Questioning Frameworks in Surveying Controversial Social Issues: An Empirical Analysis and Evaluation Based on Pooled Cross-Sectional Data from CGSS and CSS (2005-2021)

Paper Abstract: Drawing on publicly available data from the Chinese General Social Survey and the Chinese Social Survey, this paper aims to (1) conduct a longitudinal analysis of public attitudes towards gender diversity in China, identifying key factors influencing these trends, and (2) evaluate the data quality on this "controversial" social issue through a cross-database comparison. The regression analysis of combined cross-sectional data reveals that women, younger individuals, Han ethnicity, unmarried persons, those with higher educational attainment, and urban residents demonstrate significantly higher tolerance toward same-sex behavior. Moreover, a cross-database comparison of the three questions related to public tolerance towards gender diversity from the 2015 CGSS and CSS surveys uncovers notable inconsistencies in the results, highlighting issues of reliability and validity. In response, this paper examines the methodological challenges involved in surveying controversial social issues, suggesting that three questioning frameworks—"moral judgment," "personal preference," and "equal rights and anti-discrimination"—create distinct questioning contexts that lead respondents to form immediate attitudes, producing divergent survey outcomes. This underlines the importance of avoiding "heteronormativity blind" and "implicit discrimination" in question design to prevent underestimation of public tolerance levels. The paper argues that when conducting social surveys on controversial topics, researchers must incorporate insights from multidisciplinary research while taking into account the specific social context of China and the nuances of the Chinese language, in order to improve question design and enhance data quality in studies of public attitudes.