Demographic analysis
Demographic analysis works on the principle that the population can be grouped, and that each group shows a tendency to think or behave in broadly similar ways. Demographic characteristics include the following:
- Gender
- Occupation
- Social class (i.e. income level)
- Age
- Location/nationality (i.e. international or local audience)
From a person’s demographic profile, certain inferences can be made about their degree of knowledge, expectations and aspirations, though they are not always foolproof For example, in most Western societies a middle-class white woman is probably educated to upper secondary school or tertiary level- but not necessarily. Also, teenagers are not likely to be classical music fans, but, again, this may not always be so. Demographic research is based on the lowest common denominator of prevailing social trends and, there- fore, operates mostly on stereotype.