Queer Data by Kevin Guyan

Queer Data : Using Gender, Sex and Sexuality Data for Action
 
Data has never mattered more. Our lives are increasingly shaped by it and how it is defined, collected and used. But who counts in the collection, analysis and application of data?

This important book is the first to look at queer data – defined as data relating to gender, sex, sexual orientation and trans identity/history. The author shows us how current data practices reflect an incomplete account of LGBTQ lives and helps us understand how data biases are used to delegitimise the everyday experiences of queer people.

Guyan demonstrates why it is important to understand, collect and analyse queer data, the benefits and challenges involved in doing so, and how we might better use queer data in our work. Arming us with the tools for action, this book shows how greater knowledge about queer identities is instrumental in informing decisions about resource allocation, changes to legislation, access to services, representation and visibility.
 
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'Kevin Guyan's Queer Data, though not a quick read, is very comprehensible to an average reader and is absolutely chockablock with ways to understand how research is conducted and how it systematically discounts queer people (or counts us incorrectly, or codes us incorrectly, or…). If you ever do research on anything involving people-even something as minor as a brand-preference survey-you must read this, absolutely. But even the lay reader with no research aspirations will find so many ways to prove that their homophobic cousin Karen is just plain wrong.' - Xtra Magazine
 
'Each of Queer Data's sections provides thought-provoking debates and relevant dilemmas grounded in rigorous academic concepts and rich evidence from practice. In this sense, one of the book's core strengths is how it intertwines complex scholarly ideas with concrete problems that practitioners and activists wrestle within their day-to-day work.' - Harvard Educational Review
 
'[T]he book does an admirable job explaining the finer points behind the complicated constructs of sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI) and drawing attention to nuances that make it difficult to precisely measure micro-minorities ... the book is a welcome addition on a topic that currently lacks wide attention. Guyan poses provocative questions that practitioners should consider before embarking on research that focuses on sexual and gender minorities.' - Science Magazine