METHODOLOGY
Central Oak Research & Insights is an ongoing effort to document how people in St. Petersburg choose, schedule, and experience barbering services.
Our reports combine voluntary survey responses, anonymous aggregated business information, and first-hand professional observations. Our goal is to produce useful local information while being transparent about what the available data can and cannot tell us.
Each report clearly identifies which data sources were used. These may include voluntary public surveys, Central Oak client surveys, anonymous booking information, first-hand professional observations, and publicly available supporting sources. When a report relies on a single source, that limitation is stated explicitly.
Respondents are invited through Central Oak channels, including in-shop signage, the website, and social media. Participation is open to both Central Oak clients and non-clients. Respondents are screened geographically to confirm a connection to St. Petersburg or the surrounding Tampa Bay area.
Participation is not incentivized. Responses may be removed if they are incomplete, duplicated, or appear to be invalid. Central Oak client responses and non-client responses are reported separately when the sample size allows.
We publish only aggregated findings. Names, contact information, private client notes, payment information, and individual appointment histories are not included in public reports.
Booking data used for aggregated analysis is stripped of all personally identifiable information before analysis. Only the fields required for the study are retained.
Before analysis, responses are reviewed for duplicates, incomplete entries, and invalid values. Duplicate responses from the same source are removed. Open-ended responses are reviewed and grouped into categories for aggregated reporting.
Service categories and time periods may be grouped to ensure meaningful comparison. Minimum group sizes are enforced before any segmented statistic is published.
Central Oak does not publish segmented statistics for groups containing fewer than 10 valid responses or appointments. Smaller categories may be combined or marked as having insufficient data.
Every report discloses its sample size, collection dates, and geographic reach. Reports acknowledge whether respondents were self-selected, whether Central Oak clients were overrepresented, and whether findings came from a single business.
Any missing or unavailable information is noted. Findings should not be treated as a scientific census of all St. Petersburg residents. They represent observations from the available sample.
We welcome corrections concerning calculation errors, unclear methodology, or inaccurate descriptions of our data. Verified corrections will be noted on the relevant study page with the date of the update.
To report a correction, use the contact form linked below.
Each study maintains a simple version log recording the original publication date, data period, revision date, and a description of the update. This log is displayed on the study page when data is available.