Annex 2: Methodological Annex

• Author: Directorate-General for Justice and Consumers (European Commission), ICF
• Pages: 219-225

Legal gender recognition in the EU: the journeys of trans people towards full equality

June 2020

219

ANNEX 2: METHODOLOGICAL ANNEX

Steering Committee

The study team established a Steering Committee of experts in the field of transgender

rights. The experts played an important advisory role throughout the duration of the

study, in particular attending meetings and calls on the study’s progress, and providing

feedback on draft reports and other outputs.

Literature review

A literature review was carried out at the beginning of the study to understand existing

evidence in relation to the research questions and to provide comparative or

complimentary evidence for the findings of the qualitative research strand. The

methodology for completing the literature review is outlined below:

A literature review protocol was developed and tested during the inception phase of

this study. The protocol outlined the research questions, the searching strategy e.g.

inclusion and exclusion criteria, and process for extracting and analysing literature.

A data extraction template was created and tested by the study team, using literature

from the annotated bib liography put together during the inception phase. During this

piloting, any relevant literature cited in the articles reviewed, or in the bibliographies of

articles/reports were noted and were reviewed.

The study team then followed the search strategy and undertook relevance assessments

to identify th e final sources for extraction. The final sources were then extract ed into

the data extraction template. The results were synthesised and written up. These results

then informed the analysis of the findings and are reflected in the analysis presented in

this report.

Qualitative research

The purpose of the qualitative research was to hear directly from trans peopl e about

their experiences and opinions of LGR procedures and coming-out processes, as well as

their position in education, employment and later life. The qualitative research for this

study consisted of telephone interviews, an online consultation and six focus groups. All

fieldwork for the study took place between 9 May 2019 and 20 November 201 9.

Participants were eligible to take part in the qualitative research if they met the

following criteria:

 Currently identify as transgender or as having a transgender histo ry

 Aged 18 years old or older

 Resided in a Member State of the European Union at the time of the st udy

The process for conducting the qualitative research is summarised below:

First, an ethical protocol was developed. This underpinned all the qualitative research

activities and formed the basis of researcher training (see Annex 3). Then, a network

of national voluntary and support organisations was established by t he study

team, comprised of those working in the field of transgender rights and LGBTI equ ality

more generally. A total of 30 voluntary and support organisations become partners in

the study covering 23 Member Stat es. The partners t ook one or more of the following

roles depending on their Member State:

 Dissemination role – sharing the call for participation for the study with their network

 Quality Assurance r ole – checking translated research tools such as interview topic

guide and online consultation questionnaire

 Focus group role – organising and recruiting participants for a focus group in their

Member State, and acting as co-facilitators