Checklist for sex/gender perspectives

Here is a checklist that you can use to make sure you have considered sex- and/or gender perspectives in the different phases of your research (Korsvik & Rustad, 2018).

Research idea phase

• Have you considered how assessments of sex/gender, including stereo-
  types about what is considered “female” or “male”, can affect what you
  want to investigate, what questions you ask and how to answer them?
• Is sex/gender important for understanding the phenomenon you will
  investigate, and if so, how? Are there other dimensions that can be
  considered in relation to sex/gender, such as age, ethnicity, educational
  level, income, occupation, geographical location or technical competence?
• Have you reviewed literature and other sources relating to sex/gender
  in the research field?

Proposal phase

• Does the project’s research topics and methods take the sex/gender
  dimension into account? Does the proposal explain how the sex/gender
  dimension will be handled?
• Are researchers trained in gender studies included in the research group?
• Have you considered whether the results of the research can have
  different effects on women and men, boys or girls? Can the research
  contribute to the advancement of gender equality?

Research phase

• Are research methods, such as questionnaires, focus groups, etc.,
  designed in a way that considers possible sex/gender differences
  and similarities?
• Will sex/gender-differentiated data
  be collected? Have you ensured that samples, test groups or others
  involved in the project are diverse in terms of sex/gender, age and
  other background variables?
• Will sex/gender be a variable in the analysis? Will other variables be
  included in relation to sex/gender in the analysis?
• Are unconscious (stereotypical) assumptions about sex/gender implicit
  in the interpretation of data? Are there dimensions other than sex/gender that are important to consider?

Dissemination phase

• Is the sex/gender dimension included in the presentation of findings?
• If the sex/gender dimension is included, is it done in a way that does
  not reproduce stereotypical notions about gender, but also looks at
  variations within the gender categories?
• Have you considered that dissemination of the research findings can
  be directed towards networks, institutions, journals and conferences
  that address gender issues?