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How to Deal with Cheating in Online Surveys

Graham, Matthew H.
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Report
Date
2025-01-16
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Department
Political Science
Subject
Surveys
 Internet surveys
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https://scholarshare.temple.edu/handle/20.500.12613/11004
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Public Policy Lab
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Graham-Report-2025-01.pdf
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DOI
https://doi.org/10.34944/bz5c-ag28
Abstract
A great deal of survey research has moved to unsupervised online formats, including major surveys like the American National Election Survey (ANES), General Social Survey (GSS), Health Information National Trends Survey (HINTS), and the Survey of Consumers. Relative to other methods, self-administered online surveys have a number of benefits from a cost and measurement error standpoint. However, online surveys also make it easier for respondents to look up the correct answers to questions that are designed to measure factual knowledge. For example, the ANES measures political awareness using factual questions about political officeholders and institutions, the GSS measures general science knowledge with a series of quiz questions, HINTS includes questions about the health effects of alcohol and tobacco, and economic surveys measure perceptions of quantitative indicators like inflation and unemployment. As these and many other surveys move online, having an explicit strategy for dealing with respondents who look up the answer will become an increasingly important part of survey design. In most settings researchers consider looking up answers to be a form of cheating. However, it is not always clear what to do about it. This brief offers a practical guide to navigating the issue. In short, researchers who are concerned about the possibility that respondents are looking up the answers to online survey questions should follow two basic steps: conduct a threat assessment, then choose solutions that match the nature of the threat. As shorthand the act of looking up the answers is referred to as “cheating” throughout the brief.
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PPL Policy Briefs provide concise summaries of policy-relevant academic research for policy makers and the public.
Citation
Graham, M.H. (2025). How to Deal with Cheating in Online Surveys. Public Policy Lab.
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Available at: https://liberalarts.temple.edu/research/labs-centers-and-institutes/public-policy-lab/publications
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