Our Approach
Approach to Data Weighting
Responses are weighted according to how the respondent fits into each of three demographic categorizations: age group, gender, and place of residence. Weighting aligns the demographic distribution of respondents with the actual demographic distribution of Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Members. This process is carried out to ensure that the data on this website accurately reflect the views of all Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Members. Therefore, the percentages presented here represent statistically optimal estimates of how many Members would likely respond to each question, rather than exact counts of responses.
The data is weighted using basic demographic variables because independent comprehensive data exists on the distribution of Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Members across age, gender, and place of residence. Using socio-economic variables, such as income or housing tenure, would further improve the quality of the data, but there are no independent data available on the distribution of Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Members across such variables. This may mean higher socio-economic status respondents are slightly overrepresented in these estimates.
Approach to Gender Demographic
The data are broken down by gender across three demographic groups: Male; Female; and Two-Spirit, Non-binary, & Multi-Gender. The Eslhílhkw’iws Chet survey asks about Members’ gender identity using a multi-select question with six selections:
- Female,
- Male,
- Non-binary,
- Two-Spirit,
- Other, and
- Prefer not to say.
There were no Members who selected “Prefer not to say.” The Female group is composed of Members who identify only as Female. The same is respectively true for Male. The Two-Spirit, Non-binary, & Multi-Gender group is composed of Members who either (1) identify as just Non-binary, Two-Spirit, or Other or (2) have a multifaceted gender identity (e.g. Female and Non-binary). In particular, the Two-Spirit, Non-binary, & Multi-Gender group is composed of Members with the following gender identities:
- Two-Spirit,
- Non-binary,
- Female and Two-Spirit,
- Female and Male,
- Male and Two-Spirit,
- Female and Non-binary,
- Non-binary and Two-Spirit,
- Other,
- Female and Other.
Approach to Age Demographic
The data are broken down by age across five groups:
- 0-18 (Youth)
- 19-30 (Young adults)
- 31-54 (Older adults)
- 55-64 (Pre-elders)
- 65+ (Elders)
These groupings were selected to conform to Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Úxwumixw’s definitions for youth/young adults (30 & below), pre-elders (55-64), and elders (65+).
In the site, there are many cases where the data for the 0-18 age group are not included due to privacy concerns. The Eslhílhkw’iws Chet survey required respondents to be aged 18 or older, so many questions have too low response counts to be displayed on the website. The youth age group is nonetheless included because Members were able to answer certain questions on behalf of all Members in their household, thereby providing sufficient data on Members in the 0 to 18 age group to warrant inclusion without any privacy issues.