Sociologists explained to journalists how to detect fake social poll
In order to distinguish a real sociological poll from fake one, journalists should pay attention to the activity term of the research centers, its registration in national and international associations, as well as information on the sample of respondents and margin of error.
The deputy Director of the Institute of Sociology of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine Yevhen Golovakha said it at the press conference on October 15, with participation of prominent Ukraine sociologists and compilers of the "Database of Pseudo Sociologists" from Texty.org.ua, as Ukrinform reported.
“The journalist has to verify several points. Important is the term during which the sociological group has been on the market. Then, its registration with international or national associations, marketing and sociological, and this is an indicator of its real professional status, "-Yevhen Golovakha said.
Also, according to him, one of the important criteria is mention about sample and the margin error in the survey description, because if this is not mentioned, then "we can immediately say that this is a fake study."
And when they write about a margin mistake (error. - Ed. ), I immediately see whether, this is a professional person or not. You can write about this error in different ways. For example, "error 3%" - and that’s all, I immediately realize that this is not serious organization, because there is no such thing as error of 3%, "- the expert said.
At the same time, he advised to seek help in clarifying these details to professional institutions such as the Sociological Association of Ukraine, to the commission on professional ethics or to leading experts in the matter.
"We do not spare our time to explain who can be trusted and who cannot. But this is necessary because these are the journalists who are responsible for spreading fake information. No sociological centers will be able to do anything if they are not helped by different journalistic communities, ”as he stressed.
As IMI reported, in January 2019, the Sociological Association of Ukraine appealed to the media to strictly comply with the requirements for the publication of sociological research data and to check the competence of the source of information.
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