Another Issue With Focusing on Demographics

We've had several articles on the issues with collecting demographics data before. Perhaps the greatest problem is that the data is subject to sample size issues. Unless your sample size is very large and your demographics diverse, it is a very risky move to assume you can use the data to understand the subsection of the population.

Every time you compare data to a small demographic, you cut your sample size dramatically, and the likelihood that you have meaningful results becomes very slim. In addition, demographics data makes surveys longer, and survey length causes higher dropout rates. Combine that with the lack of value that you likely get from demographics questions, and chances are you lose far more than you gain by allowing those questions to enter your survey.

Clearly there are issues with putting these question on the survey, just as there are reasons not to use them for analysis. But another interest reason to leave them off is the answer to a simple question: "What is it you are studying?" When it comes to customer satisfaction, especially, and to a lesser extent most market research, often you are not studying anything where the demographics is even relevant to the conclusions you are hoping to draw. If you're trying to establish a customer lens, for example, you're not necessarily concerned with the demographics of your customer base.

You are instead concerned with what your customers want/need. The demographics of those that make up your customer base is unlikely to affect what they need. And, in addition, the decisions you make are going to be those that the vast majority of your customer base approves of.

Whether or not it is as well liked by a specific, small demographic may be irrelevant, provided that it appears to be something that will increase your revenue.

There are times when demographic information can be relevant to your research, especially if you are performing market research or you're curious about some aspect of a lot of products. But most researchers either don't need the data or don't understand the data, and including it in your survey will only lead to an increase in dropout rate without any noticeable gain. Make sure you only use demographic data when it is relevant to avoid any problems that they can cause with surveys.