy@bls.gov