mixed-mode probability

Rutgers-Eagleton Poll

Rutgers-Eagleton Poll - Transgender Identification in Schools · Dec 13–23, 2023 · US: New Jersey

Methodology

Pollster: Rutgers-Eagleton Poll academic
Sponsor: Eagleton Institute of Politics, Rutgers University-New Brunswick
Fielded: Dec 13–23, 2023
Population: adults
Sample size: 1,657
Sample frame: mixed-mode probability
Panel: Rutgers-Eagleton/SSRS Garden State Panel (ABS-recruited probability panel, drawn from the USPS Delivery Sequence File)
Mode: multi-mode - live interviewer on landline and cell phone (n=521), one-to-one push-to-web MMS text invitation (n=532), and web via the probability-based Rutgers-Eagleton/SSRS Garden State Panel (n=604)
Margin of error: +/- 2.8 percentage points (simple sampling error +/- 2.4, adjusted for a design effect of 1.39)
Weighting: raked (SPSSINC RAKE / GENLOG) to match population parameters for sex, age, education, race/ethnicity, region and phone use, overall and by form; sex, age, education, race/ethnicity and region parameters derived from 2022 American Community Survey PUMS data, phone use from the National Health Interview Survey Early Release Program; weights trimmed
Geography: US: New Jersey
Base notes: registered voter subsample of 1,451 with a margin of error of +/- 3.0 percentage points; L5A/L5B were a split sample (n=826 and n=817)

Sources

Verification note. Question wording, split-sample notes, toplines and party crosstabs read directly from the Rutgers-Eagleton release PDF's questions-and-tables section; methodology and design effect from the same PDF's methodology section. Party figures cross-checked against the narrative text of the release (Republicans 54% tell / 34% not tell on L5A; Democrats 72% not tell). Note this poll was fielded December 2023 and released March 2024.

Figures below are transcribed from these documents. Where they disagree with the source, the source governs.

Questions asked (3)

School policyforced choicein a trend series

whether a teacher should be required BY LAW to tell parents a student is transgender when the student says they do not feel safe coming out

Note: This question was part of a split sample. Half of respondents received L5A and half received L5B.

A student confides in their teacher that they are transgender. The student tells the teacher that they don't feel safe coming out to their parents and asks the teacher to refrain from sharing this information with them. Do you think the teacher should be required by law to ...?

Not tell the student's parents they are transgender

54%

Tell the student's parents they are transgender

31%

Don't know

15%

Wording notes: vignette specifies the student does not feel safe coming out, which foregrounds a safety consideration | vignette specifies the student asked the teacher not to share | legal-requirement version of a split-sample pair with L5B

tilts_affirming — The vignette supplies the student's stated lack of safety and explicit request for confidentiality before asking the question, which foregrounds harm-avoidance; a parental-rights framing is not given equivalent airtime. The pollster's own comparison to divided national numbers suggests the framing matters. The split-sample design with L5B isolates the legal-requirement wording rather than the safety framing.

Subgroup figures (20)

party

Group	Tell the student's parents they are transgender	Not tell the student's parents they are transgender	Don't know
Democrat	15%	72%	13%
Independent	33%	48%	19%
Republican	54%	34%	12%

gender

Group	Tell the student's parents they are transgender	Not tell the student's parents they are transgender
Men	36%	48%
Women	26%	61%

age

Group	Not tell the student's parents they are transgender
18-34	65%

lgbtq_status

Group	Tell the student's parents they are transgender	Not tell the student's parents they are transgender
LGBQ+	19%	74%
Straight/heterosexual	32%	52%

contact_population

Group	Not tell the student's parents they are transgender
Is transgender or knows someone who is	59%
Does not know anyone transgender / don't know	49%

General acceptance4-point scalein a trend series

perceived frequency with which transgender children experience bullying, disapproval, mental health problems, harassment and physical abuse

How often do you think that children who identify as transgender experience the following?

Depression and anxiety - Frequently

63%

Bullying from other children - Frequently

53%

Verbal harassment - Frequently

51%

Disapproval from their parents - Frequently

37%

Disapproval from their parents - Occasionally

34%

Physical abuse - Occasionally

34%

Disapproval from their teachers - Occasionally

31%

Physical abuse - Frequently

30%

Bullying from other children - Occasionally

26%

Verbal harassment - Occasionally

26%

Disapproval from their teachers - Don't know

21%

Disapproval from their teachers - Frequently

20%

Disapproval from their teachers - Rarely

20%

Depression and anxiety - Occasionally

20%

Physical abuse - Don't know

19%

Disapproval from their parents - Don't know

17%

Physical abuse - Rarely

14%

Verbal harassment - Don't know

13%

Bullying from other children - Don't know

12%

Depression and anxiety - Don't know

12%

Disapproval from their parents - Rarely

Disapproval from their teachers - Never

Verbal harassment - Rarely

Bullying from other children - Rarely

Physical abuse - Never

Bullying from other children - Never

Disapproval from their parents - Never

Depression and anxiety - Rarely

Verbal harassment - Never

Depression and anxiety - Never

Wording notes: battery of six items measuring perceived victimization | measures perception of others' experience, not the respondent's own policy preference

neutral — Symmetric frequency scale with an explicit don't-know; the six sub-items are descriptive rather than evaluative. Placement before L5A/L5B is a genuine order effect worth flagging, but the wording itself is not loaded.

Subgroup figures (18)

party

Group	Bullying from other children - Frequently	Disapproval from their parents - Frequently	Disapproval from their teachers - Frequently	Depression and anxiety - Frequently	Verbal harassment - Frequently	Physical abuse - Frequently
Democrat	71%	45%	29%	76%	69%	42%
Independent	49%	39%	18%	59%	45%	26%
Republican	32%	22%	11%	47%	33%	18%

Contact & populationmultiple responsein a trend series

personally knowing someone transgender, or being transgender oneself

Note: This item was recoded due to the "check all" nature, to provide accurate counts for each individual respondent and for statistical analysis purposes. The original check count was: 17 "me," 137 "family member," 168 "close friend," 545 "acquaintance," 825 "no," and 38 "don't know."

To the best of your knowledge, do you personally know someone who identifies as transgender? Please check all that apply.

Does not know someone who is transgender or is not transgender themselves (includes "no" and "don't know")

52%

Knows someone who is transgender and/or is transgender themselves

48%

Wording notes: check-all-that-apply, recoded to a binary by the pollster | 'don't know' responses folded into the negative category by the pollster

neutral — Straightforward contact measure. The only judgment call is the pollster's recode of "don't know" into the no-contact category, which is disclosed in the note.

Subgroup figures (9)

party

Group	Knows someone who is transgender and/or is transgender themselves
Democrat	51%
Independent	51%
Republican	37%

gender

Group	Knows someone who is transgender and/or is transgender themselves
Men	46%
Women	49%

age

Group	Knows someone who is transgender and/or is transgender themselves
18-34	56%
65+	35%

lgbtq_status

Group	Knows someone who is transgender and/or is transgender themselves
LGBQ+	77%
Straight/heterosexual	44%

Every figure on this page is transcribed from the source linked above. How to read this data →