Queer Quantitative Query: Sexual Orientation in Higher Education Surveys

Overview & Synopsis

To promote inclusivity in quantitative research about lesbian, gay, bisexual, and queer (LGBQ) students, scholars must first understand how sexual orientation data are collected in higher education survey research (Garvey, 2014; Rankin & Garvey, 2015). There is one research question that guides this study: How is sexual orientation demographic information operationalized and collected in prevalent higher education quantitative surveys? To address the question, the author utilized Garvey's (2014) catalog of higher education survey instruments used three or more times within tier-1 higher education journals from 2010 through 2012. He acquired copies of the most widely used higher education survey instruments and subsequently conducted a detailed, directed assessment of the surveys (Hsieh & Shannon, 2005), concentrating on the prevalence and operationalization of sexual orientation in demographic questions. His analysis focused on (1) whether the survey included a question/item about sexual orientation; and, if so, (2) how the question/item was written, paying specific attention to question stems, response options, and formatting. Results reveal several insights regarding sexual orientation representativeness and operationalization in higher education survey instruments. The most important of these insights is the absence of sexual orientation data collection across federal higher education surveys, especially considering the importance of these instruments in advancing policies and practices in higher education (Wells & Stage, 2015).