Sep 20, 2015

Who are Trekonomics readers? -- a brief statistical portrait

I wanted to know all of you better. Since it is highly impractical to ask everyone one by one, I put out a quick survey. A big thank you! to all those who answered. In aggregate, you add up to a statistically significant sample. I sent an email on Friday to all 802 people in my followers’ list (and nagged people on Twitter). I received 229 responses. This yields a margin of error of 5.48%, with a confidence level of 95%.  

So without further ado, here is your statistical portrait.

This may seem a bit of a lopsided distribution at first glance, but to be honest, I did not expect that many more pre-orders beyond those of my wife and my mother-in-law. So all the power to you, and it is refreshing to see that this is not completely an all-boys' club.

The vast majority of Trekonomics’ readers are no longer green but not quite yet in their prime earning years. I guess that makes many of you Millenials, in the parlance of our time.

Trekonomics’ readers are not only smart, but also they are straight-up achievers when it comes to formal academic education. 

I was a bit mischievous in my survey of professional occupation, if only because it’s more fun that way. So congratulations to those who selected ‘Android’ - that is probably the closest to what the author wished to be. Aside from that, I am stunned by the proportion of Vulcans, that is, those of you who self-report as scientists, researchers and educators.

Most of you have a special relationship with Star Trek. Granted the people who buy a book on the economics of Star Trek must have more than a passing interest in the show. Yet, a few of you, 2.6% to be precise, could not care less about Trek. So kudos to you, welcome to Star Trek and live long and prosper.

Personally, I find that data point fascinating. Jean-Luc Picard comes in first. I believe this must be an effect of the over-representation of millenials among you. You probably came of age watching The Next Generation.

In my next installment, I will dissect the qualitative part of the survey. There are a few great nuggets in there. So thank you again for your time and dedication. We are working very hard to deliver your book earlier than advertise. But as they say, under-promise... etc.

As usual,

Live Long and Prosper

Manu