October 3, 2013

Dr. Randall Sell, an associate professor in the Department of Community Health and Prevention, coauthored an article published online in the Journal of Environmental and Public Health titled “Toward Global Comparability of Sexual Orientation Data in Official Statistics: A Conceptual Framework of Sexual Orientation for Health Data Collection in New Zealand's Official Statistics System.”

The article discusses the development of a conceptual framework of sexual orientation with standard definitions and concepts for the collection of official sexual orientation data in New Zealand, which presents a model for producers of official statistics in other countries. The authors conclude that high-quality official data on sexual orientation is required to effectively address health disparities experienced by sexual minority populations and that other countries will need to develop equivalent frameworks of sexual orientation to suit their specific contexts and the requirements of their producers and consumers of official statistics.