Transgender research paper. Participants wanted.

[Red Rubber Band]

Greetings everyone,

A friend of mine is doing her Masters on gender identity issues during youth and is after participants who would like to share their experiences and thoughts.

• Participation will consist of an approximate one hour, semi-structured interview, though you are more than welcome to withdraw at any point in time.
  
• As a face to face interview is preferred, Sydney based participants are needed! However, if you live outside of Sydney, Australia and are happy to do the interview over Skype, don't let that dissuade you. Please, at the very least, put your name in the hat. Unfortunately this is only open to people who were raised in Australia.
  
• You must be 18 or over to participate.

See this flyer for more details. (Google docs PDF)

If you have any questions, feel free to ask. Also, if you know of other places I can post this to gain more exposure, please tell me. It would be much appreciated :)

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Q&A

Is there any plan to share the result with the participants and the local trans community? (By which I mean NOT strictly in research seminars and such.)

Yes. The paper, once completed, is available for anyone who would like to request it. One of the aims of this paper is to raise awareness and understanding.

Is there any involvement of trans people in setting up the research instrument and the problematic, etc.?

The research instrument and problematic were set up by Jess with support from the Equity and Diversity co-ordinator at her university. From the research she has done so far, there is little out there on gender diversity and the experiences of young people. So the questions were formulated to find out more about it.

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Edits
20/08 - Added more information, and redacted a sentence in case of board policy infringement.

[Jaycemonde]

You can try putting this in either the Q&A thread or the main LGBTAI+ thread.

Just putting it in the wider forum generally doesn't end well. We don't really get to come out of our own two little corners without people getting uppity or acting like they know everything about us when they obviously don't.

[Miriel]

My two questions would be: Is there any plan to share the result with the participants and the local trans community? (By which I mean NOT strictly in research seminars and such.) Is there any involvement of trans people in setting up the research instrument and the problematic, etc.?

EDIT : Btw, I'll share that as possible if I'm satisfied. My network is in Canada, however. But I'd be delighted to participate!

[Red Rubber Band]

You can try putting this in either the Q&A thread or the main LGBTAI+ thread.

Just putting it in the wider forum generally doesn't end well.

Thanks for the reply :)
I've contacted the two users who started the threads as I wasn't sure which would be most appropriate to post under. noparlpf has already responded positively, so I am just waiting for Musashi.

Mmm. I was warned that I'd need to cover more bases than just posting it in the general forum. I'll keep that in mind.

My two questions would be: Is there any plan to share the result with the participants and the local trans community? (By which I mean NOT strictly in research seminars and such.) Is there any involvement of trans people in setting up the research instrument and the problematic, etc.?

EDIT : Btw, I'll share that as possible if I'm satisfied. My network is in Canada, however. But I'd be delighted to participate!

I'll ask those questions and get back to you about it!

By "local" do you mean "GitP local"?

[Miriel]

I'll ask those questions and get back to you about it!

By "local" do you mean "GitP local"?

I was thinking more about the people in Sydney, and thought of GitP people who'd agree to this as "participants".

[Red Rubber Band]

Quick update: I've received a reply, but wanted to clarify before I relayed the information.

[Red Rubber Band]

I'm unsure if it updates and sends out a notification when I edit a post. If not, well, I've updated the OP to reflect new information that I've received.

[Miriel]

Yes. The paper, once completed, is available for anyone who would like to request it. One of the aims of this paper is to raise awareness and understanding.

But will there be any effort for trans people to know this paper exists in the first place? Master's theses and the like are not really the most visible documents. Maybe a conference organized with local trans/LGBT organizations would yield better results.

Also, I know from experience that "available upon request" is a fairly random policy. I know many people who have failed to access such documents because, well... old contact information may not always be valid. Will it be published in an open access format?

[Red Rubber Band]

But will there be any effort for trans people to know this paper exists in the first place? Master's theses and the like are not really the most visible documents. Maybe a conference organized with local trans/LGBT organizations would yield better results.

Jess has been in contact with ACON (her state's leading health promotion organisation) and Pride in Diversity. They and the Equity and Diversity department at Macquarie (her university) want it after she's finished. Each will spread it around. She has other organisations she is looking at approaching too.
I, myself, am currently in contact with a local LGBTI group.
On an international scale I'm unsure of what Jess' plans are. You're more than welcome to list other organisations that may be interested in the thesis and I'll pass them onto her to get in to contact with.

