Hi there, trans gal and researcher here! Gonna offer a smidge more info about Littman's absolutely
garbage study, then some more general stuff.
Littman's current research project is aimed at trans youth (they don't even acknowledge them as trans, instead calling them "gender dysphoria), and it includes the same
disastrously bad methodology as her ROGD study--she is, in short, going to fabricate results for trans kids by taking data from their transphobic parents
or those who claim without evidence to be the parents of trans kids. This methodology is
bad bad, and is ultimately what caused her ROGD paper to be retracted. This next bit is important, so I'm gonna bold it:
If Littman cannot get a large enough participant pool of trans respondents, her research will likely be rejected for publication, or retracted if published. It is IMPERATIVE that you not participate, and that you spread the word to make sure other people don't participate in this study.
More generally, when you're thinking about participating in a research study on trans stuff, check out the following information:
- What university and department is it based out of? Psychology, women's studies, social work, and fields like that are mostly safe, but there are bad actors out there soooo
- Go to Pubmed and search for the Principal Investigator's prior research. See what their other work says. Does it generally mesh up with what we know about trans folks, or is it filled with transphobic dog-whistles?
- If in doubt, email the PI--their email will be on the disclosure page and is meant to field questions--and ask how their research is being funded. Stuff backed by government grants is usually pretty safe, and stay away from anything backed by SEGM, GENSPECT, or other pseudoscientific hate groups. If they won't answer, don't do the study.
The significant majority of the research offers you'll see out there are from people who are intellectually honest, and many are even run by fellow trans people these days! And it's important to support that research when and where we can, because good science drowns out bad science. Nevertheless, you've gotta stay vigilant--bad actors exist in the academy, same as any other organization, and just like anywhere else, they find clever ways to keep their hooks in so they can keep producing bullshit pseudoscience.
But those hooks only work as long as they can produce the bullshit pseudoscience. If they can't, their shadowy funders will move on.
Starve their research. Not. One. Response.