CHEATING ON POLITICAL KNOWLEDGE QUESTIONS IN ONLINE SURVEYS AN ASSESSMENT OF THE PROBLEM AND SOLUTIONS

Survey researchers worry about the quality of data produced by online surveys. One concern is that respondents might cheat on performance questions, such as political knowledge, invalidating their responses. Yet, existing evidence is unclear about the prevalence of cheating, and scholars lack a validated method for coping with the problem. In this paper, we demonstrate that such cheating behavior varies considerably by sample and provide some evidence that it is motivated by self-deceptive enhancement. We experimentally test a variety of methods for reducing cheating and find that common methods, such as timers, are not the most effective approach. By contrast, a commitment mechanism, in which respondents affirm their choice not to cheat, is more efficacious. Although cheating in online surveys can distort estimates of knowledge and decrease the validity of the measure, there are methods for coping with this problem.