Cross-Tabulation
Breaking survey results down by demographic or behavioural subgroups.
Short answer
What is Cross-Tabulation?
Cross-tabulation presents survey responses broken down by subgroup — age, gender, community, occupation, location — revealing variation that a topline number conceals.
Definition
Cross-tabulation presents survey responses broken down by subgroup — age, gender, community, occupation, location — revealing variation that a topline number conceals.
Why It Matters
The topline is almost never the useful finding. A 50% approval rating that is 70% among one segment and 30% among another calls for a completely different strategy from one that is 50% everywhere.
Example in Indian Elections
Cross-tabs frequently reveal that a candidate’s weakness is concentrated in a single segment, which converts a vague problem into an addressable one.
Related Terms
- Vote ShareThe percentage of total valid votes polled that a candidate or party receives.
- SwingThe change in vote share between two elections, measuring movement of support.
- Stratified SamplingDividing a population into groups and sampling proportionately from each.
- Turnout PropensityThe modelled likelihood that a given voter will actually vote.
- Sampling Error / Margin of ErrorThe uncertainty inherent in estimating a population from a sample.
- Back-CheckRe-contacting a share of survey respondents to verify enumerator honesty.