In 2019 the Scottish Government asked the Chief Statistician to convene a Working Group to explore the collection, disaggregation and use of data on sex and gender. In December 2020 the Working Group published draft guidance for public bodies on the collection of sex and gender data.
The guidance seeks to standardise a diversity of data collection approaches in Scotland and is generally strong in terms of iterating that researchers should ask questions that will return the data they require and ensuring practices are inclusive to maximise the number of people who can participate in data collection activities.
I have drafted a response with Kirstie English (University of Glasgow) that sets out our views on the guidance and is available to read here.
We encourage others with expertise/experience in quantitative data (as it relates to gender, sex and sexuality) to share feedback with the Working Group.
The Working Group is accepting feedback by email (statistics.enquiries@gov.scot) – the closing date for submissions is 12 February 2021.
Kevin Guyan 