Respondents' Race, Sex, and Language (probably) Predict Item Nonresponse on Sexual Identity and...

Respondents' Race, Sex, and Language (probably) Predict Item Nonresponse on Sexual Identity and Behavior Questions Evidence from Three Cycles of the California Health Interview Survey

Matt Jans

David Grant

Annie Lee

Sexuality and Sensitive Questions

Private topic

Violates social norms to discuss with stranger

Disclosure risk – Sexual Orientation

For closeted respondents in certain contexts

Only sensitive for certain responses

Cultural and language complexities

Conversation/privacy norms

Equivalent (or lack of) concepts

What CHIS Brings to the Discussion

Sexual orientation questions for past 11 years Record “Don’t Know” and “Refused” responses

So does BRFSS

Interviews in 5 Languages (2 Chinese Dialects) English, Spanish, Cantonese, Mandarin, Korean, and

Vietnamese

Captures detailed ethnicity data 8 Asian ethnicities, 7 Latino ethnicities, Multi-group

identification for both

Other detailed language and country of origin info

CHIS/Data Overview

Multi-frame Cell RDD, Landline RDD, Surname

All interviews by phone

Data collected in 2-year survey cycles, now continuous

Data on adults, teens, kids (adults analyzed here)

Data reported here includes 2-year cycles from 2005, 2007, and 2009

Exploratory

Sexual Orientation and Behavior Questions Located with other items on general health,

disability, and sexual health

Sexual orientation Immediately follows past 12 mos. sexual behavior (including partner sex)

Not asked of adults over 70 years, proxy respondents, kids, and teens

Non-Heterosexual Orientation Prevalence and Nonresponse 3.78% in total in 2009

1.80% Gay/Lesbian (447,535)

1.36% Bisexual (339,608)

0.62% Nonsexual/Celibate/Other (153,844)

About 2% Item nonresponse

If all (or even most) NR comes from these groups, proportion of those groups in population is greatly under-estimated

“Is that partner male or female/In the past 12 months, have your partners been male, female, or both male and female?”

0.00%

1.00%

2.00%

3.00%

4.00%

5.00%

6.00%

% Not Answering(DK, Ref & Not Asc.)

“Do you think of yourself as straight or heterosexual, as gay {, lesbian} or homosexual, or bisexual?”

0.00%

1.00%

2.00%

3.00%

4.00%

5.00%

6.00%

7.00%

% Not Answering(DK, Ref & Not Asc.)Weighted

Interview Language and Sex Matter

0.00%

2.00%

4.00%

6.00%

8.00%

10.00%

12.00%

n=114,599

MaleItem NR %

FemaleItem NR %

% Not Answering(DK, Ref & Not Asc.)

Don’t Know & Refusal Reveal More

0.00%

1.00%

2.00%

3.00%

4.00%

5.00%

6.00%

7.00%

English Spanish Cantonese

Male DK

Male Ref

Female DK

Female Ref

Asian Ethnicities Not Identical

0.00%

2.00%

4.00%

6.00%

8.00%

10.00%

12.00%

14.00%

16.00%

MaleItem NR % (weighted)

FemaleItem NR % (weighted)

% Not Answering(DK, Ref & Not Asc.)

Satisficers? (small n)

Mexican, Central American and Other Latino Subgroups

0.00%0.50%1.00%1.50%2.00%2.50%3.00%3.50%4.00%4.50%

MaleItem NR %

FemaleItem NR %

% Not Answering(DK, Ref & Not Asc.)

Language, Ethnicity, and Culture

Native language v. English

Comprehension and terminology

Cultural concepts and norms around sex and sexual orientation

Need explore linguistic aspect of culture more

Exploit our other “enculturation” measures

Next Steps in Analysis

Is NR common?

Sensitive and nonsensitive items

Is missingness random?

Little’s test for MAR

What variables predict it?

More detailed “enculturation” measures

DK v. Refused

Interviewer effects

Thank you

mjans@ucla.edu

ucla.academia.edu/mattjans

Does Identity Reflect Behavior?

0

5,000

10,000

15,000

20,000

25,000

30,000

35,000

"Inconsistent" Sexual Orientation and Sexual Behavior (past 12 mos)

(CHIS 2009, weighted)