Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Why do you not allow multiple choice/“all of the above" options in your surveys?
A: From a statistically point of view, this unfairly skews the data. Also, in the case of my fandom surveys, when people see the “all of the above” option, they will choose that choice– even when they do have a specific opinion– because they want to come across as fair and well balanced. This allows for human nature to hide any truth behind the numbers. It also puts me in a predicament: do I count all of the “all of the above” options as their own thing, or do I add the value to each member? Both would drastically change how the statistics come out.
In addition to this, I have yet to find a way to effectively measure multiple choice answers. The work I've done current and previous surveys have me that I simply don't have access to a program yet that would allow me to do so. Also, the amount of work involved in it has already made it clear that I do not want to do this with more than one field at a time.
Q: Where Can I find your social media pages?
Here are links to the following pages that I have. While these are the pages that I primarily work with, I probably do have a page for other sites as well.
Q: I want to share your survey on a different platform, how should I do that?
A: If it's not a platform that I have not posted to yet, please contact me first (either directly through my website or or one of my social medial pages). If I already have an account on that social media site, I can make a post and provide you with a link to share. The only reason that this matters to me (the way I have things set up is that it would be pretty hard for people to steal my work, if they do manage to do it, I have a bigger problem on my hands) is that I am big on giving credit to those that share. If you post to a social media site that I do not have an active account with, I want to give credit to those who expand my data sample pool.
Q: What is the purpose of these surveys?
A: Truthfully, this started out as a bit of a joke. I had some friends on Tumblr arguing about who was most popular for older fans for VIXX. I had just finished a data analysis class and jokingly (kind of) mentioned that I could do an analysis. A few hours later I had a few anonymous asks and on some PMs asking if I could do it. VIXX was my first group and I was blown away with how successful it was and how many people were interested it.
After going back and forth with some people, they've expressed why they like these analyses so much. Many people just like to see what their fellow fans are like and seeing where they fit into their fandom. Content creators have also expressed an interest in my results because it helps them better tailor their content to their fans.
Q: Why do you ask for birthdate, isn't it easier just to have people type in their age?
A: I've learned through trial and error that that creates its own problems. The first being culture. Since I do run a primarily k-pop demographics blog, one of the populations I am interested in is in Korea. I know in Korea for sure, they don't count age the same way we do in the West. For example, when you're born, you're age 0 (zero) here in the U.S., but in Korea, you're considered 1 (one). And supposedly, depending on the region you're in, your age increases by another year when the New Year comes around, regardless of your date of birth. This and for some other errors that I've received, it's better for the data for me to figure out the person's age by hand (kinda) than to try to figure out if they input it correctly.
Please note, the moment I've converted the date into age, I destroy the data for D.O.B. for confidentiality reasons.
Q: I don't see my ethnicity on the ethnicity question, what do I do?
A: I wrote the ethnicity question as all encompassing as I could. There is a chance that I did miss an ethnicity, but I do ask that you read over the options one more time carefully. Nationality and Ethnicity are often confused. Nationality ais the country where you currently are a legal citizen of, while the Ethnicity question asks for your heritage. I do not write this this way to sound demeaning, I have just found that people often confused the two.
If you truly do not find your ethnicity on the survey, please use either the feedback section at the very end of the survey or contact me through my "CONTACT ME" page or via one of my social media pages and I will look in the issue and figure out a way of fixing it.
I am always trying to improve and therefore this question may change from survey to survey as I try to find the best balance for everything.
Q: Why do you have such extensive sexuality and gender questions?
Initially, I was not interested in finding out people's sexuality, at all. But I found that as I did more and more surveys, I'd have people contacting me directly, asking me to ask questions about sexuality. While I personally do not see the point in including it as it doesn't seem to show any correlation between certain data points, I do understand that for some that it is a big part of their identity and they want to see where they stand.
As for the gender question, I feel like no matter how I answer this, I will get some heat for it. I want to find a balance between accurate and kind. And unfortunately, I have not found a way that is ideal yet. I want as many communities to have a voice as possible. Each community is unique and their experiences with their own identity changes with each community. This best way I can explain this is with an example.
If I am working on a project where one of the people I'm asking about is transgendered and they're an inspiration for those with a similar life experience, I want to be able to accurately show that that person is an inspiration to that community. But if I just ask for identity, I would not be able to see this trend. So, I hope that is a good explanation.
If you have any suggestions on how to improve these questions and still maintain the integrity of why I want to differentiate between these different groups.
Q: What do you do surveys for?
A: Currently, I mostly focus on k-pop groups. Though I am currently in the process of developing a survey for a video game, but that may not be for a little while as I need to do some research before hand.
Q: Is it possible to request a specific type of survey?
A: Yes, please go to my "CONTACT ME" tab at the top of my website and send me a message. Or you can contact me via Tumblr or Twitter, which you can access in the footer of all the pages of my website. I also have a survey called, "Future Projects." In this survey you can help me develop new questions and put in requests.
Q: Do you ever re-do fandom surveys?
A: Yes. Fandoms are a dynamic thing and should be treated as such. I would say that I'll typically re-do a fandom survey when either a certain amount of time has elapsed or some sort of event has taken place. (Ex: I am doing a second VIXX survey because we have the two oldest members enlisted and and I want to see how the fandom, STARLIGHTS, react.)
Q: I'd like to buy the raw data off of you. How can I do that?
A: I, unfortunately, do NOT sell my raw data. I am only able to collect the data that I do because there is an established trust between myself and those who take my surveys. I am however am willing to either collaborate or be hired for a separate project. While I do not sell my raw data, I do however take ko-fi commission.s
Updated: February 29th, 2020