There are two key things to note about the sample structure of our core study:
We represent online populations
We only interview people who use the internet. It's important to keep this in mind when using our data as the percentage of people with internet access varies globally, from highs of 90%+ in parts of Europe and North America to lows of around 40% in parts of Africa and Asia. This means the demographic composition of the online population can be very different from one market to the next.
Where a market has a high internet penetration rate, its online population will be relatively similar to its total population. Where a market has a medium to low internet penetration, its online population will be noticeably different to its total population. Generally, the lower the country’s internet penetration rate, the more affluent, educated, urban and young its internet users will be compared to the rest of the population.
We represent 16-64 year olds
We don’t interview people aged 15 or under as parental consent would be needed. Children also approach surveys differently to adults and wouldn’t be able to answer questions on many of the topics covered. That's why we run a separate study, GWI Kids, which looks specifically at internet users aged 8-15.
We don’t interview anyone aged 65+ because low internet penetration rates among this age group across a number of emerging markets mean it's challenging to find enough respondents. As GWI Core is designed to be harmonized across all markets, we decided to set an upper age limit.