September 2024 – Parks & Recreation - 19

tinue with the next question. Respondents
should not be required
to share personal information they
do not prefer to share, and you may
lose data from that individual who
might otherwise be willing to share.
Although you should attempt to
include all possible demographic
response options, survey designers
are rarely fully aware of trending
changes to demographic nomenclature
and cultural
trends. Because
of this, the best practice is
to include a write-in option. One
preferred way to label this option is
using " Not Listed " with a write-in
box. Any data collected in this box
may provide deeper insights into
how people in your community
identify themselves. As important,
providing both this option and an
opt-out alternative should allow all
respondents to answer the question
and continue with the survey.
Think of the Final Dataset
Every dataset requires some cleaning
before analysis, but much better
is to design demographic survey
questions to preemptively reduce or
eliminate unusable data. Consider
your question formats carefully.
Most demographic questions are
best designed as multiple-choice or
check-box questions.
Using these formats allows you
to define how to break the options
into ranges (e.g., age, income) or as
stand-alone selection options (e.g.,
pronouns, zip code, race/ethnicity).
Use multiple-choice questions
when only one answer is applicable
for the category (e.g., number of
people in household, marital status).
Use check boxes when multiple
answers may be true for the category
(e.g., race/ethnicity, primary
job responsibilities).
Position Demographic
Questions Carefully
Unless you need to use demographic
information to determine survey eligibility
or to use logic within your
survey, demographic questions typically
are best suited for the end of
your survey. Respondents sometimes
stop partially through surveys. If they
drop out, it is preferable for them to
have responded to the questions that
are most important. Similarly, this
practice is less likely to discourage
those who prefer not to answer sensitive
questions. If they drop off before
the demographic questions, you will
have collected the data that is most
related to your topic.
Aim for Consistency
Ensure question formats are consistent.
Once you have determined
a format for each of your potential
demographic questions, create a document
listing them as standards. Try
to use standard format questions for
all surveys. If others in your organization
collect demographic information,
it may be useful to collaborate
on a department-wide (or even wider)
standard format for all demographic
questions, especially if you
anticipate needing to compare or aggregate
data across departments or
longitudinally from multiple sources.
Involve the Community
For some demographic categories,
requesting community input about
response choices and which demographics
to collect may help determine
if the questions are relevant
to those who may participate in
the survey. The more community
members can relate to the questions
you are asking, the more likely
you will achieve your desired
survey participation.
Be Aware of Demographic
Trends
At NRPA, we attempt to align our
demographic question formats to
U.S. Census data whenever possible.
In March 2024, the Office of
Management and Budget (OMB)
published the 2024 Statistical
Policy
Directive No. 15 (tinyurl.
com/62pnyes5), which set a new
federal standard on how they collect,
present and maintain race/
ethnicity data in all federal datasets.
Race and ethnicity previously
were maintained as two separate
categories, but because of the need
to improve data accuracy and usefulness,
they are now combined into
one question. The directive offers
three different formats (i.e., long,
short with examples, short only)
to use for collecting race/ethnicity
data, depending on needs (tinyurl.
com/5ye73d6b). All park and recreation
professionals can benefit from
being aware of these trends and determining
whether to adjust any established
demographic survey question
or response option standards.
Collecting demographic data
through
surveys takes thought
and consideration to ensure proper
data are available to understand
and report accurate equity- and
inclusion-related
findings. Each
agency should examine their circumstances
and create demographic
questions and tools tailored to
their project and community needs.
What other questions do you have
about collecting demographic information
or about surveys in general?
Share on NRPA Connect or email
us at research@nrpa.org.
Dianne Palladino, Ph.D., is the Interim
Director of Research and Evaluation at
NRPA (dpalladino@nrpa.org).
PARK S ANDRECRE AT ION . OR G | SEP T EMBER 2 0 2 4 | Parks & Recreation
19
http://tinyurl.com/62pnyes5 http://tinyurl.com/5ye73d6b
September 2024 – Parks & Recreation

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