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The title of this monographic issue is inspired by the paper published in the journal Sexualities by J. E. Sumerau and colleagues (2016). In that article, the authors ask why quantitative sociology should “come out of the closet” to explore the non-binary complexity of gender and contemporary sexualities. Three main reasons are indicated in the article. First, the expansion of LGTBIQ+ rights makes it no longer possible to exclude them from our data; we need to know how they experience, display and address their sexualities and gender. Second, it is necessary to pay attention to the transformations in institutions such as family, work, health, or education, but also in politics or identity that have resulted from the recognition of LGTBIQ+ rights. Finally, because of the limitations of the “average subject” of quantitative studies that exclude this group, knowing that there are significant differences in educational, economic and health outcomes and experiences of transgender, cisgender and non-binary people (Miller and Grollman, 2015). Moreover, intersectionality should be incorporated, implying a new challenge for quantitative sociology, so we can conclude that if quantitative sociology does not come out of the closet it may become irrelevant.

Now, achieving such a transition will entail facing many challenges. Changing our sampling and measurement strategies will require redefining and possibly adjusting long-established methodological traditions related to the reliability and validity of measures and representativeness, as well as the construction of variables in quantitative sociology. At the same time, the collection of information on gender and sexualities will require drastic adjustments in the design and collection of data through questionnaires, and will involve a re-evaluation of the way we interpret and discuss the results.

There have certainly been some attempts to incorporate sex-gender diversity and sexuality into quantitative studies of sexualities. Sumerau et al. (2017) propose two approaches: first, expanding the response options with a third category of "other(s)" that goes beyond binarism. A more sophisticated option of such a strategy is to include the open-ended response option that allows individuals to self-identify. The second mechanism, which aims to address the difficulty of defining sexuality and its fluidity throughout the life cycle, suggests the use of self-descriptive measures. For example, employing scales to measure self-positioning on various dimensions such as physical and intimate desire, race, gender, body types, and attractiveness, which influence sexual identity and practices.

This monographic issue seeks to contribute to the debate on how to incorporate gender and sexual diversity into quantitative sociology. It seeks to explore both the different theoretical and political challenges of engaging in quantitative methodology in research on sexualities, leaving behind the simplifications of binary sex and gender, and to make proposals as to what mechanisms may be useful for such a task. In this sense, we invite contributions that address one or more of the following questions:

• Limits and challenges of the quantitative methodology in the study of sexualities.
• Quantitative methodology applied to the study of sexualities as a tool of social control by invisibilizing the realities of LGTBIQ+ people.
• Proposals of specific quantitative applications in the elaboration (surveys) and treatment (analysis techniques) of data for the study of sexual and gender diversity.
• Intersectionality in its quantitative implementation in the study of sexualities.
• Quantitative studies that address sexual and gender diversity in specific social fields such as work, health, education, etc.
• Techniques of analysis that include sexual and gender diversity in hegemonic surveys carried out by official institutions.

Formal requirements

• Articles should be submitted through the journal's website and should follow the guidelines for authors available at the following link: https://ojs.ehu.eus/index.php/papelesCEIC/about/submissions#authorGuidelines.
• Submission should specify that the contribution is for the monograph on "Why quantitative sociology must come out of the closets".
• Articles will be evaluated according to peer review process: https://ojs.ehu.eus/index.php/papelesCEIC/about/editorialPolicies#peerReviewProcess.
• Deadline for receipt of texts: September 30^th, 2023.
• Texts will be accepted in Spanish, English, and Basque.

Contact:

Papeles del CEIC: papeles@identidadcolectiva.es

Aina Faus-Bertomeu. aina.faus@uv.es

Arantxa Grau i Muñoz: arantxa.grau@uv.es