Recent methodological advances have enabled researchers to identify likely data falsification and fabrication in survey datasets (e.g., Kuriakose and Robbins 2016). However, survey researchers have historically been unable to identify and stop data fabrication from occurring in real-time, or to provide additional support and training to interviewers who need it while fieldwork is in progress. LAPOP’s quality control system, particularly the implementation of near real-time auditing, represents a substantial advance toward this goal. This Methodological Note describes LAPOP’s human auditing practices to ensure data quality (a protocol that relies heavily on the quality control module—the “QuAC”—we have programmed into our data collection software), and describes the errors we documented and addressed during fieldwork in ten countries included in the 2016/17 AmericasBarometer study. CONT. – pdf.
Mollie J. Cohen & Sebastian Larrea, LAPOP, Vanderbilt U.