Claiming Credit and Statistical Consciousness for Demographic Shifts in the Gay and Lesbian Populations

• In Event: 546 - Section on Sociology of Population Roundtable Session (one-hour).
  In Refereed Roundtable: Table 08. Demographic Methods and Population Estimation

Abstract

I argue that social organizations, think tanks, and governments are claiming credit (Meyer 2006) on the demographic shifts in the lesbian and gay populations and ‘statistical consciousness,’ the use of statistics in everyday life to promote social change. Using content analysis of newspapers from 1990 to 2010, I analyze the newspaper accounts of census percentages and numbers in newspapers sources. I find the following codes when analyzing newsprint: demographics, increase in reported same-sex partners, statistical consciousness, and claiming credit for successful outcomes.

Author

• Carol Walther, Northern Illinois University