Research Guides: Gender and Sexuality Studies: Data and Statistics

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NYU Data Services

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Data Services is a joint service of NYU Libraries and ITS to support quantitative, qualitative, and geographical research at NYU. Data Services offers access to specialty software packages for statistical analysis, geographic information systems (GIS), survey research, and qualitative data analysis. We provide training and support as well as consulting expertise for many aspects of the research data lifecycle including access, analysis, collection development, data management, and data preservation.

Data and Statistics on Gender and Sexuality

Gallup Analytics
Users can access Gallup's U.S. Daily tracking and World Poll data to compare residents' responses region by region and nation by nation to questions on topics such as economic conditions, government and business, health and wellbeing, infrastructure, and education. Of particular interest, Gallup collects data on U.S. respondents' identity as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender.
OECD Gender Data Portal
The OECD Gender Data Portal includes selected indicators shedding light on gender inequalities in education, employment, entrepreneurship, health and development, showing how far we are from achieving gender equality and where actions is most needed. The data cover Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) member countries, as well as partner economies including Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, and South Africa.
Report: Adult LGBT Population in the United States
Using data from the 2020-2021 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS), this study by the Williams Institute at the UCLA School of Law estimates the percentage and number of LGBT adults at the national, state, and regional levels.
Report: LGBTI in OECD Countries: A Review, Working Paper No. 198
This paper, focused on the socio-economic situation of lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, transgender and intersex people (LGBTI) in OECD countries, seeks to estimate the size of this population. It reviews evidence on attitudes toward LGBTI, LGBTI rights, perceived discrimination among LGBTI, and explores the notion of an “LGBTI penalty” and its causes.
Research Project: LGBT Mortality
Sexual and gender minority individuals are more likely to experience interpersonal and self-directed violence than heterosexual and cisgender individuals. However, differences in death from violence are currently unknown because sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI) data are not collected during death investigations. This project currently is developing and testing methods for SOGI mortality data collection with death investigators in the field.
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity in Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) Data Collections
Sexual orientation and gender identity are central to an individual’s self-concept and influence how people experience and interact with the world. Collecting this demographic information allows BJS to produce a variety of statistical estimates for persons who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender. These measures are collected on several BJS data collections, although the approach to measurement can vary depending on the collection and the year of administration:
National Crime Victimization Survey
National Inmate Survey
National Survey of Youth in Custody
Survey of Prison Inmates
Social Justice Sexuality Project
The Social Justice Sexuality Project is one of the largest ever national surveys of Black, Latinx, and Asian and Pacific Islander, and multiracial lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people. With over 5,000 respondents, the final sample includes respondents from all 50 states; Washington, DC, and Puerto Rico; in rural and suburban areas, in addition to large urban areas; and from a variety of ages, racial/ethnic identities, sexual orientations, and gender identities.
Status of Women in the States
And open data portal maintained by the Institute for Women’s Policy Research (IWPR), a think tank focusing on the quantitative and qualitative analysis of public policy in the United States through a gendered lens. This site offers national and state data related to gender on the following issues: political participation, employment and earnings, work and family, poverty and opportunity, reproductive rights, health and well being, and violence and safety.
TransPop, 2016-2018
The TransPop study is the first national probability sample of transgender individuals in the United States (it also includes a comparative cisgender sample). A primary goal of this study was to provide researchers with a representative sample of transgender people in the United States. The study examines a variety of health-relevant domains including health outcomes and health behaviors, experiences with interpersonal and institutional discrimination, identity, transition-related experiences, and basic demographic characteristics (age, race/ethnicity, religion, political party affiliation, marital status, employment, income, location, sex, gender, and education).
U.S. Transgender Survey (USTS)
The U.S. Trans Survey (USTS) is the largest survey of trans people, by trans people, in the United States. The USTS documents the lives and experiences of trans and nonbinary people ages 16+ in the U.S. and U.S. Territories. The 2015 USTS had 27,715 respondents. The 2022 USTS, the results of which will be reported in 2023, will provide an updated and expanded view of the experiences of transgender people across a wide range of areas, such as education, employment, family life, health, housing, and interactions with police and prisons.
UN Minimum Set of Gender Indicators
The United Nations (UN) offers a portal into their minimum set of gender indicators, which are comprised of 52 quantitative and 11 qualitative indicators measuring the following: economic structures, participation in productive activities, and access to resources; education; health and related services; public life and decision-making; and human rights of women and girl children.
UN Statistics Division: Gender Statistics
The Global Gender Statistics Programme is mandated by the United Nations (UN) Statistical Commission, implemented by the United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD), and coordinated by the Inter-Agency and Expert Group on Gender Statistics IAEG-GS. The Programme encompasses: improving coherence among existing initiatives on gender statistics through international coordination; developing and promoting methodological guidelines in existing domains as well as in emerging areas of gender concern; strengthening national statistical and technical capacity for the production, dissemination and use of gender relevant data; facilitating access to gender relevant data and metadata through a newly developed data portal (forthcoming).
USAID DHS Program's Gender Corner
The Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) Program of USAID provides indicators of gender inequality, women's empowerment, gender norms, and more. This site offers country profiles, publications, and additional resources on relevant gender-related topics (e.g., domestic violence, female genital cutting, etc.).
WomenStats Project
The WomanStats Project is a team of approximately twelve undergraduate research assistants, seven graduate research assistants, thirteen principal investigators, and over 120 former student assistants who are dedicated to the continual expansion of the WomanStats Database, which is the largest cross-national compilation of data, statistics, and maps on the status of women worldwide. Organized by country, it includes over 350 variables for 176 countries.
World Bank's Gender Data Portal
The Gender Data Portal is the World Bank Group’s comprehensive source for the latest sex-disaggregated data and gender statistics covering demography, education, health, access to economic opportunities, public life and decision-making, and agency. Site includes useful links and related publications.

