Abstract Prejudice and discrimination have important effects on the well-being and quality of life of trans people. Hence, investigating with said population implies, in addition to actions to obtain relevant and truthful information, having the necessary actions to attend to their needs and peculiarities. These are populations that are difficult to access (hard-to-reach), stigmatized, in which there is no defined sampling frame, that have physical and mental health indicators lower than those of any other group with which we have worked and that, therefore, it is necessary to take extreme the precautions not to reproduce types of relationships that may be harmful or offensive. The purpose of the present article was to systematize part of our field experience with transgender people, so that it can be useful for those who study with this population. These recommendations aim to provide some conceptual, methodological and ethical guidelines, useful throughout the research process. In particular, we made a series of recommendations that cover from the moment of taking conceptual decisions about the design of the study, through contact with the organizations, until the completion of the field work and subsequent stage of dissemination of results. In particular, a series of recommendations are made regarding: specifying the definition of the group with which one works, recording the variety of gender identifications as people present them, using to sampling methods for hard-to-reach populations or hidden populations, deliver a retribution for the participation (consider participants as experts to be compensated for their work), including activists as experts in every stage of the study (study design, field work, data analysis and dissemination of results), piloting the instruments in specific population, preferably opt for group applications modality and continue with a debriefing, have specific assistance for participants during the application (special needs derived from their age, educational level, reduced mobility, among others), use non-stigmatizing and inclusive language, call together with trans organizations (in order to establish greater trust in the population), attend to a mobility of the population (so as not to replicate the sample in different places), carry out a committed listening and contemplate referral protocols (if necessary given the type of situations described by the participants and their current degree of elaboration), consider different trajectories of transition, conduct inter-analysis sessions and disseminate appropriately within the transgender population. These propositions are discussed in terms of their effects on trans communities, their usefulness and ethical scope, their articulation with the general requirements of all research, and their implications for activism. On the other hand, these recommendations can serve as criteria for evaluating the ethical dimension of research projects with trans people. It may therefore be important to project reviewers, editors, and reviewers of manuscripts submitted for publication. The perspective that we assume in this work is aligned with those called "evidence-based activism", which implies articulating a variety of knowledge, scientifically accredited and of an "experiential" type, in order to explore situations in which the team members Research staff are part of networks that involve them personally in their study topics. It is precisely the relationship with groups that work for the rights of minorities, activists and members of these groups is essential, since they have knowledge acquired through their experience as part of discriminated groups and they can contribute to the mobilization of knowledge in the governance of health issues.
Resumen El presente trabajo expone y fundamenta recomendaciones basadas en la experiencia de investigación en personas transgénero, con la intención de que puedan ser útiles a quienes realicen estudios con dicha población. Estas recomendaciones incluyen orientaciones conceptuales, metodológicas y éticas, aplicables a lo largo del proceso de investigación. En particular, las orientaciones cubren los siguientes temas: definir con precisión el colectivo con el que se trabaja, registrar la variedad de identificaciones de género posibles al interior del mismo, utilizar métodos de muestreo aptos para poblaciones de difícil acceso, retribuir la participación, incluir líderes e investigadores transgéneros como expertos, pilotar los instrumentos en la población que será investigada, optar por modalidades de recolección grupal de datos, ofrecer asistencia individualizada durante la recolección, utilizar un lenguaje no estigmatizante e inclusivo, convocar la participación en conjunto con organizaciones transgénero, atender a la movilidad geográfica de la población, realizar una escucha comprometida y contemplar protocolos de derivación, considerar las diferentes trayectorias de transición, realizar sesiones de interanálisis y, finalmente, difundir apropiadamente los hallazgos al interior de la población transgénero. Se discuten estas proposiciones en términos de sus efectos en las comunidades trans, su utilidad y alcances éticos, su articulación con exigencias generales de toda investigación y sus implicaciones para el activismo.
