FOIA update - Sorry for the cliffhanger

Edit: In light of the CDC's efforts to cover up their researchers' discrimination against male victims of sexual assault by female perpetrators, Alison and I decided the call referred to in this post merited further exploration. Alison looked at it from a very basic, fundamental standpoint which plows past the psychobabble to the stark reality of feminist researcher bias... one the researchers themselves cannot explain away when bluntly asked about it. This video was the result. 

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The CDC's condition for releasing to me the data I requested from the National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey was that I speak to them about it via phone conference before doing anything with the numbers I received.

On Thursday afternoon, I spent nearly an hour with them discussing the information. The gist of the conversation was that they don't want raw data used for anything.
I had requested raw data specific to the year 2010. I was very specific at the beginning of my letter in stating that all of the numbers requested was from the data for the year 2010. According to the instructions at the beginning of the PDF I was sent, I received simply raw data. I sent an email repeating the request, and was told it would be addressed during the conversation. Instead of offering the data they used to calculate the "last 12 months" numbers they released in their report, they told me they didn't have those numbers.

That's not actually possible, considering they reported predictions across the U.S. population based on those numbers. However, there was simply nowhere to go on that question, as it was made clear that I was going to be stonewalled.

They made a point of telling me that the only way to get the numbers they got was to weight and manipulate the data exactly the way they had done, meaning that some of the numbers were given more weight in figuring statistics than others, based on criteria determined by the researchers, and referred me to table B-1 of appendix B of the NISVS full report for more information on their criteria.  
   
I've made a composite screenshot of that page for this post.

  

I also asked specifically about the choice to define male respondents having been made to penetrate as "other sexual offense" instead of rape.

The researchers I spoke to stumbled profoundly over answering that, eventually falling back on a long version of "because the 'experts' said so." They could not give me any specific reason why forcibly subjecting a male victim to coitus or receipt of fellatio should be any less reasonably considered rape as forcing a woman to perform coitus or receipt of oral penetration of the vagina.

These were the basic admonitions upon which the researchers made a point to say that the data they recorded showing male victims who reported female perpetrators could not be compared to the data they collected showing female victims who reported male perpetrators.

From the above criteria, all I can gather is that they think the accuracy or value of the data they collected varies based on what type of phone people use, their age, their ethnicity, or their sex.
For the purpose of predicting how many people overall in the U.S. may have suffered victimization during the time periods covered by the survey, that may be true, but it doesn't follow that the data doesn't accurately show what percentage of male respondents reported female perpetrators, vs what percentage of female respondents reported male perpetrators, unless the researchers think perpetrators of intimate partner and sexual violence select victims based on that criteria. Based on that, I see no reason to not report and use those percentages calculated straight from the raw data. 

On a side note, I can see that the data on gay and lesbian partner violence is drawn from ridiculously small samples. I don't think those samples are enough to predict anything about the overall population of the U.S. Drawing out less than 200 respondents in any given segment to predict the experiences of millions does not seem like a reasonable approach, and I think other studies would be needed to make any of the results found in the NISVS worth depending on to guide an approach to addressing intimate and partner violence within those communities, and I am going to have to do some more research on incidence before even considering the potential for conclusions about my local area, community needs, and how those needs might be met. I don't think the CDC survey is going to be any help with that. It may be useful in campaigning for assistance for male victims in general, but until I can gather more information on the prevalence of intimate partner and sexual violence in the GLBT community, I can't assume that any effort I put into that area will actually be beneficial. That's a setback, but not a deterrent.

Without further comment, below is a link to the PDF file the CDC sent me:

CDC REPLY TO MY FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT REQUEST


Here is the question list to which it was sent in response: 

I am requesting information from a document, not the entire document. The document referenced in this request is from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The overall document is the raw data from the 2010 National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey.

I am requesting access to some of the raw NUMBERS (not any data containing personally identifying information of surveyed individuals) on which the information given in the CDC's National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey (2010) Report is based. All numbers requested are requested from the data for the year 2010.

I am specifically interested in the following information:

Total number of MALES surveyed.
Number of total MALES surveyed who self-identified as heterosexual, or did not identify a sexuality.
Number of total MALES surveyed who self-identified as bisexual.
Number of total MALES surveyed who self-identified as homosexual.

Total number of FEMALES surveyed.
Number of total FEMALES surveyed who self-identified as heterosexual, or did not identify a sexuality.
Number of total FEMALES surveyed who self-identified as bisexual.
Number of total FEMALES surveyed who self-identified as lesbian.


Number of surveyed MALE victims reporting in each category of sexual violence and partner violence.

Number of surveyed MALE victims reporting in each category of sexual violence and partner violence who self-identified as heterosexual, or did not identify a sexuality.

Number of surveyed MALE victims reporting in each category of sexual violence and partner violence who self-identified as bisexual.

Number of surveyed MALE victims reporting in each category of sexual violence and partner violence who self-identified as homosexual.


Number of surveyed FEMALE victims reporting in each category of sexual violence and partner violence.

Number of surveyed FEMALE victims reporting in each category of sexual violence and partner violence who self-identified as heterosexual, or did not identify a sexuality.

Number of surveyed FEMALE victims reporting in each category of sexual violence and partner violence who self-identified as bisexual.

Number of surveyed FEMALE victims reporting in each category of sexual violence and partner violence who self-identified as lesbian.

Number of surveyed self-identified heterosexual FEMALE victims reporting in each listed category of sexual violence and partner violence (with each category listed separately) who reported FEMALE perpetrators (even if also reporting male perpetrators.)

Number of surveyed self-identified bisexual FEMALE victims reporting in each listed category of sexual violence and partner violence (with each category listed separately) who reported FEMALE perpetrators (even if also reporting male perpetrators.)

Number of surveyed self-identified lesbian victims reporting in each listed category of sexual violence and partner violence (with each category listed separately) who reported FEMALE perpetrators (even if also reporting male perpetrators.)

Number of surveyed self-identified heterosexual FEMALE victims reporting in each listed category of sexual violence and partner violence (with each category listed separately) who reported MALE perpetrators (even if also reporting female perpetrators.)

Number of surveyed self-identified bisexual FEMALE victims reporting in each listed category of sexual violence and partner violence (with each category listed separately) who reported MALE perpetrators (even if also reporting female perpetrators.)

Number of surveyed self-identified lesbian victims reporting in each listed category of sexual violence and partner violence (with each category listed separately) who reported MALE perpetrators (even if also reporting female perpetrators.)

Number of surveyed self-identified heterosexual MALE victims reporting in each listed category of sexual violence and partner violence (with each category listed separately) who reported FEMALE perpetrators (even if also reporting male perpetrators.)

Number of surveyed self-identified bisexual MALE victims reporting in each listed category of sexual violence and partner violence (with each category listed separately) who reported FEMALE perpetrators (even if also reporting male perpetrators.)

Number of surveyed self-identified homosexual MALE victims reporting in each listed category of sexual violence and partner violence (with each category listed separately) who reported FEMALE perpetrators (even if also reporting male perpetrators.)

Number of surveyed self-identified heterosexual MALE victims reporting in each listed category of sexual violence and partner violence (with each category listed separately) who reported MALE perpetrators (even if also reporting female perpetrators.)

Number of surveyed self-identified bisexual MALE victims reporting in each listed category of sexual violence and partner violence (with each category listed separately) who reported MALE perpetrators (even if also reporting female perpetrators.)

Number of surveyed self-identified homosexual MALE victims reporting in each listed category of sexual violence and partner violence (with each category listed separately) who reported MALE perpetrators (even if also reporting female perpetrators.)