3.4 Limitations (a) Representativeness of the principal sample The Commission understands that people who had an FEPOA that is active because they no longer have decision-making capacity, would have been less likely to complete this survey. As such, within the principal cohort, numbers are likely skewed towards those who are not yet cognitively impaired. (b) Online surveys Certain cohorts, including people with poor digital literacy, those who do not speak English or who live with various disabilities are inevitably underrepresented in online surveys. The Commission recognises that this has implications on how the results of this survey can be read and generalised. For example, while the sample includes people who speak a language other than English, it is likely that they will be skewed towards those that have higher English language competency and digital literacy. The Commission notes that further research is required to adequately understand the knowledge and experiences of these audiences. As people who speak a language other than English at home were a particular sub-group of interest, a breakdown of their demographics is provided in the Appendices. (c) Demographics The control group were only asked a limited number of demographic questions, including about their age, gender and postcode. Postcode was then used to create three additional variables – state/territory of residence, residing in metro or regional areas, and the Index of Relative Socio-economic Advantage and Disadvantage (the Index).7 The Index created by the Australian Bureau of Statistics provides a measure of relative socio-economic advantages and disadvantages for all postcodes across Australia. It considers several measures of economic and social conditions of people and households in each area. A lower index score (1 or 2) indicates that the respondent lived in an area with relatively greater disadvantage. These respondents are referred to in this report as those living in areas with lower socio-economic status. Additional demographic questions regarding education, income, language spoken at home, disability status, living situations and more, were only asked of principals and appointed decision-makers. Where there is some commentary on these variables, this is limited to the results pertaining to principals and appointed decision-makers. (d) Confidence bias and social acceptability Confidence bias and social acceptability bias may lead people to over-estimate their knowledge or to provide answers they believe are socially acceptable or desirable, rather than reporting their true knowledge or beliefs.8 To overcome this: l l l A quiz style approach was used to test knowledge via a series of true / false style quiz questions. This approach focused on important FEPOA dimensions. The purpose of the research was explained upfront and ‘don’t know’ answers were encouraged. Both were reinforced throughout the survey with reminders. Assurances and reminders of anonymity and confidentiality were reinforced throughout the survey. Chapter : 3 Introduction 15