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Is Facebook's advertising data accurate enough for use in social science research? Insights from a cross‐national online survey

Author

Listed:
  • André Grow
  • Daniela Perrotta
  • Emanuele Del Fava
  • Jorge Cimentada
  • Francesco Rampazzo
  • Sofia Gil‐Clavel
  • Emilio Zagheni
  • René D. Flores
  • Ilana Ventura
  • Ingmar Weber

Abstract

Social scientists increasingly use Facebook's advertising platform for research, either in the form of conducting digital censuses of the general population, or for recruiting participants for survey research. Both approaches depend on the accuracy of the data that Facebook provides about its users, but little is known about how accurate these data are. We address this gap in a large‐scale, cross‐national online survey (N = 137,224), in which we compare self‐reported and Facebook‐classified demographic information (sex, age and region of residence). Our results suggest that Facebook's advertising platform can be fruitfully used for conducing social science research if additional steps are taken to assess the accuracy of the characteristics under consideration.

Suggested Citation

  • André Grow & Daniela Perrotta & Emanuele Del Fava & Jorge Cimentada & Francesco Rampazzo & Sofia Gil‐Clavel & Emilio Zagheni & René D. Flores & Ilana Ventura & Ingmar Weber, 2022. "Is Facebook's advertising data accurate enough for use in social science research? Insights from a cross‐national online survey," Journal of the Royal Statistical Society Series A, Royal Statistical Society, vol. 185(S2), pages 343-363, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:jorssa:v:185:y:2022:i:s2:p:s343-s363
    DOI: 10.1111/rssa.12948
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    References listed on IDEAS

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