Comparing In-Person and Online Survey Respondents in the US National Transgender Discrimination Survey: Implications for Transgender Health Research

Purpose: In the absence of probability sample studies of transgender people, new methods are needed to yield study samples that reflect the demographic diversity of the transgender population. Methods: The National Transgender Discrimination Survey is a large, convenience sample of 6,456 transgender adults between the ages of 18 and 89. We examined characteristics of purposively sampled respondents who, in 2008, completed a one-time survey either in-person (435 respondents) or online (6,021respondents). Missing data were multiply imputed, and multivariable logistic regression models were used to test for differences in sociodemographic and health indicators by data collection method. Results: A higher proportion of in-person respondents were young, male-to-female, people of color, publicly insured, with lower incomes and lower educational attainment than online respondents (all p < 0.05). In-person respondents also were more likely than online respondents to be current daily smokers, to endorse substance use to cope with mistreatment, and to self-report as HIV-positive (all p < 0.05). Conclusion: Findings indicate that online and in-person data collection methods reach transgender respondents with vastly different health and life experiences. To achieve a more diverse sample of transgender adults, then, requires diverse recruitment settings and survey modalities.