Moving Beyond Red Flags for Imposter Participants: A Novel Screening Strategy to Enhance Data Integrity.

Area of Science:

• Health Services Research
• Qualitative Research Methodology
• Data Integrity

Background:

• Health research data integrity is crucial for informing practice and policy.
• Respondent incentives can attract imposter participants, compromising qualitative data trustworthiness and transferability.
• Existing methods for identifying imposters lack systematic guidance on data exclusion/retention.

Purpose of the Study:

• To propose a structured data verification strategy to address imposter participants in health research.
• To enhance the trustworthiness and transferability of qualitative data.
• To provide guidance on managing suspected imposter-provided data.

Main Methods:

• Developed a structured data verification strategy based on a study with suspected early-stage imposters.
• Proposed retrospective participant contact to confirm authenticity without re-soliciting private health information.
• Suggested proactive application of this method as an enhanced pre-interview screening process.

Main Results:

• The proposed strategy offers a systematic approach to data verification when imposters are suspected.
• Retrospective and proactive contact methods can enhance data integrity.
• This approach aims to safeguard the quality of qualitative data despite challenges.

Conclusions:

• A structured data verification strategy, including participant re-contact, is essential for maintaining health research integrity.
• This method helps mitigate threats posed by imposter participants to qualitative data.
• Implementing such verification processes, both retrospectively and proactively, strengthens the overall reliability of research findings.