I like the question on this survey

[JellySlice]

and the answer options.

Have they managed to use common sense, while giving a token nod to alternative ways of thinking?

That also feels less cold than 'other'.

GREAT! Hope it catches on...

Sure - but what information does it then capture? i.e. for what information is the way in which people describe themselves to be used?

Hmmm..... it's that "how would you describe yourself?" question - rather than asking "sex?" No token nod there to those males who insist they're female so, no, no common sense if they're looking for accurate descriptors for the survey responses.

“In another way” sounds like it’s abnormal to me?

As in how the question/answer is phrased

My degree is in social research and I like this very much

I don't like it. If they need to know my sex they need to know my sex. If they don't, they don't. It feels more like a sneaky gender question to me.

Also I thought gdpr was encouraging only necessary data to be held?

Choices for gender on a genebank database I signed up to recently

I had one recently that asked gender & then asked about sex at birth.

Much as I'd rather they left Gender out altogether, I thought that was a reasonable try. I could tick Other for gender & explain why in the free text field for comments at the end, and female for sex.

That question, in any form, will never extract reliable information from respondents with a tenuous grasp on reality. Hence why I said 'a token nod'.

nythbran2 genebank? Human genetic info?

If the things are to do with anything related to sex, ie the results are to do with "gender" (sex) pay gap, differences in accessing services, experience of crime, anything, then they need to ask sex.

Ditto if they want to know if trans people have certain experiences or are not engaging with services or whatever then the question needs to ask if the person is trans.

All of this is interesting. "Identify as" means anything, you can say whatever you like, it renders everything meaningless.

People are male or female, and this impacts their experience massively all over the world.

If they need to know gender then they need two questions. 1. male / female / intersex. 2. gender list of the top 10 or whatever. And it can't say "male female man woman" as they relate to sex. Gender is masculine / feminine etc.

That's not how it goes now. I feel really quite sad at the fact there are no words left in general accepted discourse in the UK to talk about e.g. girls and mean "female children, you know the cunty ones".

I don't understand why on earth so many surveys and data gathering exercises want to capture gender

Why ask for either unless it is relevant?

Then, if it is relevant, the only meaningful categories are 'male' and 'female'.

In an attitudinal survey for example if 'in another way' was an option then it would not be meaningful because the category would be too broad and heterogeneous.