We're showing a pie graph that would show something like 53% male, 41% female and 7% unknown.
The "unknown" category includes many reasons we can't tell: we don't know, we can't know for legal reasons, we can't know for self-imposed privacy policy reasons, our data sources don't know, etc. The reasons are quite innumerable.
This seems like a common problem so I wanted to ask if there is a common solution?
Answer
Assuming you have a context where this level of accuracy matters (e.g. an academic or technical audience, or a delicate topic) it's always best to just clearly and simply state what's going on.
This 7% have a gender (male, female, or something else). For some, you know it, for some you don't. In all cases, you're not reporting it. So just say that:
- Not reported
- Not published
- Not shared
- Not publicly available
- Unavailable/confidential
- Unknown/withheld
- Unspecified/other (suggested in a comment by PLL below)
...or if your organisation has a more informal tone of voice:
- Can't say
- Private
...or if your organisation has an [annoyingly] chatty tone of voice:
- ???
- Secret
- Wouldn't you like to know?
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