What to Do with “Other, Describe
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 6169844 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Jaclyn S Wong (0000-0001-9793-2389, Langer Research Associates, Carmel, NY, USA, corresponding author), L Valentino (0000-0002-0252-054X, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill), Christina Pao (0000-0003-1442-6590, Princeton University), Katie Donnelly Moran (0000-0003-2578-6161, Princeton University), D Compton (0000-0002-1521-0196, University of New Orleans), Gayle Kaufman (0000-0003-2250-2653, Departments of Sociology and Gender and Sexuality Studies, Davidson College, Davidson, NC, USA) |
| Year | 2024 |
| Volume | 55 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 244-268 |
| Publication date | 2024-12-27 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Sociological Methodology (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0081-1750 • E-ISSN: 1467-9531 |
| Publisher | SAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1177/00811750241304774 |
| OpenAlex | W4405849143 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 3 |
| References cited | 35 |
Measuring social categories and phenomena in survey questionnaires is complicated in a dynamic and diverse society. The use of “other, describe”–style open-ended text boxes can address this issue, but researchers rarely use these data because they lack guidance on how to code open-text information and manage small samples for analyses. The authors offer a roadmap to key decisions regarding the use of “other, describe” answer options and data during three stages of research: data collection and instrument development, data cleaning, and data analysis. The authors then use two cases, the Perceptions of Housework Pilot Survey and the Perceptions of Discrimination Study, to illustrate how decision making about open-text responses to demographic survey questions unfolded. These cases highlight the complexities and trade-offs in decision making and their implications for knowledge production. The authors recommend meta-practices for flexibility, transparency, and reflexivity, as there is not one “right choice” when it comes to using “other, describe” data
Econometrics · African Sexualities and LGBTQ+ Issues · Computer Science · LGBTQ Health, Identity, and Policy · Mathematics · Psychology · Race, History, and American Society
Applied social research
Are You…? Asking Questions on Sex with a Third Category in Germany
Queer Data
Middle Eastern and North African Americans may not be perceived, nor perceive themselves, to be White
Reflexivity in quantitative research
Racial Formation in the United States
Measuring Sex, Gender Identity, and Sexual Orientation
The “Something Else” of Sexual Orientation
Categorical and gradational
Evaluating inclusive gender identity measures for use in quantitative psychological research
Doing” and “Undoing” Gender
White out of mind
A Different Kind of Whiteness
Too Many Boxes, or Not Enough? Preferences for How We Ask About Gender in Cisgender, LGB, and Gender-Diverse Samples
Unexpected Negative Participant Responses and Researcher Safety
Volunteer Science
Evaluating the Use of a Two-Step Gender Identity Measure in the 2018 General Social Survey
Inaccurate Estimation of Disparities Due to Mischievous Responders
The Uses of Pilot Studies in Sociology
The Idea of Categorizing Makes Me Feel Uncomfortable”
Race Counts
Adolescent Racial Identity
More Than One Million New American Indians in 2000
From bi-racial to tri-racial
Research Synthesis
The Role of Gender, Class, and Religion in Biracial Americans' Racial Labeling Decisions
Race as an Open Field
On the Limits of 'Trans Enough
The Reaches of Heteronormativity
Updating a Time-Series of Survey Questions
Gender Ideology
Looking beyond marital status
Measurement of Race and Ethnicity in a Changing, Multicultural America
| Unique citing works | 3 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 3 |
| Citation span | 2025 - 2026 (2) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 3 |