Researchers Pitch Strategies to Identify Potential Fraudulent Participants in Online Qualitative Research
Recruiting participants for injury and violence-related studies can be challenging. Online qualitative data collection can increase accessibility for some participants, expand a study’s reach to potential participants, offer convenience and extend a sense of safety.
But the data can be marred by fraudulent responses.
As online data collection has increased since the COVID-19 pandemic, widely available online platforms and sophisticated bots can potentially expose studies to would-be fraudulent participants, that can jeopardize the research. Fraudulent participants are artificial bots or human participants who don’t meet study criteria and who attempt to, or do, participate in data collection.
A Rutgers Health–led study, published in BMJ Open Quality, examines potential challenges associated with online qualitative data collection and how to prevent possible fraudulent respondents.
"The presence of bots or humans attempting to engage in fraudulent research participation is a potential reality that researchers should be aware of, work to prevent where possible, and mitigate when detected to preserve research integrity and data quality."
Devon Ziminski, Postdoctoral Fellow, New Jersey Gun Violence Research Center