I Can’t Even Think Count Straight: A Queer Revolution in Survey Research?

In this essay, I consider how queer methods can inform survey research on sex, gender, sexuality, and other dimensions of social difference and inequality. Critical attention to methodological assumptions, disciplinary norms, and inherited tools can afford sexualities scholars opportunities to reconsider established practices and help chart a more thoroughly transformative era in the sociology of sexualities and related fields. I review a number of recent methodological advances that can facilitate the integration of queer methods across registers of survey research—from study design and data collection to analysis and reporting. I conclude with several recommendations, including that scholars: (1) treat surveys as representational tools, not as neutral mechanisms of revelation; (2) resist statistical fetishism and the tacit notion that statistical complexity equals conceptual sophistication; and (3) recognize that data created by all kinds of surveys can be used as tools for social justice or domination, regardless of their intended consequences.