September 2024 – Parks & Recreation - 18

RESEARCH
Demographic Survey Questions
Best Practices
Key for understanding equity and inclusion
By Dianne Palladino, Ph.D.
S
uccessful efforts to assess and support equity depend on understanding
data with respect to the different characteristics and
cultures of communities served. Survey designers also must understand
how to construct demographic questions to maximize
inclusion of community members in response options. Whether gathering
community feedback for decision making, assessing the equitable
and just distribution of funding for parks and recreation, or filtering the
characteristics of your desired sample of respondents for your survey,
careful, clear and consistent demographic questions that foster the ability
for everyone to answer them are essential.
In June 2024 at an NRPA Sandbox,
titled " Surveying for Park and
Recreation
asked about best practices for incorporating
Success, "
members
survey demographic
questions. This column highlights
some common guidance.
Considering Demographics
to Collect
Selecting the demographic data to
collect in a survey must be considered
carefully. Common possible respondent
characteristics may include
race/ethnicity, primary language,
Learn how to design
surveys with inclusive,
effective demographic
questions.
gender identity, sexual orientation,
pronouns, age, disability status, location,
education, employment status,
marital status, annual household
income, family makeup, political
alignment, religion and others. The
first step to selecting demographic
questions for your survey requires a
clear understanding of why you are
administering the survey.
Clarify the Survey's Goal
What is the topic of your survey?
What demographic data do you
need to ensure your respondents
are representative of your target
community? What demographic
data are necessary for filtering or
logic within the survey or for grouping
data during analysis? After answering
these questions, select the
minimal set needed. Selecting too
few demographic questions may
hinder your ability to make certain
decisions from the data; selecting
too many may cause survey-taker
fatigue or uneasiness from perceptions
that the survey is asking too
many personal questions. Achieving
the optimal balance is not easy,
but it is an essential early step.
Format Questions
for Inclusion
Pay careful attention to the way
your demographic questions are
formatted to ensure
inclusivity
and the ability of survey takers
to opt out of the questions. Few
things are more frustrating to a
survey taker than not finding a response
that applies to them, thus
stopping
their
ability
or
desire
to continue the survey or, worse,
forcing them to select an inaccurate
answer. Two actions can virtually
ensure this will not happen
to your respondents: (1) providing
an opt-out option, and (2) providing
a write-in option.
The opt-out option is simple. At
NRPA, we use the phrase, " I prefer
not to answer, " as an option
for sensitive questions. Even if the
question
is
18 Parks & Recreation | SEP T EMBER 2 0 2 4 | PARK S ANDRECRE AT ION . OR G
mandatory, respondents
may select this option to con
September 2024 – Parks & Recreation

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