Abstract: Considerations for Improving Data Integrity and Reducing the Risk of Harm to Communities When Conducting Online Research with Minoritized and Marginalized Populations (Society for Social Work and Research 28th Annual Conference - Recentering & Democratizing Knowledge: The Next 30 Years of Social Work Science)
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489P Considerations for Improving Data Integrity and Reducing the Risk of Harm to Communities When Conducting Online Research with Minoritized and Marginalized Populations

Schedule:
Saturday, January 13, 2024
Marquis BR Salon 6, ML 2 (Marriott Marquis Washington DC)
* noted as presenting author
Kate Golden Guzman, PhD, Independent Consultant & Researcher, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ
Roxanna Ast, MSW, MSc, PhD, Research and Evaluation NJ DCF, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ
Background and Purpose: For populations who may have less trust with social science researchers, online research methods may heighten a sense of safety. Despite the potential for improved engagement, online methods are prone to data quality and data integrity issues. Using the authors’ experiences with online data collection and recruitment of foster care (Case Study 1) and LGBTQ (Case Study 2) communities, we provide examples of strategies that may reduce research fraud attributable to bots, fake respondents, and multiple respondents.

Methods: Two descriptive case studies are used to illustrate the challenges of online research fraudulence encountered by the authors. Examples from two separate mixed methods studies involving disenfranchised populations outline: 1) how fraudulence presented when conducting online research (e.g., surveys and recruitment) and 2) practical solutions used to address this issue (e.g., using ReCAPTCHA technology, etc.).

Results: We articulate a rigorous, multi-step protocol inclusive of study design, recruitment, data cleaning and incentive provision for addressing data integrity issues before, during, and after data collection. Further, we describe strategies relevant for conducting research with disenfranchised, rather than generalist populations.

Conclusions and Implications: Researchers must practice targeted, multi-step procedures for safeguarding data collection efforts to reduce the risk of harm to disenfranchised communities. Inaccurate insights could be used to justify policies or programs that are ill-suited to community well-being. Further, efforts to mitigate risk may privilege researchers’ best interests, rather than those of the communities being served. Ethical and valid research must balance the use of robust methods and concern for participants’ rights to reduce the risk of perpetuating harm to community members.

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