Personal Information on Surveys: When (not) to Ask and Why

Have you ever skipped a personal question on a survey? If so, you’re not alone! Questions about income, race/ethnicity, or medical history can make people uncomfortable. However, there are instances where gathering this information is crucial for achieving your project goals like identifying disparities or inequities between subgroups of respondents. So, what’s a survey developer to do?

At Sharp Insight, we recognize the value of collecting some personal information on surveys but would always encourage you to think about why you’re asking these questions.

To support this intentional thinking, we’ve put together this resource that uses a series of questions to guide you when creating your next survey. It includes sample language for informing survey-takers about why personal information is being collected, has you question what you need (vs. want), and connects the type of data gathered to the types of analyses that can be conducted. This process can help you focus on the essential data points for your analyses. As an added bonus, it keeps your surveys short and sweet!

Looking for some support applying this resource to your own work? Just reach out -- we’d love to connect!