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A videoconferencing verification method for enrollment of breastfeeding dyads to an online prospective mixed methods
Natsuko K Wood1, Ross J Bindler1
1Washington State University College of Nursing, Spokane, Washington, USA.
Aims:
To apply videoconferencing as a new verification method prior to enrollment for an online survey-based study.
Design:
A prospective-observational, mixed methods, three group, repeated measures study involved recruiting a population-based sample of breastfeeding mothers and infants (N = 81). Twenty-seven mothers were recruited for each group: mothers returning to work outside of the home, mothers returning to work from home and mothers staying home with their infants full-time.
Methods:
Data were collected at four time points, infant age 4, 12, 20 and 24 weeks, via online survey. Participating mothers received a $10 gift card for completing each survey. Social media, word of mouth and brochures promoted United States-based recruitment nationwide. A publicly available direct link to the survey was initially provided to interested mothers. After the suspicion of online fraud, videoconferencing was instituted for self-referrals and phone calls for professional referrals.
Results:
The survey was invaded by response fraud 3 weeks after the initial survey deployment. Out of 109 respondents who visited the survey site during that timeframe, only eight mothers (10%) were eligible (22 June 2022 to 14 July 2022). After recruitment modification, 313 individuals emailed the study team with 65 self-referred mothers (80%) enrolled in the study via videoconferencing while eight mothers (10%) had a professional referral and enrolled via phone call (23 August 2022 to 30 March 2023).
Conclusion:
Providing a direct survey link, even with CAPTCHA-protection, evoked fraudulent responses. Videoconferencing is an emerging verification method that can be readily applied to the enrollment of breastfeeding dyads for an online study.
Impact:
The emergence of fraudulent respondents and internet bots threatens data quality. This study addressed the strategy of videoconferencing as a new verification method for recruitment and enrollment of breastfeeding dyads. This knowledge can be applied by researchers to secure sample validity and data integrity.
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