The research proposal ought to be a big, bad, intimidating monolith of an assignment.  There’s obviously a lot riding on my ability to wear the topic on my sleeve, so considering I’ve already changed topics once this semester, I’m obviously predisposed to reluctance.  As this class has progressed, however, I’ve begun to feel like I can do so much more than simply wear my topic; I can be my topic.

Transgender studies are still sorely lacking in both variety and consistency.  It was a regular roadblock in my own personal journey to medically transition, and I obviously have an intense passion for the subject.  It is essentially my starting point, and from that perspective, I happen to know a lot about the market for trans medical research.  I

spent months reading through anecdotes, so I see it only fitting to improve that knowledge for the next generation.

Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) in particular strikes me as a goldmine for potential new research.  In fact, even before this class

began, I’ve been updating my own photo logs, body measurements, behavioral changes, and developmental patterns every single day while on HRT.  The current extent of knowledge for HRT is painfully anecdotal.  The only concessions I mustered in figuring out what to expect were the Gender Dysphoria Bible, Transgender Map and Transfeminine Science.  Obviously, none of these sources are very academic, so there’s much work to be done.

The proposal instructions leave me with a number of ways to explore this.  Obviously, I have a good starting point with regard to literature review.  After all, researching the effects of HRT is something I am very seasoned with.  With the resources at my disposal at the Forsyth Library, I shouldn’t have any trouble giving this information an academic spin.

HRT also leaves a far more prolific impact than what a simple “yes/no” study could encapsulate.  As such, I don’t need to worry myself about my topic being closed-off.  From Spironolactone, to Finasteride, to Bicalutamide, and methods of administration therein, I have a nearly limitless amount of potential at my disposal.

At that rate, my only significant question would be what exactly I should measure.  With so many independent variables at-play, what should I isolate for my research proposal?  That decision will be made with a heavy heart, and I won’t pretend to be confident in my choice for the time being, but I certainly know what variable I wanted to know most about when coming out as trans.

Age is an absolutely crucial variable in human growth and development.  With that said, the onset of puberty, the maturation of the body, and the seamstress of time are all harbingers of mutilation from the perspective of most transgender people.  The sentiment of feeling “too old to transition” is common in the community–even among people in their 20s.

As such, I want to know how HRT affects people based on the age of onset.  In this case, the study would measure qualitative satisfaction with HRT using ordinal variables–probably on a Likert-type scale.  The Given that the “treatment” is ironically not a variable, this would be a nonexperimental study.  After all, withholding HRT from transgender people throughout various parts of life for a supposed “control group” is the polar opposite of ethical.

Finding a diversely stratified sample with a homogenous regimen would obviously be challenging.  With that said, as previously mentioned, many people already report their anecdotes without any second thought.  Simply tracking these anecdotes in an academic setting over the course of many years should yield significant results.  All I’d need are scheduled checkups from a wide demographic net, and I’d be able to finally answer the all-too common question of whether or not there’s even a such thing as being “too old to transition”.