Eddie, thank you for writing this. I am just now completing a course in Research Methods at my local community college and was appalled at the chapter on "Bias-Free Language" in the APA's Publication Manual 7th edition. Section 5.5 states that "sex refers to biological sex assignment" (I do not understand how sex can be assigned) but the…
Eddie, thank you for writing this. I am just now completing a course in Research Methods at my local community college and was appalled at the chapter on "Bias-Free Language" in the APA's Publication Manual 7th edition. Section 5.5 states that "sex refers to biological sex assignment" (I do not understand how sex can be assigned) but then it goes on to state that "disparaging terms" such as birth sex and natal sex "should be avoided" and that "...birth sex and natal sex imply that sex is an immutable characteristic without sociocultural influence." As if the facts of human reproductive roles are suddenly controversial and biological sex is a social construct! To think that guidelines such as these are the final word for researchers and clinicians writing in the field is absurd and scary.
Eddie, thank you for writing this. I am just now completing a course in Research Methods at my local community college and was appalled at the chapter on "Bias-Free Language" in the APA's Publication Manual 7th edition. Section 5.5 states that "sex refers to biological sex assignment" (I do not understand how sex can be assigned) but then it goes on to state that "disparaging terms" such as birth sex and natal sex "should be avoided" and that "...birth sex and natal sex imply that sex is an immutable characteristic without sociocultural influence." As if the facts of human reproductive roles are suddenly controversial and biological sex is a social construct! To think that guidelines such as these are the final word for researchers and clinicians writing in the field is absurd and scary.