Data Collection for Research on Role of Social Media in Spreading Fake News
An overview:
Swaraj Dey, research scholar at the Indian Institute of Management, Kozhikode (IIM-Kozhikode), led the academic research on the Role of social media in spreading fake news. The researcher’s academic focus lies in the intersection of digital marketing, media psychology, and consumer behavior. Through the image-based questionnaire method, he wanted to understand if participants can recall the incidents shown, identify them as fake or real, and whether they will spread it further on social media channels or not.
The Context: Why Studying the Effects of Spreading Fake News Matters
A piece of news without factual backing or support is considered Fake News. It can be political news, social news, news about a neighbor, news about a friend or a colleague at workplace, or even about yourself. India, home to the world’s largest population of social media users, is also facing a crisis of misinformation — from fake health advice during pandemics to manipulated political narratives.
In the current digital age when everybody is active on social media, fake news is spreading faster and often proves to be dangerous. Giving rise to social media researches aimed at exploring how individuals engage with and unknowingly spread fake news on social media, in the political context. While much research on this topic exists globally, India lacks region-specific behavioral data from real, everyday users.
The goal of this research was to fill that gap — by capturing insights directly from Indian social media users across age, gender, geography, and digital habits.
The researcher wanted to understand:
Will participants be able to recognise & recall a news/information by showing the images?
What kind of content users perceive as credible?
How emotions influence sharing fake news behavior?
Whether demographics or digital literacy levels affect susceptibility to misinformation?
Challenges in Data Collection for Surveys on Spreading Fake News
The researcher faced a common roadblock while conducting this social media research: How do you reach hundreds of real Indian social media users across diverse backgrounds – and collect reliable, fast, and clean survey data?
During our initial conversations, the researcher mentioned some of the challenges faced by scholars working in the same field:
- Limited reach
- Homogenous responses
- Low completion rates
- Concerns over data integrity
Traditional panels were either too expensive, lacked the granular Indian targeting needed, or involved complex onboarding processes.
That’s when the researcher discovered ThinkSurvey.
Why the Researcher Chose ThinkSurvey for Data Collection
ThinkSurvey stood out for three reasons:
- India-specific participant pool – Spread across tier1, tier2 & tier 3 cities
- Rapid turnaround – High-quality responses delivered in under 20 days
- Academic research alignment – Used by multiple research scholars and faculties
Unlike generic survey platforms, ThinkSurvey enabled IIM Kozhikode researchers enhance their data collection process as it is built for Indian academic researchers. The researcher appreciated the supportive onboarding, flexible targeting, and transparency in response quality.
“I am very happy with the responses that I have got. They are highly relevant for my hypothesis. I have enjoyed working with your team. Looking forward to working with you again soon.” – Swaraj Dey
Research Design & Methodology
To commence the data collection for survey on fake news, the participants were exposed to a set of images. They were related to – political news, India home affairs, border army clashes, world tech news, health related news, international affairs, corporate news, and others. The participants were asked if they recall that news, and whether they consider that piece of news authentic or not.
The survey focused on several key variables – frequency of social media use, trust in news sources, emotional responses to posts, likelihood of sharing unverified content, awareness of fact-checking tools.
The respondent profile required:
- Active social media users
- Balanced representation of genders, age groups (18–55+), and cities
- Mix of education levels to assess digital literacy impact
ThinkSurvey collaborated to ensure precise participant screening and incentivized completion without biasing results.
The Final Outcome
ThinkSurvey successfully delivered responses from 500 participants across 29 states & Union Territories of India. The researcher was happy seeing the relevancy of the data as their audit team took 50% less time in approving the responses as the Response Rejection rate was 0%.
The final study delved into the phenomenon of believing “fake news” and examines whether our cognitive abilities aid in distinguishing truth from falsehood. The findings revealed that Cognitive Reflection Test (CRT) performance correlates with the ability to differentiate between fake and real news.
Link to the paper: Identity Groups, Susceptibility to Political Fake News and Social Media Choice
