Tips for collecting demographic data
Demographic data (such as age, gender and level of education) is generally used to segment customer groups and enable a more differentiated analysis. Regardless of whether the customer survey is anonymous, it is quite common to collect broad classification criteria (ages 10–18, 19–25, etc.). Two possible positions for demographic questions in a customer questionnaire are particularly widely debated: at the beginning or at the end of the questionnaire.
High-hurdle technique
If the demographic section appears at the beginning of the questionnaire, you may receive many responses. Customers are focused and motivated at the outset. Placing these questions at the beginning also follows the high-hurdle technique (1): the underlying assumption is that participants who have worked through the initial hurdle are also highly likely to continue to the end.
According to this technique, the first pages of a survey should contain more text, items and information than later pages. However, the drop-out rate may also rise because you are asking for personal information straight away. Experience also frequently shows that drop-out rates are high in any case and that participants who complete pages 1 and 2 will continue to the end, regardless of where the demographic questions appear.
Ultimately, the decision is yours. If you are unsure, contact us.
When collecting demographic data with our survey tool, we recommend:
1. Ask yourself whether you actually need the data.
2. Ask only for relevant information and keep the categories as broad as possible (for example, use broad age bands).
1. Reips, U.D., 2002. Standards for Internet-based experimenting. Experimental Psychology (formerly “Zeitschrift für Experimentelle Psychologie”), 49(4), 243–256.
