(did the command for send instead of save... doh) But let's get into a second part of survey design when it comes to asking about gender and other diversity issues.
Importantly, any time you think about asking a demographic question in a survey, question if you ACTUALLY NEED IT OR NOT? A lot of the time, these questions get put into a survey and only get briefly mentioned in a pie chart about respondent makeup. In those cases, you could probably leave it off. I admit that there are times when survey must include demographic questions. A lot of NSF and NIH grants (personal experience) mandate including specific demographic questions to help foster metaanalyses. And in the case of the study from Rowan, gender is a key question to the study. It would be hard to omit it. But here's the next rub: when do you ask the demographic questions? At the start of the survey? At the end? In the middle? That question depends on how much you want to concern yourself with subtle prompting and influence on the survey respondent. By asking questions about certain diversity issues, you can potentially prompt a respondent to react more strongly to later questions. This can be good or bad. The bad side is related to (but not quite the same as) Claude Steele's stereotype threat. Individuals within a stereotyped group can be primed to perform in conformance with their stereotypes. Mentioning a stereotype that black students perform worse in math can lower performance among black students taking an algebra exam. Mentioning that women are more caring or loving may influence responses on an altruism or cooperation measure. It's a complex and sometimes subtle impact on research. I highly recommend reading up on Steele's and others' work on the topic. "Whistling Vivaldi" is a great book. In general, I always recommend asking demographic questions at the end of surveys for this reason. Sometimes, you want to be clever and prime the respondents, but that's rare in my experience. Katherine Deibel | PhD Inclusion & Accessibility Librarian Syracuse University Libraries T 315.443.7178 [email protected] 222 Waverly Ave., Syracuse, NY 13244 Syracuse University -----Original Message----- From: Kate Deibel Sent: Friday, December 7, 2018 10:50 AM To: [email protected] Subject: RE: [CODE4LIB] Gender and Organizational Citizenship Behavior Survey in LIbrary Technology Departments I admit I was about got a bit of irritated subtweeting on this, but I'll move it into the mailing list. It is good and all that you responded to feedback, but I'd like to talk more about how to ask a survey question on gender. First, I'd like to point everyone to the great resource that the Human Right Campaign has put together on this topic: https://www.hrc.org/resources/collecting-transgender-inclusive-gender-data-in-workplace-and-other-surveys It's not perfect. For example, I disagree with their use of female/male instead of woman/man because that opens up a giant can of worms as to whether some terms are strictly biological versus social. It's a critical studies minefield pit at times. However, their approach and options are worth pointing out. Note that their recommended language is to use two questions. The first is similar to the one used in Rowan survey. It has five options: Woman Man Non-binary/third gender Prefer to self-describe ____________ Prefer not to say (I changed the language for the first two) Note several important differences. First, the third option is not "Other" but specifically states "Non-binary/third gender." Other is not a great term to use when asking about someone's identity. It's problematic. It focuses on a person being so different you can't find the words. It's... um... OTHERING... literally. To help you understand why this is hurtful, take any diversity question (race, religion, gender, etc.) and take the entry you would select and change the text to Other. It casts you as so unimportant to not specify it. Your identity belongs in a junk drawer. Also note that the question includes an option self-describe. Language is fluid, and identity language doubly-so. No fixed answer survey question for identity will ever be perfect. Let there be a self-description field. All good survey software allows such an option. And yes, this does make data analysis more complex, but that's the price in wanting to do research in human diversity. The HRC's second question asks if a person identifies as transgender? This is important as it complements the previous question. I'll use myself as an example. I am a trans woman. I identify as a woman and would answer such on the first question since it makes no distinction as to trans or cis status. I also identify as transgender as I see it as a different perspective on a being a woman than if I were cisgender. I would answer yes to the second question as I see it providing more info to the survey that may be relevant. But my answers alone would not be the only groupings you may see. This added question allows for more coverage of respondent answers. Katherine Deibel | PhD Inclusion & Accessibility Librarian Syracuse University Libraries T 315.443.7178 [email protected] 222 Waverly Ave., Syracuse, NY 13244 Syracuse University -----Original Message----- From: Code for Libraries <[email protected]> On Behalf Of Sharon Whitfield Sent: Friday, December 7, 2018 10:23 AM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [CODE4LIB] Gender and Organizational Citizenship Behavior Survey in LIbrary Technology Departments Good morning, Based on survey feedback about gender being non-binary, I have added "Other" as an option to the question about gender identification. This feedback was greatly appreciated it. My apologies that the research survey was not as inconclusive as it should have been. If you wish to participate in the survey, please click the following link: https://rowan.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_4GcTfQY07e6Wisl Thanks, Sharon Whitfield Ed. D. Candidate Rowan University College of Education On Fri, Dec 7, 2018 at 9:11 AM Sharon Whitfield <[email protected]> wrote: > Good Morning, > > > > You are invited to participate in an online research survey titled > Gender and Organizational Citizenship Behaviors in Library Technology > Departments. > You have received this email to participate because you are a member > of the Code4lib distribution list. > > > > The survey may take approximately 10-20 minutes to complete. Your > participation is voluntary. > > > > The purpose of this study is to address issues of organizational > justice for women technology librarians who experience the > gendered-nature of organizational citizenship behaviors (OCB). Organ > (1988) identified five specific OCB categories: > > -Altruism: Helps enhance an individual's performance > > -Conscientiousness: Consideration of others > > -Sportsmanship: Consideration of the organization as a team > > -Courtesy: prevents problems and maximizes time > > -Civic virtue: Serve the interests of the organization > > > > The goal of this study is to bring to light issues of organizational > justice for women technology librarians because of the gendered nature > of organizational citizenship behaviors and explore how change agents > may use this study to promote organizational justice for women > technology librarians. This research study focuses particularly on academic > libraries. > > > > If you have any questions about the survey, you can contact Dr. Ane > Turner Johnson at 856-256-4500 x3818 or [email protected] > > > > If you wish to participate, please click the following link: > https://rowan.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_4GcTfQY07e6Wisl > > > > > > Sincerely, > > Sharon Whitfield > > Ed. D. Candidate > > Rowan University > > College of Education > > > > Study has been approved by Rowan IRB. IRB# Pro2018000032 > > > > > > Reference: > > Organ, D. W. (1988). Organizational citizenship behavior: The good > soldier > syndrome: Lexington Books/DC Heath and Com. >
