On the efficacy of online drug surveys during the time of COVID-19

Abstract

Most human subjects research involving contact with participants has been halted in the US due to the COVID-19 crisis. We have been testing an online method to recruit and survey participants as a temporary replacement for our street-intercept survey method. Online surveys already generate less generalizable findings than other surveys, but offering compensation for online survey completion further reduces generalizability because this increases mischievous submissions. In this letter we discuss methods to help detect invalid responses, such as utilizing a screener to test for eligibility and using flags to detect mischievous responses and repeat submissions. We recommend that researchers approach online recruitment and surveying with caution.

Keywords:

• Survey reliability
• online surveys
• COVID-19

Disclosure statement

The authors do not have any declarations of interest to declare.

Additional information

Funding

This project was funded by the National Institutes of Health [R01 DA044207, PI: Palamar]. The funding organization had no role in the design and conduct of the study; collection, management, analysis, and interpretation of the data; preparation, review, or approval of the manuscript; and decision to submit the manuscript for publication.