In 2015, researchers Kuriakose and Robbins conducted an interesting yet controversial study named "Don't get duped: Fraud through duplication in public opinion surveys." Among 1008 surveys, the study concluded that an average of 17% responses likely contained fabricated data. The results dropped to 5% in developed countries and shot up to 26% in developing nations.

An average of 17% false data can severely affect the results of your research. To protect your valuable research from contamination, you need to detect, extract, and prevent future false entries. We have a few tips on how to protect your online survey from fraud and extract false information. Detect fraud by checking for:

Inconsistent responses

You can easily detect if responses are fake or legit by checking your survey for inconsistent answers. Somebody who is taking up a survey on a false pretext wouldn't take the time to answer your questions properly. You can also check for symbols (such as these: &, %, #) in between words to identify if an automated software has hacked your survey.

Personal information

If your survey answers contain personally identifying information, you can check for details such as name, user ID, phone number, or a fake email address. If you see similarities or patterns in any of these identifiers between 'different' respondents, there are chances that the information provided is false.

Computer information

You can also check for authenticity through the IP address of a computer. If an IP address is the same as another respondent's, then you probably have multiple responses from the same individual. You can also enable cookies to prevent multiple attempts to access your survey.