State of Disc Golf 2015: Introduction

Overview

Between December 5th and December 15th, 2014, exactly 5,038 participants completed “The State of Disc Golf: 2015 Survey.” The survey can be summarized as an accurate representation of self-selecting disc golfers.

Accuracy

It is impossible to know how many disc golfers there are in the world right now. A larger survey of random Americans would be necessary to determine the approximate number.

If we assume that there are 1,000,000 disc golfers, this survey has, with 99% confidence, a margin of error of +/- 1.81%. We can also say with 95% confidence, that there is a margin of error of +/- 1.38%. These numbers were found using a simple calculator here.

Methodology

This survey was first published and announced on December 5th by Infinite Discs. It was then posted on Facebook and Twitter by Infinite Discs. After the initial announcement, it was picked up by others and posted and shared in many social outlets, such as Reddit. This survey was also published on the PDGA Facebook page and was e-mailed by the PDGA to those who are included in the PDGA mailing list.

This survey is not truly scientific, as participants were self-selecting. It was published that the survey was just over 10 minutes in length, and $1,305 in prize merchandise would be awarded to random participants.

One may argue that casual disc golfers are not enticed by the prizes, and would therefore not elect to participate in the survey. Therefore, those who participated in the survey may generally be more passionate about the sport. This survey is not a sample of the average American. It is instead a sample of the disc golfer who is involved in the sport to a degree that they would have heard about the survey through any of the means mentioned above.

Sponsors

These sponsors donated prior to the survey closing, but were not announced until after.

• MVP – $180 in discs
• Dynamic Discs – $355 in merchandise
• Prodigy – $220 in discs
• Aerobie – $150 in discs
• Vibram – $100 in discs
• Infinite Discs – $50 in gift cards
• PDGA – $160 in memberships
• Innova – $90 in discs

Avoiding Bias

We felt very strongly about avoiding bias in this survey. Through e-mail we discouraged all parties who may be interested in obtaining favorable results from advertising or promoting this survey. We informed manufacturers that if they did promote the survey, they may be accused of obtaining bias results. As far as we are aware, no manufacturer promoted this survey.

We also encouraged manufacturers to donate to this survey, to entice respondents to complete the survey. Manufacturers who donated are listed above. Each of these manufacturers and donors understood that they would be listed as a survey sponsor after the survey had closed.

Fans of certain brands, who are bias, shared this survey. Therefore, this survey includes results from bias individuals and groups. This is fine, as the State of Disc Golf finds the bias of fans equally important; we simply did not want fan bias to be unfairly and heavily weighted from promotion of the manufacturer which they admire.

Publication Schedule

We anticipate to have our series of articles published before the end of March, 2015.

Thank You!

The results of this survey are immensely beneficial to disc golf. A survey of this scale allows us, and you, to do more for disc golf. We encourage you to use the data you find in this survey to promote disc golf courses, and to persuade city officials how beneficial this sport can be in your area. We would love to hear about how you use the data.

Welcome Feedback

If you have any questions regarding the survey, please comment below. You may also e-mail support@infinitediscs.com with any feedback.