Analyzing Questions That Cannot Be Asked of Respondents Who Cannot Respond

Abstract

This article examines data from the survey commissioned in 2000 by the Office of the Inspector General to “initiate an assessment of the environment at representative installations... within each Military Department with respect to the application of the homosexual conduct policy.” Analyses are designed to describe patterns in the factors related to awareness of harassment incidents based on perceived sexual orientation, and to test specific hypotheses related to the factors likely to predict awareness. Findings indicate that higher-ranking personnel report less awareness of harassment based on perceived sexual orientation, and that the US Air Force has the lowest percentages reporting such incidents. Interestingly, women officers are more likely to report awareness of harassment—suggesting they may be more likely to view incidents as harassment, or may be less insulated from harassing incidents than male officers. Perhaps most important, harassment is seen to occur during the typical course of military duty experiences. Ultimately we argue that the “don’t ask, don’t tell, don’t pursue” policy prevents open interaction between members of different sexual orientations, and instead may serve to perpetuate negative stereotypes.