Detecting falsification in a television audience measurement panel survey

Sharan Sharma and Michael R Elliott

Case studies reporting real-world experiences with survey falsification are uncommon. In this article, we document the experience of a panel survey in India that produced TV viewing estimates ("TV ratings") where external parties were illegitimately trying to influence respondents' behavior.

Corresponding author:

Sharan Sharma, Department of Sociology and the Joint Program in Survey Methodology, University of Maryland, Room 3133 2112 Parren Mitchell Art-Sociology Building (Bldg 146), 3834 Campus Drive, College Park, MD 20742, USA. Email: snsharma@umd.edu

Introduction

It is generally acknowledged that there is little literature on survey falsification (Bredl, Winker, & Kotschau, 2012; Koczela, Furlong, McCarthy, & Mushtaq, 2015) despite its far-reaching consequences (Office of Research Integrity, 2002). However, the last few years have seen a renewed interest in this area as witnessed by recent publications (e.g., Koczela & Scheuren, 2016; Winker, Kruse, Menold, & Landrock, 2015), conferences...

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