Survey Methodology #2012-02 - New Relationship And Marital Questions: A Reflection Of Changes To The Social And Legal Recognition Of Same-Sex Couples In The U.s. - U.s. Census Bureau Page 15

confirming a theme that surfaced in the focus groups. In fact, one straight respondent indicated he

would be comfortable having a choice to mark “opposite‐sex unmarried partner” but not “unmarried

partner” because partner is usually assumed to mean gay/lesbian and he wouldn’t want his answer to

be construed as a homosexual relationship. Another straight respondent put it this way:

“He’s my boyfriend. I don’t know what partner consists of so that’s why I don’t ever use that

word…this (partner) just does not seem to be the word I would use.”

That said, all three of the straight respondents who were living with someone without legal recognition

selected “unmarried partner” for relationship.

When it came to answering the relationship question, regardless of version tested, the majority of

respondents chose their intimate partner relationship answer according to the legal status of the

relationship (see Table 2). This meant that persons who were legally married chose

“husband/wife/spouse,” “opposite‐sex husband/wife/spouse” or “same‐sex husband/wife/spouse” and

that persons not legally married (whether in a registered domestic partnership/civil union or without

any legal recognition) tended to select “unmarried partner,” “opposite‐sex unmarried partner” or

“same‐sex unmarried partner.” Of the 40 interviews conducted, five respondents reported a

relationship that did not align with their legal relationship status. Upon closer examination we

discovered that all five were respondents from gay couples – three had no legal status and two were in a

registered domestic partnership/civil union. All five reported as “same‐sex husband/wife/spouse.”

In three cases, this selection was the result of the respondent not reading far enough down the list ‐‐ at

the second category, respondents saw “same‐sex” in the “same‐sex husband/wife/spouse” category,

chose it, and moved to the next item. In the debriefing, all three respondents later noticed the “same‐

sex unmarried partner” category (4

in the list) and agreed it might fit better (although one respondent

said the fact she has been living with her partner for 10 years and neither spousal category contains the

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Parent category: Legal