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How reliable is Facebook’s advertising data for use in social science research? Insights from a cross-national online survey

Author

Listed:
  • André Grow

    (Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany)

  • Daniela Perrotta

    (Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany)

  • Emanuele Del Fava

    (Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany)

  • Jorge Cimentada

    (Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany)

  • Francesco Rampazzo

    (Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany)

  • B. Sofia Gil-Clavel

    (Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany)

  • Emilio Zagheni

    (Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany)

  • René D. Flores
  • Ilana Ventura
  • Ingmar G. 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 reliability of the data that Facebook provides about its users, but little is known about how reliable 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 reliability of the characteristics under consideration.

Suggested Citation

  • André Grow & Daniela Perrotta & Emanuele Del Fava & Jorge Cimentada & Francesco Rampazzo & B. Sofia Gil-Clavel & Emilio Zagheni & René D. Flores & Ilana Ventura & Ingmar G. Weber, 2021. "How reliable is Facebook’s advertising data for use in social science research? Insights from a cross-national online survey," MPIDR Working Papers WP-2021-006, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany.
    • Handle: RePEc:dem:wpaper:wp-2021-006
    DOI: 10.4054/MPIDR-WP-2021-006
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Sances, Michael W., 2021. "Missing the Target? Using Surveys to Validate Social Media Ad Targeting," Political Science Research and Methods, Cambridge University Press, vol. 9(1), pages 215-222, January.
    2. Emilio Zagheni & Ingmar Weber & Krishna Gummadi, 2017. "Leveraging Facebook's Advertising Platform to Monitor Stocks of Migrants," Population and Development Review, The Population Council, Inc., vol. 43(4), pages 721-734, December.
    3. Alexander, Monica & Zagheni, Emilio & Polimis, Kivan, 2019. "The impact of Hurricane Maria on out-migration from Puerto Rico: Evidence from Facebook data," SocArXiv 39s6c, Center for Open Science.
    4. Grow, André & Perrotta, Daniela & Del Fava, Emanuele & Cimentada, Jorge & Rampazzo, Francesco & Gil-Clavel, Sofia & Zagheni, Emilio, 2020. "Addressing Public Health Emergencies via Facebook Surveys: Advantages, Challenges, and Practical Considerations," SocArXiv ez9pb, Center for Open Science.
    5. Nina Cesare & Hedwig Lee & Tyler McCormick & Emma Spiro & Emilio Zagheni, 2018. "Promises and Pitfalls of Using Digital Traces for Demographic Research," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 55(5), pages 1979-1999, October.
    6. Sonja Spitzer, 2020. "Biases in health expectancies due to educational differences in survey participation of older Europeans: It’s worth weighting for," The European Journal of Health Economics, Springer;Deutsche Gesellschaft für Gesundheitsökonomie (DGGÖ), vol. 21(4), pages 573-605, June.
    7. Monica Alexander & Kivan Polimis & Emilio Zagheni, 2019. "The Impact of Hurricane Maria on Out‐migration from Puerto Rico: Evidence from Facebook Data," Population and Development Review, The Population Council, Inc., vol. 45(3), pages 617-630, September.
    8. Zhang, Baobao & Mildenberger, Matto & Howe, Peter D. & Marlon, Jennifer & Rosenthal, Seth A. & Leiserowitz, Anthony, 2020. "Quota sampling using Facebook advertisements," Political Science Research and Methods, Cambridge University Press, vol. 8(3), pages 558-564, July.
    9. Ridhi Kashyap & Masoomali Fatehkia & Reham Al Tamime & Ingmar Weber, 2020. "Monitoring global digital gender inequality using the online populations of Facebook and Google," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 43(27), pages 779-816.
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    Cited by:

    1. Sofia Gil-Clavel & Emilio Zagheni & Valeria Bordone, 2022. "Close Social Networks Among Older Adults: The Online and Offline Perspectives," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 41(3), pages 1111-1135, June.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    World; digital demography; population censuses; social network; surveys;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J1 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics
    • Z0 - Other Special Topics - - General

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