HRHart Research Associates

Here is a follow up question on one of those issues: issues related to people who are transgender.

Here is a follow up question on one of those issues: issues related to people who are transgender. From your point of view, do you think whether a person is a man or a woman...?

Wording notes: no 'not sure' option offered - forced binary

neutral — the two alternatives are symmetric statements of the competing premises; the absence of a don't-know option pushes respondents to choose but does not favor a side

How much have you been hearing or reading about issues related to people who are transgender lately?

neutral — standard exposure item

Thinking about transgender issues, would you say society is...?

Wording notes: 'too quickly' listed first

neutral — symmetric three-way pace item with a middle option

Which of the following statements comes closest to your view?

Wording notes: 'accommodating' framing

neutral — balanced three-way construction of the standard too-far/not-far-enough item

Many questions in the remainder of this survey are going to be about issues related to transgender people. Please read the following statement so everyone has the same understanding of some of the terms that will be used. People who are transgender have a gender identity that is different from the sex they were assigned at birth. For example, a person assigned male at birth who identifies as a woman, or a person assigned female at birth who identifies as a man. Transgender people may or may not take steps to live according to their gender, including changing their name, the pronouns they use, their clothing or appearance, or undergoing hormone therapy or other medical procedures.

When it comes to transgender issues and policies, do you think (insert item) are...?

Wording notes: preceded by a neutral definitional preamble that is unusual in this literature

neutral — symmetric item asked identically about both parties; the definitional preamble reduces respondent confusion without steering

Do you agree or disagree with the following statements?

Do you agree or disagree with the following statements? - Whether we approve or not, we should respect the right of adults to live as they want when it comes to decisions related to their gender identity. - [Form A] Whether we approve or not, we should respect the right of youth in high school to live as they want when it comes to decisions related to their gender identity. - [Form B] Whether we approve or not, we should respect the right of youth in elementary and middle school to live as they want when it comes to decisions related to their gender identity.

Wording notes: 'Whether we approve or not' concedes disapproval up front, which lowers the cost of agreeing | age is systematically varied to locate the tolerance threshold | no don't-know option

tilts_affirming — the 'whether we approve or not' preface reframes agreement as tolerance rather than endorsement, which raises agreement; the design is nonetheless informative because age is the only thing varied

Next you will see several situations involving transgender issues along with different people who could be involved in enacting policies and making decisions about each situation. Please rank the three groups of people that you most want to be involved in enacting policies and making decisions for each issue.

Next you will see several situations involving transgender issues along with different people who could be involved in enacting policies and making decisions about each situation. Please rank the three groups of people that you most want to be involved in enacting policies and making decisions for each issue. - Policies related to whether minors under age 18 should have access to medical care and treatment for gender transitions.

Wording notes: decision-authority framing rather than policy-position framing

neutral — an unusual and even-handed design: it measures who voters trust rather than what policy they want, and the option list spans family, medical, and every level of government

Next you will read two statements that you could hear from a member of Congress about transgender girls and women and sports. Please select the statement that is closest to your point of view, even if it is not exactly how you feel.

Next you will read two statements that you could hear from a member of Congress about transgender girls and women and sports. Please select the statement that is closest to your point of view, even if it is not exactly how you feel. STATEMENT A: Congress should pass laws that will apply across the country to make sure that transgender girls and women cannot compete in girl's and women's sports. STATEMENT B [Form A]: I understand that there are concerns about the safety and fairness of transgender girls and women playing in girl's and women's sports, I just think the question of who plays in sports should be left up to school boards and local sports associations, not the federal government. STATEMENT B [Form B]: The issue of whether transgender girls and women can play in girl's and women's sports should be left to school boards and sports associations, not the federal government.

Wording notes: split-sample test of whether conceding the safety/fairness concern helps the local-control position | no neutral or don't-know option

neutral — an explicit message test, but a fair one: the restrictive statement is held constant and the only variation is whether the local-control statement first acknowledges the other side. The result - identical 56/44 splits - is the finding.

Below are some statements about experiences that people may or may not have had. For each of the following, please indicate whether or not you have had each experience.

Below are some statements about experiences that people may or may not have had. For each of the following, please indicate whether or not you have had each experience.

neutral — behavioral checklist with symmetric yes/no per item

Next you are going to react to three audio clips from a Democratic member of Congress about the issues that have been discussed in this survey.

Next you are going to react to three audio clips from a Democratic member of Congress about the issues that have been discussed in this survey. Please focus on the content and substance of the remarks and not the quality of the clip itself or how it is edited. We want your reaction to the ideas being expressed. [PURE PIVOT] These are hard issues. We should give each other the benefit of the doubt and treat everyone with dignity. We should also recognize and acknowledge that people have different views on these issues. That's why decisions on transgender issues should be made by parents, medical professionals, and sports leagues, not Congress. Congress' priority should be creating good jobs, holding down the cost of groceries and consumer goods, and expanding access to healthcare. [REPOSITION + PIVOT] These are hard issues. We should give each other the benefit of the doubt and respect different viewpoints. The most important thing is to protect our kids, and Congress should act to set basic rules: biological men should not be able to compete against girls in high school and higher-level sports, kids should not be allowed to make medical decisions without parental consent, and everyone should be protected from discrimination - including transgender people. Other than that, Congress should defer to parents and local authorities and focus on making everything from groceries to healthcare more affordable. [COMPROMISE/GOP LIGHT] When it comes to these issues, we need to rely more on common sense to come up with solutions. While we should always treat everyone with dignity, it's just as important that we ensure fairness and safety for everyone. That means protecting girls and women's sports so they are not competing against biological men, upholding the right of parents to be the lead in making decisions about their children's access to medical care, and giving parents as much say as possible in deciding if and when their children are exposed to these issues. Based on this, use a 0 to 10 scale to indicate your overall reaction to the clip, where a 0 means very unfavorable and a 10 means very favorable.

Wording notes: all three tested positions are variants of retreat or repositioning; no clip defends trans-inclusive policy | clips were delivered as audio, not text

tilts_restrictive — the design tests only how far a Democratic member should move toward the restrictive position - there is no affirmative pro-inclusion clip in the set - so the comparison can only ever recommend a degree of retreat

Below are several policies that people have proposed related to transgender issues. For each one, please indicate whether you favor or oppose that policy.

Below are several policies that people have proposed related to transgender issues. For each one, please indicate whether you favor or oppose that policy.

Wording notes: no don't-know option - respondents are forced to a side | youth-medical and sports items are split-sampled with and without a parental-consent or age qualifier

neutral — each policy is stated in plain terms without argument on either side, and the split samples isolate the effect of the parental-consent and age qualifiers rather than pushing a direction