ABSTRACT
Researchers usually include demographic items on questionnaires. These request information on background characteristics such as age, race, ethnicity, religion, and so on. Sometimes this information is needed in order to fulfill a research objective. For instance, a researcher will need to ask respondents to indicate their age if an objective is to determine whether older people are more likely to vote in general elections than are younger people. In addition, demographic information is frequently collected so that researchers can get a mental picture of the respondents in order to convey this picture to their readers.
