Are your participants who they say they are? Dealing with scammers in qualitative research.
Document Type
Presentation
Date of Original Version
3-27-2026
Abstract
Fraudulent participants, deceptive participants, or scammers are participants who are ineligible for studies but misrepresent themselves to gain access. The purpose of this presentation is to describe how fraudulent participants were identified and excluded in a qualitative study on travel nurses’ motivations to choose travel nursing during the pandemic. Participants were recruited through social media and referrals through the researcher’s professional network. After an interview with an individual who the researcher determined to be a fraudulent participant (provided brief and superficial responses, no specific examples, and contradicted himself), subsequent screening forms were reviewed more carefully. There were 395 screening forms submitted, but most potential participants were not contacted. Although some of these screening forms met inclusion criteria, they were flagged for issues grouped into six categories: 1) Information was not plausible; 2) Lack of appropriate language or jargon; 3) Incongruous information; 4) Did not provide requested information; 5) Extra information or wordy responses; and 6) Issues from emails. Although there is no way to prove that these individuals were not being truthful about meeting inclusion criteria, these screening forms were excluded. Wrongly including or excluding potential participants creates problems as including them diminishes the voice of participants meeting criteria, but wrongly excluding participants silences them. Researchers must be prepared to deal with fraudulent participants. Strategies useful in survey research may be used to create screening forms less vulnerable to bots. Recruitment plans should also include strategies specific to qualitative research to confirm that participants truly meet inclusion criteria. Inclusion of fraudulent participants in research may influence implications of the research so the responsibility to keep them out of research should not lie solely with the researchers. Journal reviewers, clinicians/consumers of research, and institutional review boards must also be aware of the problem of fraudulent participants and committed to keeping them out of research.
Recommended Citation
Haynes, Emily, "Are your participants who they say they are? Dealing with scammers in qualitative research." (2026). Oral Presentations. Paper 5.
https://digitalcommons.uri.edu/gradcon2026-presentations/5