probability panel
Pew Research Center
Pew Research Center American Trends Panel Wave 20 (August 2016) - 'Where the Public Stands on Religious Liberty vs. Nondiscrimination' · Aug 16, 2016 – Sep 12, 2016 · US national
Methodology
- Pollster
- Pew Research Center independent
- Sponsor
- Pew Research Center
- Fielded
- Aug 16, 2016 – Sep 12, 2016
- Population
- adults
- Sample size
- 4,538
- Sample frame
- probability panel
- Panel
- Pew Research Center American Trends Panel (at this point recruited via landline/cell RDD telephone surveys)
- Mode
- self-administered online survey, with a paper mail questionnaire for panelists without internet access
- Margin of error
- ±2.4 percentage points
- Geography
- US national
- Base notes
- 4,195 web respondents and 343 mail respondents. Restroom vignette 3A (male-to-female example) shown to a random half, vignette 3B (female-to-male example) to the other half; Pew combined responses after finding no significant wording differences on TRANSREST1-3.
Sources
Verification note. All percentages read directly from the Pew final topline PDF (Wave 20). Weighting description and party crosstabs for the transgender items were not retrieved.
Figures below are transcribed from these documents. Where they disagree with the source, the source governs.
Questions asked (4)
sympathy with allowing restroom use matching gender identity
Next, we'd like to get your opinions about some stories that have been in the news in recent years. As you may know, recent stories in the news have highlighted a debate over the use of public restrooms by transgender individuals - such as people who now identify and live as females but were born male [VIGNETTE 3B: males but were born female]. Some argue that transgender people should be [RANDOMIZE STATEMENTS; STATEMENT 1: allowed to use the public restrooms of the gender with which they currently identify / STATEMENT 2: required to use the public restrooms of the gender they were born into]. Others argue that transgender people should be [OPPOSITE STATEMENT]. We're interested in your views about this situation.
How much, if at all, do you sympathize with those who say transgender people should be allowed to use the public restrooms of the gender with which they currently identify?
Not at all
32%
A lot
25%
Some
23%
Not much
18%
No answer
2%
Wording notes: vignette/debate framing presents both sides | uses 'the gender they were born into' | randomized statement order | split-sample male-to-female vs female-to-male example
neutral — both positions stated and randomized; the paired TRANSREST1/TRANSREST2 design measures sympathy with each side symmetrically
sympathy with requiring restroom use matching birth sex
See TRANSREST1 preamble (same vignette).
How much, if at all, do you sympathize with those who say transgender people should be required to use the public restrooms of the gender they were born into?
A lot
30%
Not at all
29%
Some
20%
Not much
19%
No answer
2%
Wording notes: uses 'the gender they were born into' | randomized order relative to TRANSREST1
neutral — symmetric counterpart to TRANSREST1
forced choice on transgender restroom use
See TRANSREST1 preamble (same vignette).
And if you had to choose, which comes closest to your view? Transgender people should be...
Allowed to use the public restrooms of the gender with which they currently identify
51%
Required to use the public restrooms of the gender they were born into
46%
No answer
3%
Wording notes: 'if you had to choose' forces a binary | no middle option | response option order matched to the randomized vignette order
neutral — both alternatives stated in parallel and order randomized; 'the gender they were born into' is contested terminology but is symmetric with 'the gender with which they currently identify'
Subgroup figures (2)
knows a transgender person
Do you personally know anyone who is transgender, or not?
No, I do not
68%
Yes, I know someone who is transgender
30%
No answer
2%
Wording notes: 'transgender' defined earlier in the vignette as 'people who now identify and live as females but were born male' / 'males but were born female'
neutral — simple factual contact item