Typical demographic questions used in surveys are related to responders’ age, race, gender, ethnicity, education, profession, income level, occupation, and marital status.
The researcher must decide who to question and how to segment the whole response data into appropriate groups of respondents. But how do you create proper demographic survey questions? Let’s find out down below!
Why Is Demographic Information Important?
Demographics are the characteristics of a population. A few examples of demographics in surveys are age, gender, ethnicity, geography, education, job status, marital status, and family income/composition.
Demographic surveys might be especially helpful if you want to learn more about your clients’ backgrounds. You can use this data to make certain business forecasts. They are frequently used to divide audiences into groups according to their characteristics and activities, making it simpler to ensure you’re focusing on the proper individuals.
Knowing the demographic information of your survey respondents may have a huge impact on the success of your business regardless of the field you work in, whether you’re producing new goods, offering cleaning services, selling vehicles, or simply trying to measure public opinion.
The 5 Common Demographic Questions
Now, let’s examine some of the most commonly used demographic questions.
- Age
Age-related questions have appeared in practically all demographic studies to date. This way you can effectively categorize your audience based on age. Numerous businesses and brands focus their goods and services based on the age of their typical customers. Even the former president, Obama, won the election in 2008 primarily due to the ability to use his overwhelming popularity among young voters.
The response ranges for age-related demographic survey questions will vary depending on the survey theme. For instance, your survey would likely target distinct groups if you were doing a demographic study on retirement planning vs. pop culture. But be sure to accommodate respondents of all ages.
If your survey requires more accurate and detailed information, you can provide respondents with a smaller age range to pick from, such as:
- 18-22 years old;
- 23-26 years old;
- 27-30 years old.
- Gender (Sex)
Gender and sex are distinguished from one another as follows in the American Psychological Association’s Publication Manual. Gender is cultural and is the term when referring to women and men as social groups. Sex is biological; use it when the biological distinction is predominant.
Why is this crucial to demographic research? Most of the time, you’ll search for someone’s gender because such surveys are primarily designed for market research. People have recently grown hypersensitive and easily insulted when asked about their gender, making such queries tricky.
- Ethnicity and Race
Ethnicity may be a topic to avoid because it is an even more delicate (and politically contentious) subject than gender. However, it can be essential to inquire about race, depending on the situation. Create checkbox-style questions that allow responders to select numerous responses in this situation.
In the United States alone, respondents may identify as African American, Latino, Pacific Islander, Native American, Native Hawaiian, and other ethnicities.
It’s crucial to provide respondents with the option of not responding to sensitive demographic questions, possibly by adding “other” or “prefer not to answer” to the response choices.
- Education
Are the majority of your consumers college graduates or high school dropouts? This might change greatly depending on the kind of goods or services you provide. Additionally, you can use it to your advantage by segmenting your consumers based on their educational background to identify unusual tendencies that will help you target the appropriate demographic.
- Employment status
Numerous issues can be covered in employment-related inquiries, including industry, size, kind of organization, job title, years of experience, salary, and others.
Another sensitive topic is asking someone how much money they make annually, and many individuals feel that asking such personal questions is inappropriate. Because of this, you should only ask such questions if they are vital to your survey.
If you need to know how much they make but don’t want to approach them directly, inquire about their location and job description before learning the average salary.
Additionally, unemployed individuals will typically provide dramatically different responses than those employed full-time.
3 Tips on How to Use Surveys to Get Valuable Demographic Data
Make It Anonymous
Consider making your survey anonymous if you aim to identify broad trends or patterns in your consumers’ activity rather than apply them to create leads. The truth is that many people are wary of disclosing information they see as private. Be sure to mention that your survey is anonymous if it is.
Explain the Background of Your Survey
Include an easy-to-read beginning of your survey where you would express its goal in full. By explaining in detail how you’ll use the information, you will reassure your respondents that they can trust you.
Make It Brief
Respondents find it simpler to complete shorter questionnaires. A friendly approach would be to state the total number of questions right at the start of the poll.
To Sum Up
Given the information mentioned, it is evident that demographic surveys are an excellent approach to getting valuable information about a certain client or even a group. Religion, household income, the number of children living in a home, and geographical locations are among demographic questions.
Make certain that respondents have the possibility to decline to answer questions with the response option “prefer not to answer” since specific demographic questions might be sensitive for someone.
