DOI: 10.3886/icpsr26583.v1
title: Women's Health in Boston and Cambridge, 2000 [Massachusetts]
title: Version 1

description: Using Random Digit Dial, this study tested the feasibility of using a brief telephone interview to assess sexual attraction, behavior, and identity among women. A neighborhood in Boston with a high density of lesbian residents was selected. The study used three criteria to identify a neighborhood that was expected to have a high density of lesbian residents. Neighborhoods were defined by a postal ZIP code so that potential respondents could easily identify whether or not they lived in the target area. The criteria used were: (a) a high proportion of never-married females aged 35 years or older (calculated as ratio of ZIP code area to city wide, United States Department of Commerce, 1990), (b) a high proportion of female-headed households who also reported an unmarried female
partner in the household (United States Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census, 1990), and (c) a high proportion of female patients from the ZIP code area among Fenway Community Health Center female patients (Fenway Community Health Center is a major health service provider to gay and lesbian populations in Boston and Cambridge). These criteria led to the selection of the Jamaica Plain neighborhood in Boston. Women were eligible if they resided in that area,
were between the ages of 18 and 59 years, and spoke English well enough to be able to answer the interview questions. Phone interviews lasted a mean of 5.6 minutes. Respondents who identified themselves as lesbian or bisexual completed
an additional specialized section that lasted a mean of 2.5 minutes and inquired about participation in and identification with the gay/lesbian community. In total, 1,250 numbers were dialed. Of them, 169 (14 percent) were
nonworking numbers, 165 (13 percent) were not households (e.g., businesses), 235 (19 percent) were indeterminable (number was never answered by a person), and 681 (54 percent) were households. Of these households, 439 (64 percent) were successfully
screened, 176 (26 percent) refused or delayed screening, and 66 (10 percent) could not be screened (e.g., language barriers). Of the screened households, 223 (51 percent) were not eligible. Of 216 eligible households, 202 (94 percent) women completed the interview.
description: This study tested the feasibility of using a brief telephone interview to assess sexual attraction, behavior, and identity among women.
description: Data was collected using random digit dial in the selected community. A total of 202 women completed the one time interview.
description: Presence of Common Scales: Several Likert-type scales and other categorical variables were used.
description: A neighborhood in Boston with a high density of lesbian residents was selected. The study used three criteria to identify a neighborhood that was expected to have a high density of lesbian residents. Neighborhoods were defined by a postal ZIP code so that potential respondents could easily identify whether or not they lived in the target area. The criteria used were: (a) a high proportion of never-married females aged 35 years or older (calculated as ratio of ZIP code area to city wide,
United States Department of Commerce, 1990), (b) a high proportion of female-headed households who also reported an unmarried female partner in the household (United States Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census, 1990), and (c) a high proportion of female patients from the ZIP code area among Fenway Community Health Center female patients (Fenway Community Health Center is a major health service provider to gay and lesbian populations in Boston and Cambridge).
description: Datasets: 
DS1: Women's Health in Boston and Cambridge, 2000 [Massachusetts]
description: Adult Females living in a Boston Neighborhood in 2000.
description: telephone interviewZIP codes were recoded to protect respondent confidentiality. These modifications should not affect analytic uses of the public use files.