Volume 42 - Article 5 | Pages 133–148  

Traditional versus Facebook-based surveys: Evaluation of biases in self-reported demographic and psychometric information

By Kyriaki Kalimeri, Mariano G. Beiró, Andrea Bonanomi, Alessandro Rosina, Ciro Cattuto

Abstract

Background: Social media in scientific research offers a unique digital observatory of human behaviours and hence great opportunities to conduct research at large scale, answering complex sociodemographic questions. We focus on the identification and assessment of biases in social-media-administered surveys.

Objective: This study aims to shed light on population, self-selection, and behavioural biases, empirically comparing the consistency between self-reported information collected traditionally versus social-media-administered questionnaires, including demographic and psychometric attributes.

Methods: We engaged a demographically representative cohort of young adults in Italy (approximately 4,000 participants) in taking a traditionally administered online survey and then, after one year, we invited them to use our ad hoc Facebook application (988 accepted) where they filled in part of the initial survey. We assess the statistically significant differences indicating population, self-selection, and behavioural biases due to the different context in which the questionnaire is administered.

Results: Our findings suggest that surveys administered on Facebook do not exhibit major biases with respect to traditionally administered surveys in terms of neither demographics nor personality traits. Loyalty, authority, and social binding values were higher in the Facebook platform, probably due to the platform’s intrinsic social character.

Conclusions: We conclude that Facebook apps are valid research tools for administering demographic and psychometric surveys, provided that the entailed biases are taken into consideration.

Contribution: We contribute to the characterisation of Facebook apps as a valid scientific tool to administer demographic and psychometric surveys, and to the assessment of population, self-selection, and behavioural biases in the collected data.

Author's Affiliation

Other articles by the same author/authors in Demographic Research

Leaving and returning to the parental home during COVID times in France, Italy, Germany, Spain, and the United Kingdom
Volume 50 - Article 3

The impact of COVID-19 on fertility plans in Italy, Germany, France, Spain, and the United Kingdom
Volume 43 - Article 47

The effect of the Great Recession on permanent childlessness in Italy
Volume 37 - Article 20

Lowest-Low Fertility: Signs of a recovery in Italy?
Volume 21 - Article 23

Intergenerational family ties and the diffusion of cohabitation in Italy
Volume 16 - Article 14

Interdependence between sexual debut and church attendance in Italy
Volume 14 - Article 19

Is marriage losing its centrality in Italy?
Volume 11 - Article 6

Most recent similar articles in Demographic Research

Introducing the Sudan Labor Market Panel Survey 2022
Volume 51 - Article 4    | Keywords: labor market, Sudan, survey

Open science practices in demographic research: An appraisal
Volume 50 - Article 43    | Keywords: demography, open access data, population studies, replicability, reproducibility

Which definition of migration better fits Facebook ‘expats’? A response using Mexican census data
Volume 50 - Article 39    | Keywords: census data, Facebook, international migration, Mexico, social media

Racial classification as a multistate process
Volume 50 - Article 17    | Keywords: Brazil, demography, increments to life, life expectancy, life table, mortality, multistate, race/ethnicity

Measuring short-term mobility patterns in North America using Facebook advertising data, with an application to adjusting COVID-19 mortality rates
Volume 50 - Article 10    | Keywords: COVID-19, data collection, Facebook, mortality, North America, short-term mobility