Demographic FAQs

Here are some questions about demographics that we're most often asked.

Why is demographic information important?

Demographic information is important for reporting. It allows you to explore, breakdown and compare responses, particularly in the Heatmap Report. By looking at how different groups of people responded to the question(s), it can help you understand if there are any that need special focus.

AskYourTeam has four recommended demographics: Age, Gender, Length of Service and Level. These demographics are automatically set when you create a survey but you can exclude them.

How many demographics can I include in a survey?

You can select up to eight demographics for your survey.

Here are some examples (we refer to these as Demographic Categories):

• Age (Recommended)
• Gender (Recommended)
• Length of Service (Recommended)
• Level (Recommended)
• Department
• People Leader
• Ethnicity
• Location
• Employment Status
• Role

Within these Demographic Categories are the Demographic Options.

Here are some examples:

• Department: Administration, Sales, IT, Customer Support, CEO, Finance
• Location: Hamilton, Auckland, Wellington, Sydney, Melbourne
• Employment Status: Full-time, Contract, Part Time, Casual

There is no limit to how many options you can add to a demographic category. However, make sure there are at least 3to 5 participants for any option, otherwise they will not meet the reporting threshold and you will not be able to view their results. This rule is in place for confidential surveys, to ensure the participant's identity is separated from their responses.

I need to add a demographic category or option, where can I do this?

With the exception of AskYourTeam recommended demographics, you can edit demographics in the Demographic Library. Take a look at our guide on that topic for step-by-step instructions on how to create and edit demographics.

How do participants select their demographic information?

If the participants' demographic information is already in your participant's library and up to date, you don't need to ask for it in the survey. It will be automatically available for you to use in reporting for any surveys you run.

If you're not sure, or you'd like to learn more about importing demographic information into your participant library, take a look at the following guides:

• Demographic Library
• Participant Import Template

How do participants select their demographic information?

If their demographic information isn't in the Participant Library or up to date, you can get participants to provide it during the survey. In Step 4: Demographics, when you're creating a survey, you can set some or all of the demographics as 'self-select'. This means participants will select their demographic information during the survey through a series of questions at the start.

A participant selected the wrong demographic, how do I change this?

If the participant selects the wrong demographic and has submitted their survey, you can still fix this for them.

Here's how to do it:

1. Go to My Surveys tab. Find the survey the participant took part in.
2. Select the three dots on the survey card to open the menu and select Edit.
3. Select the Participants step.
4. Find the participant
5. Double-click the demographic option to change and make the correct selection.

If changes are made while the survey is in Draft or Pending, they will be automatically pulled through to the Participant Library. If changes are made when the suvrey is Active or has Closed, you will need to manually update the Participant Library.

If I change demographics, how does this affect retesting/comparing survey results in the future?

If you want to retest a survey or key questions from it in the future, you should use the same demographic categories and options. This is to ensure you are comparing 'like for like'.

If the participant's demographic information changes during the period before you retest your survey, that's OK. This is how their information will be handled:

Joe was in the HR team for the first survey. She then switches departments. She is the Sales team when she retakes the survey. For the first survey, her responses remain with the HR team; when she retakes the survey, her responses are assigned to Sales.

What are the pros and cons of using Participant Library (prepopulated) demographics?

Advantages of using Participant Library demographics:

• All data matches the system you have pulled it from, like your HRIS (People Management system).
• Saves time checking the demographic data at the end of the survey.
• Transparency within the organisation.

Disadvantages of Participant Library demographics:

• Staff may question why they aren’t able to select their own demographics.
• Data in the system you pulled it from may not have been updated