Back checking data

Back checking data is a method employed by researchers to aid in the quality control procedure of the data and of the responses gathered during market research projects. After the data is gathered by conventional methods such as online surveys or telephone interviews, the participant is contacted by the researcher. The researcher proceeds to question the participant about the interview or survey which they had already taken part in, and checks to see whether their new answers correlate with those in the previously gathered data.

By carrying out this process of back checking data, researchers can authenticate their data, as they can be certain that the responses provided during the online survey or telephone interview were indeed provided by the participant.

Back checking data is carried out during every market research project within DJS Research, as it can be a very important tool for ensuring the quality of data and responses. This can be a particular issue during recruitment for online research, as it is very difficult to initially verify that the participant is who they say they are. Back checking data can therefore help ensure that the sample of participants is representative of the target population.

It is crucial to the research output that the participants’ information is accurate. If data is believed to have been collected from a particular profile of participant, but it has actually been collected from someone of a very different profile (or not within the target audience), this could potentially alter the conclusions drawn from the data by the research team. Circumstances in which this could happen for example, is if a different person from within the intended participant’s household answers a telephone survey in their stead, without the knowledge or authorisation of the researchers, or by answering an online survey that was sent to someone else. Without back checking data, such a mistake could go unnoticed and therefore lead to inaccurate research.

On a survey, one of the final questions is often asking the participant whether they would be willing to be re-contacted by the researcher at a later date. This can be used for the purposes of back checking data.