Documenting the Victimization of Lesbians and Gay Men

Documenting the extent of anti-gay hate crimes is of critical importance in responding effectively to them and preventing them. The task of documentation is difficult and time-consuming, but is tremendously valuable if done correctly. Recognizing that the bulk of information about hate crimes currently comes from small-scale community surveys, this article describes some of the major methodological issues involved in conducting such surveys. Issues of sampling, instrument design, data collection, and data analysis are discussed. Guidelines are offered for reporting the survey results. A sample victimization questionnaire is presented. Using the guidelines and resources provided in this article may yield survey results that will be more useful for researchers, service providers, policymakers, and the lesbian and gay community