Resources for Finding Social Data and Statistics

Here are select sources that collect and disseminate various collections of social data. For more in-depth info on finding data and statistics, please see our full research guide at: guides.nyu.edu/datasources

Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR) This link opens in a new window
ICPSR is a social science repository that includes curated data sets pertaining to many disciplines within the social sciences. ICPSR contains original codebooks and descriptions of methodology, offers multiple file format downloads, and links data to relevant scholarly research. Users can search at the variable level and trace datasets to their use in academic publications. The archive also includes data-driven learning guides for those teaching with data.
Users need to login to access. Use the single sign-in with Google and when prompted, use NetID credentials.
Sage Data This link opens in a new window
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Sage Data aggregates datasets sourced from reputable public and private organizations, such as OECD, China Data Online, the United Nations, and the U.S. Census. It covers topics across many subject areas, including education, population and income, industry, commerce, trade, housing and construction. Users can create custom extracts and download files in delimited, SAS, or shapefile formats.
Social Explorer This link opens in a new window
Social Explorer contains access to U.S. Census data dating back to 1790. Users can create maps and embed them as objects or download static images.
To access Social Explorer, create a user account after signing in to NYU's SSO. If you have questions about authenticating your NYU Social Explorer account from off-campus, please contact Data Services.
Sociometrics This link opens in a new window
Sociometrics contains datasets that are organized into nine topical data archives: AIDS/STIs, Disability, the American Family, Adolescent Pregnancy and Pregnancy Prevention, Aging, Maternal Drug Abuse, Child Well-Being and Poverty, Complementary and Alternative Medicine and Contextual (Geographic) Data. Users can export datasets as studies packaged with relevant documentation and multiple file formats.
To access the data in the Social Science Electronic Data Library (SSEDL), click on "Browse" and select "Data."
Data.Census.Gov This link opens in a new window
Data.Census.Gov, the interface that replaces American FactFinder, is the portal to US Census data and includes data from the American Community Survey, Population Estimates, Economic Census, and Annual Economic Surveys. Users can generate simple visualizations, extract reports, and explore census data by theme or topic.
New York City Population FactFinder (NYC PFF) This link opens in a new window
New York City Population FactFinder (NYC PFF) is a discovery portal for sample U.S. Census and American Community Survey data. Data is available at the census tract or Neighborhood Tabulation Area level.
Historical Statistics of the United States This link opens in a new window
Historical Statistics of the United State is a source for downloadable quantitative data that pertains to America's past. Topics of data range from migration and health to crime and the Confederate States of America. Users can access reports, essays, and extract data into Excel tables.
OECD iLibrary This link opens in a new window
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OECD iLibrary is the online portal for the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development. The iLibrary includes book collections, policy reports, statistical abstracts, and the OECD.Stat tool, with which users can create custom extracts from the OECD data warehouse.
World DataBank This link opens in a new window
World DataBank is a portal to access each of the World Bank datasets, including its World Development Indicators, Global Financial Database, Poverty and Equity Database, Gender Statistics, and more. Users can create custom extracts and export data into various tabular formats.

Specialized Research Guides

The following research guides will be helpful in locating specialized data: