No Easy Fix for Bogus Respondents in Online Opt-In Polls

A new study on online opt-in polling reveals that removing bogus respondents generally enhances data quality, yet no single method consistently solves the issue. Survey researchers remain concerned about inattentive participants. Unlike traditional probability-based surveys, where random selection from a population list prevents bad actors from self-selecting and keeps such respondents to a small fraction, online opt-in polls face greater challenges in identifying and eliminating these problematic participants to ensure reliable data results.