Sexual Orientation Research Phase 1: A Review of Methodological Approaches
Executive summary
1. INTRODUCTION
Equality of opportunity is a key principle of the Scottish Parliament and a priority of the Scottish Executive. The definition of equal opportunities given in the Scotland Act (1998) is expansive and clearly includes sexual orientation. To support, inform and monitor progress towards equality objectives and 'mainstreaming', the Executive recognises the importance of having appropriate information on different equality groups. The main focus of this study is to explore the current existence of and need for data on sexual orientation.
While there has been little sexual orientation research undertaken in Scotland, in recent years a number of studies have emerged. While much of this work has been excellent considering the methodological limitations that inhibit sexual orientation research, it is only a beginning. In particular, what has been done has tended to focus mainly on younger male respondents in urban areas (Glasgow and Edinburgh).
This report comprises the review of sexual orientation research methodologies and data sources. Another component of this research, the consultation with LGBT organisations, is reported in a separate publication. 1 This review draws primarily on empirical research and data published since 1990. Searches have been carried out on various academic databases, libraries, and on the Internet. The focus of the review is methodological, based on the description of methods reported in published reports and supplemented by information from researchers specialising in particular fields. The scope is international (primarily English speaking) and covers a wide range of policy areas and disciplines.
Methodological summaries of about 200 sexual orientation research articles, reports and books are detailed separately and are published on the Internet. These summaries will be made available as an EXCEL database, allowing for studies to be sorted and searched by various topic and methodology criteria.
2. DEFINITION AND CLASSIFICATION
Definitions and classifications are crucial, particularly where they are being used to describe a sample population. In keeping with the language of the Scotland Act, this review uses terms such as sexual orientation, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and gender identity. These terms are used in the conduct, analysis and reporting of much of the recent sexual orientation research in Scotland. However sometimes these categories have been derived in different ways and for some research topics these are not the most appropriate categories to use.
It may be more appropriate for a male sexual health study, for example, to recruit (and describe its sample population as) 'men who have sex with men'. Where this is the case, reporting should state how the category was derived (e.g. 'sex with another man in the past 12 months') so that users of the data know what the classification means and can identify what other studies have used a comparable definition.
Definitions need to be selected to be appropriate to the topic being researched; there needs to be clear descriptions in research reports regarding what particular categories were used with respondents and how the categories being reported were derived; and definitions need to be regularly reviewed to ensure that they are currently relevant and meaningful to the population being studied or consulted, as well as to other users of the data. It is recommended that where appropriate and relevant, the terminology and meanings used in the Scotland Act should be employed to increase comparability and consistency across studies.
3. METHODOLOGICAL ISSUES
Appropriate and good quality methods are necessary if quantitative research is to be representative, reliable and valid, and if qualitative research is to have depth, represent diversity and be able to map associations. Without these, there is no way of asserting that research findings reflect the real needs of LGBT communities, are able to inform complex policy and funding decisions, and should be taken seriously by potential funders.
Problems with obtaining a representative and sufficiently large sample of LGBT respondents are the primary barriers to good quality sexual orientation research being carried out. Recruitment through LGBT venues, organisations and media tends to bias the sample towards the younger, well-educated, middle class, motivated and 'on scene' male respondents. Other sampling approaches are available, such as following up respondents from random sample general population surveys, though these may require greater resourcing.
Choice of methodology depends largely on the purpose and subject area being researched and on the way in which the sample can be accessed. Where only a small sample can be achieved, qualitative approaches should be considered. Quantitative web based surveys are beginning to be used. While this may have benefits for reaching some LGBT people (for example those living in rural areas) careful methodological work is also required into possible biases and exclusions resulting from this approach.
4. ADMINISTRATIVE AND LARGE-SCALE DATA COLLECTION
Qualitative and cognitive Census development work exploring the nature of LGBT people's concerns about completing the Census, and how the format and layout of the Census might be improved to allay any fears about confidentiality, privacy or intrusion would be extremely valuable. There is also scope for explorative work with non-LGBT people regarding their perceptions of being asked questions about sexual orientation.
There is scope for detailed secondary analysis of existing large-scale general population surveys. This would focus on patterns of same sex cohabitation as very few large-scale studies currently include a sexual orientation question. Amongst those surveys that do, the indication is that acceptability is high (quite low proportion refuse to answer, and these are primarily the oldest respondents). It is harder to assess how many LGBT respondents describe themselves as other than LGBT, however. As with ethnicity, once the message of the value of discrimination monitoring becomes widely accepted, and that that is the purpose of asking the question, the proportion feeling able to respond honestly is likely to increase. Comprehension may be an issue though; anecdotal feedback from interviewers working on the Metropolitan Police Survey was that the main query made by respondents was 'what's heterosexuality?'.
There is also potential for starting up working groups of survey methodologists currently working on large-scale surveys to raise the issue of collecting data on sexual orientation, debate approaches and share experimental and methodological work being undertaken.
5. POLICY AND SUBJECT AREAS
As the consultation with LGBT community representatives illustrated, given the lack of research into most LGBT issues in Scotland, establishing priorities is problematic. There is also the matter of identifying particular subject areas as being a priority for particular sub-groups within the LGBT community. For example, sexual health research, including intervention evaluations, has been relatively well funded, and a large amount of good quality work has focused on the sexual behaviour, HIV transmission risk factors, and service use, of gay and bisexual men and men who have sex with men. This same attention, however, has not been given to lesbian and bisexual women or to transgender people's health. Likewise much of the recent work on homophobic violence in Scotland has focused on male respondents in urban areas.
While in some geographic areas there is a quite substantial international literature, the evidence base is usually much more limited in Scotland. Sometimes it is restricted to British surveys with sufficient Scottish respondents to report on the regional sub-sample. In recent years, however, several of these national studies have either begun reporting on Scotland separately and in greater detail, or have initiated an independent Scottish project. The last few years have also witnessed the publication of several key new Scottish-specific studies with LGBT respondents. These have tackled issues such as homophobic hate crime; health and sexual health; social inclusion and housing; Section 28; and transsexualism.
6. ENSURING DIVERSITY IN RESEARCH
There is a need to balance providing a strong role for LGBT consultation and participation in the development of research agendas and processes, with avoiding overburdening participants. Wide dissemination of research findings should be a priority for sexual orientation research in Scotland.
Particular sections of the Scottish LGBT community tend to be excluded from sexual orientation research. The access issues for transgender people, lesbians and bisexual women, ethnic minority people, people with disabilities, younger and older respondents, and those living in rural areas all need to be tackled. Inclusiveness in research is something which researchers and funders need to actively incorporate into the first stages of developing a project's sample design and research methodologies.