Peter Summers wrote:

And I don't see how such an old-fashioned instrument can have so called modernity grafted onto it 

Why not?

I still think my point is being missed about the nature of the Census instrument. Historically and I believe ongoing

And my concerns about doing something politically (and good intentions) for likely very little data value will remain irrelevant

People will deal with it I am sure, as they always do

I apologise for seeming so passionate about something but I genuinely am not a big fan of the traditional head of household knowing everything about everyone so ideally keep it simple. I am sure nobody needs to hear more from me :)

Happy Christmas

Hi Beth

Appreciate the comments. Will try to respond later

Was feeling anxious about my rather unstructured comments earlier and some points or concerns were not well made or maybe even understood 

Will get back to you when I can respond well

Thanks for arguing 

Please note public forums are dangerous places for some of us to comment. Considerable personal risk but also risk of misunderstanding and misrepresentation in such seemingly divisive issues 

I have serious concerns about Federal agencies causing trouble in people's homes already with outdated models so maybe updating the Census one day would be good

I honestly think some well meaning things can make matters worse

And I need to reassert nobody has ever been excluded or uncounted on sexuality. I will accept possibly sex and gender but not sexualiity. To say they have as an assumption and argument is incorrect 

And I don't see how such an old-fashioned instrument can have so called modernity grafted onto it 

And knowing how people have to work round oppressive instruments through history I wonder what MF even meant and who cares. Meddling more could make it worse 

D

Hi

I have been reticent about commenting here very often. Always hopeful of more discussion on important matters of data and analysis

Note I hope Chris found his reference. Copy and paste into Google will find it

I also don't feel I have the authority to comment despite my life professional experience and retired membership of the Society

I hope I can speak for all/most Data Scientists, Statisticians, Data people, researchers, scientists etc. that we are supposed to be the people who care about things being done right for the right reasons

I have very strong feelings about the matter with regard to the very specific instrument called the Census

Relates to the nature of the Census - a bit old and quaint but still much loved with the head of a householld seemingly knowing and having the right to speak for everyone else on matters such as gender, preference, sexuality etc - and of course where we make our money and more recently how much

Also while LGBTQIA+ and anything else added later the construct may have some political meaning - although I doubt everyone under all those different constructs are on the same page of anything, but from a basic data defintion I would expect data people to argue on that basis. 

EDIT Sorry for editing but I saw a few typos and forgot a seemingly obvious point that I rarely hear discussed - although maybe hinted at - if the Census is such an important instrument why meddle with it and use it for things that have never been asked in history - and could undermine the whole thing. None of us were excluded or all of us were on matters never asked - M,F and other or whatever people feel like saying. It has implications for the whole structure of the thing - maybe it needs a major revamp - treating everyone as individuals and the ability to answer questions privately on all matters

As something of an amateur genealogist I am sure everyone were happiy in the relationships and households they all told the census collector

There are serious limits in a compulsory and important insutrument on how far government or anyone for that matter should be in every part of our lives

There is my rant

Happy New Year and Christmas or whatever Celebration you enjoy at this time of year

PS I am not sure the end of many years are worth celebrating. Good to see the back of them and be disappointed again next year

Surely a competent researcher on a particular issue will ask questions about variables that are potentially predictive of the outome of interest.

For instance, if you are studying melanoma rates there would be no reason to ask about transgender status or political beliefs. If you were studying donations to political parties, then such questions would be germane.

Serious researchers should not automatically ask questions just because (a) the respondant might like to be asked or (b) the funders or readers of the report want you to ask it.