Also, I know from experience that "available upon request" is a fairly random policy. I know many people who have failed to access such documents because, well... old contact information may not always be valid. Will it be published in an open access format?

The only open access database I'm aware it will be on is the Macquarie University one.
I've also approached her about setting it up on Google Drive.


Bear with me if these answers aren't enough for you as her supervisor has been away these past couple of weeks. Jess is rather eager to talk with her, so I'm hoping I can expand or clarify any answers I've given so far once that happens.

Do let me know if you've any ideas that I can pass back through to Jess.

[Miriel]

Bear with me if these answers aren't enough for you as her supervisor has been away these past couple of weeks. Jess is rather eager to talk with her, so I'm hoping I can expand or clarify any answers I've given so far once that happens.

Do let me know if you've any ideas that I can pass back through to Jess.

It's fine, I just wanted to know if a thought was given about these issues, as not all LGBT research is good LGBT research.

I'm satisfied of the answers, so I'll share the project around.

[Red Rubber Band]

Bad news everyone. I heard back from Jess and her supervisor has limited the interview applicants to those raised in Australia.

I apologise for any messing around this has caused.

[Jaycemonde]

Because trans* people can only exist in Australia, or because non-Australian trans* people aren't as reliable sources as Aussies?
That's dumb, but bureaucrats will be bureaucrats. It's everyone's loss, I guess.

[Miriel]

Because trans* people can only exist in Australia, or because non-Australian trans* people aren't as reliable sources as Aussies?
That's dumb, but bureaucrats will be bureaucrats. It's everyone's loss, I guess.

Or perhaps because doing research on "everywhere" is too wide and unfocused, while a research on Australia will tell more about what Australian trans people live through. Being trans in some place is not the same as being trans in some other place, and a lot of the research I know focuses on the United States -- as a Canadian, this is very unpleasant, as the conclusions may not apply. It's a very valid research decision. This is doubly true in a project for a master's thesis, which probably means about one year of full-time research activities, as doing interviews is hard work (you have to do the interviews, then transcribe them, before you're even analyzing anything, which is long as well).

[Serpentine]

Because trans* people can only exist in Australia, or because non-Australian trans* people aren't as reliable sources as Aussies?
That's dumb, but bureaucrats will be bureaucrats. It's everyone's loss, I guess.

Because studies need to have defined and controlled parameters for their results to mean anything, and/or because the study is about the experience of trans people in Australia, specifically. Not everything is a sinister and terrible injustice.

I know a couple of trans people in Australia. I'll pass the study around.

[Red Rubber Band]

Because trans* people can only exist in Australia, or because non-Australian trans* people aren't as reliable sources as Aussies?
That's dumb, but bureaucrats will be bureaucrats. It's everyone's loss, I guess.

Neither. As Enrico Dandolo and Serpentine pointed out, narrowing the research parameters will allow a much more focussed - and overall relevant* - study. The experiences of transgender people will differ greatly from place to place.
I should have explained this in my previous post, my apologies.

*Admittedly it'll only be relevant to a certain section of peoples.

Or perhaps because doing research on "everywhere" is too wide and unfocused, while a research on Australia will tell more about what Australian trans people live through. Being trans in some place is not the same as being trans in some other place, and a lot of the research I know focuses on the United States -- as a Canadian, this is very unpleasant, as the conclusions may not apply. It's a very valid research decision. This is doubly true in a project for a master's thesis, which probably means about one year of full-time research activities, as doing interviews is hard work (you have to do the interviews, then transcribe them, before you're even analyzing anything, which is long as well).

Considering the interest that had been shown I did ask Jess if she could incorporate a section into her thesis about the differences between Australian and international transgender youths. It was ultimately decided against, however. I assume timelines and the amount of work that would go into this single section would have been the most prevalent factors in the decision.

Because studies need to have defined and controlled parameters for their results to mean anything, and/or because the study is about the experience of trans people in Australia, specifically. Not everything is a sinister and terrible injustice.

I know a couple of trans people in Australia. I'll pass the study around.

Many thanks

[Rain Dragon]

A Masters thesis is rather a lot of work. I'd be curious to read about various international communities one day, perhaps.

I wish your friend the best with the project.

EDIT - Miswording

[Red Rubber Band]

Thanks for everyone's time and interest. I've been informed that we have more than enough participants for the study.
Once the paper has been finished I will source an electronic copy. Please PM me if you're interested and I'll forward it on to you.