Identificación y gestión de participantes fraudulentos en la investigación cualitativa en línea

As online data collection proliferates, healthcare researchers face challenges with fraudulent research participants. While substantial literature on preventing and detecting fraudulent responses in surveys is available, a dearth of nursing literature focuses on identifying and addressing fraudulent participation in online qualitative studies.

The aims of this article are to highlight the researchers' experience with fraudulent research participants in an online qualitative study, enhance awareness of imposter participants, and propose strategies for identification of imposters' participation that threaten research validity.

A qualitative, descriptive study was designed to explore nursing professional development (NPD) specialists' use of NPD practice judgment. Participants were recruited for online focus groups via email using a national association's email list. A $25 gift card was offered to participants. Suspected fraudulent participants led to the cancellation of focus groups and prompted a review of initial recruitment email responses. A framework for detecting fraudulent responses was developed based on this review.

Out of 2,368 volunteers, 28 were invited to participate in 4 focus groups. During the initial focus group, participants did not use their cameras despite the facilitator's request, and they failed to provide meaningful responses. These suspicious actions prompted the facilitator to end the focus group. Subsequently the researchers investigated the phenomenon of imposter participants in qualitative research and analyzed their respondent's applications for signs of fraud. Indications of fraudulent responses to the call for volunteers included an unexpectedly large number of applications received in rapid succession, Gmail addresses with similar naming conventions, and common IP addresses originating outside the United States.

Examination of recruitment survey responses, including volume, timing, and email structure, suggest potential "bot" use for volunteer survey completion. Qualitative researchers must implement measures to prevent fraudulent participants, enhance data scanning protocols to detect suspicious responses, and exclude fraudulent data to maintain research integrity.