Mumsnet census

[Ddakji]

Question 2 - What’s your sex?

Male
Female
Intersex
Prefer not to say

Come on @mnhq! Haven’t you read any of the hundreds of threads on FWR? Intersex is not a third sex - there is no third sex!!

Really disappointing to see this ideological, unscientific, false line of questioning.

However, Question 3 is much better phrased.

@Twiglets1 thanks for your question. We're not selling the data to anybody. We only look at the census results in a general way - for example, things like “10% of users live in London” or “20% work in education or care.” This helps us understand the overall makeup of our users. More information on how we use the data can be found in the introduction to the census.

@nothingcomestonothing users will see a single pop up today ahead of the census closing. Are you seeing something different?

@BeckyAMumsnet

I was answering the questions quite happily about where I live and the job category of my employer. But then the survey started asking questions about how much I earn and other questions related to household income & expenditure. The questions started to seem more and more intrusive.

So we're just addressing the spamming part, and not the part where the MN census has anti-woman, anti-science, ideologically based language then?

Hi @Twiglets1 The data we collect is aggregated. We combine the individual pieces of information to show overall trends or patterns, rather than focusing on any one person's data. It’s a way for us to understand the bigger picture without identifying anyone individually. Aggregated data is often used to protect privacy while still learning useful things about a group as a whole.

@nothingcomestonothing we already addressed this previously. We know it's not what you want to hear, but we have no plans to change the questions at this stage. We also don't think a single pop up is spamming.

I'm glad there is a thread on this. I clicked on the census and as soon as I saw the BS on the first page I shut it down. I'm not pandering to the nonsense.
Maybe mn will realise that they are narrowing the respondent pool and collecting unreliable data.

Bizarre

You didn't address it, you didn't engage with the problem at all, you defended it with anti-science waffle. The question is biologically wrong. And several women here have explained why that's an issue. And why they therefore won't fill in your census which presumably you'd like women to do?

I'd think that for every poster here there would be many, many more who also object to the false premise of the question and who will choose not to answer the census as a result.

What's the point of a census which alienates your users? Did someone pay you to word it like that to get answers they like?

I’m afraid I don’t think you addressed this adequately - we’ve seen from the ONS that including this kind of question ultimately distorts and undermines all your data.

”Intersex” conditions do not negate a person’s sex being either male or female, which your question implies is the case. To suggest it’s an option separate to male or female is a flat-out lie.

These conditions affect a tiny minority of people - are you asking questions of other very rare medical conditions - if not, why not?

The inclusion of this wording suggests a very strong unscientific ideological bias in the survey - it is not neutral - again, which undermines the survey as a whole.

Quite.

And the justification was 'we believe this wording is the best way to ensure all users feel able to respond accurately'. And posters response that on the contrary, the question is inaccurate and alienating and will not lead to accurate answers is met with 'well we're not changing it'.

Something's not right here.

I don’t understand why MNHQ are digging their heels in on this.

Has @BeckyAMumsnet even explained what intersex means?

Do they mean someone with A DSD? If so, why collect data on only the group of genetic conditions? Why not ask about all the other genetic conditions out there?

How do you access the survey?

For me it just popped up on my screen while I was browsing Mumsnet.

Utter rubbish! There is a ‘small minority’ of people who believe they are cats, have you included them?
I would guarantee that all the people with a DSD who use Mumsnet know what sex they are. A toddler might not know, or even a teen that hasn’t yet begun puberty. But adults who use this site? Of course they know. They may prefer not to say, or even acknowledge that they're not the sex they were initially thought to be. You’re treating them like fools!

I can’t wait to see how many people who don't have a sex earn over £50K, or have 3 children still living at home, or own their own house outright.

Will MNHQ be sharing the survey results? I hope so. I am intrigued to see how many sexless people regularly browse the UK's biggest parenting community.

dearie, dearie me MNHQ. embarrassed for you

🙄 I don't have a DSD nor know anyone with a DSD bit I can see how this might piss someone people off

If you have a DSD you are not both sexes or a third sex, but you are male or female down to your chromosomes.

There is no difficulty in identifying a person's sex, @mnhq .. Sorry @BeckyAMumsnet but thus is the wrong approach.

I’ve not had any pop up. But I agree with the fact that intersex is not a sex category. MN should know this.

I love MN and <channels meatloaf> I’d do anything for you, but I won’t do that.

Have you at least taken on board the information and advice that you have been given and will undertake not to include such an offensive, unscientific term in future?