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 26

could also describe the variation in the life cycle of relationships, with newer relationships, temporary

relationships or more casual relationships falling into the “boyfriend/girlfriend” category and longer

term more committed relationships falling under the “partner” rubric. Whichever way they viewed the

terms, all respondents could see the need for a range of terms. While they may have had preferences

for certain terms, they could see the need for all of them.

7. Summary and recommendations

Several themes run through the results of the cognitive interviews. The first is that respondents

generally perceived both relationship and marital status as asking about legal status. That being said,

however, the relationship question was perceived a bit more subjectively than marital status. There was

a bit more wiggle room for this item when it came to a strict legal interpretation. One aspect of this

was the option of “same‐sex husband/wife/spouse.” Just seeing this option seemed to open the door to

selecting the category, even if it did not align with the respondent’s actual legal status. This was

particularly true among gay couples without any legal recognition who resided in areas where there was

no same sex recognition of any kind. This illustrates a pitfall of designing a one‐size‐fits‐all federal form

when the legal reality of same‐sex partner recognition is extremely fragmented on a state‐by‐state

basis.

Both gay and straight respondents generally felt that the term “partner” applies primarily to the same‐

sex population. This did not, however, deter opposite‐sex respondents who were in relationships

without any legal recognition from marking the “unmarried partner” or the “opposite‐sex unmarried

partner” category.

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Parent category: Legal