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Gender

Gender - a new vocabulary
(by M. Kennedy)
 
The need for this vocabulary became apparent while working on the life stage vocabulary.  The initial list of gender terms was short: male; female; unspecified; transitional; hermaphrodite.  A decision was made to expand the existing BODC gender list.  This list is currently under BODC governance and should be referred to as the 'BODC parameter semantic model biological entity gender terms' http://vocab.ndg.nerc.ac.uk/list/S100/current/. 
 
Discussions will now commence re recommending that GE-BICH propose this BODC list as the accepted gender vocabulary, so please add/send comments!
 
The next step will be to discuss whether or not this vocabulary should be put under SeaVoX governance.
 
 
Discussion points: 
  • Hermaphrodite is missing from the BODC list and needs to be added
  • Need to compile a list of synonyms.  Example "unknown" and "not specified"
  • Should entries such as "male and female" be included in the list?  Is the objective to provide a list of all possibilities that might exist in a SEX/GENDER field or is the objective to provide standardized terms and definitions for entries that exist in these fields?  An analyst might record "male and female" to indicate that both genders were present in a sample and this information should be recorded in the local database.  Is the proposed vocabulary's mandate to include this combination of terms or is it to simply provide the individual terms? Comments?  Any opinions on these types of terms?