How to collect demographic data

About this resource

Discover why it’s important to collect demographic data and how and when to collect it. The resource also contains ideas about how you can support your staff and volunteers to collect demographic data and how you can use it.

It’s important that we understand how different groups of people experience health and social care services. To make this a reality we need to collect demographic from people as well as their experience. 

We know that some Healthwatch find it difficult to collect and use demographic data, so Healthwatch Waltham Forest has produced this guidance to help. 

It includes: 

• Why collecting demographic data matters
• GDPR and demographic data collection
• The Healthwatch England demographic taxonomy
• How to decide what to collect
• When to think about demographics in projects
• How to ask people for their demographic data
• Integrating demographic data into analysis and reporting
• Links to relevant e-learning

The guidance includes a note on sex, gender and gender identity demographic questions.