The public, government officials, health care providers, and researchers have only recently begun to recognize the many important, yet largely overlooked, links between health, sexual orientations, and transgender identity. As researchers have begun to hypothesize and study these links, unresolved methodological difficulties have presented serious challenges to the collection of reliable and valid information. These difficulties include defining, measuring, and sampling individuals using largely critically unexamined and socially constructed categories, as well as sampling rare and hidden populations concerning sensitive topics. Not surprisingly, these difficulties mirror similar problems that have been recognized and examined related to the classification of people based upon race and ethnicity. To understand the very real needs of individuals as related to their sexual orientations and transgender identity, a similar effort must be made to the one that has examined race and ethnicity. While there are many challenges surrounding the collection of data concerning sexual orientation and transgender identity, four require immediate attention: 1) defining the populations to be studied 2) constructing valid and reliable measures of sexual orientations and transgender identity representative of these definitions; 3) sampling rare and hidden populations; and 4) sampling and studying sensitive topics. To better understand and monitor the public health concerns of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people, steps must be taken to standardize definitions, measures, and methods. The current state of knowledge concerning each of the above four topics is briefly reviewed here.
Learning Objectives: Understand and overcome methodological challenges to studying lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender health
Keywords: Gay, Lesbian
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: None
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.