Participant Misrepresentation in Online Focus Groups: Red Flags and Proactive Measures

Abstract

ABSTRACTCovid‐19 public health measures prompted a significant increase in online research. This approach has several benefits over face‐to‐face data‐collection methods, including lower cost and wider geographical reach of participants. Yet when the online data‐collection instrument is a survey, there are also well‐documented drawbacks of participant misrepresentation and related data‐authenticity issues. However, the scholarly literature has not looked at participant misrepresentation in online focus‐group empirical research. This case study communicates a concerning situation that arose during our research project: dishonest participant behavior threatened the integrity and validity of our data collected through online focus‐group sessions as well as e‐surveys. We describe the study context, initial red flags alerting us to the issue, subsequent investigations, and implications for research ethics, funding, and data quality. We conclude with a discussion of potential steps to safeguard future online focus‐group research against similar issues.