Factors Influencing Falsehood in Online Educational Research (II)

The presented article reveals the results of empirical research which aimed to diagnose the factors influencing telling falsehood. The research was performed while relying on the previous model of the factors influencing falsehood in online educational research (presented in the research paper ‘Factors Influencing Falsehood in Online Educational Research’, Social Sciences Vol. 80, No 2 (2013). This research was performed in two aspects: firstly there were analyzed telling falsehood facts, frequency and reasons of all survey respondents; secondly there was presented the scientific literature analysis pointing out the importance of factors, that influence telling falsehood. The above mentioned aspects were chosen with the intention to answer the following problem questions: what factors influencing telling falsehood are frequent in research practice? How important are the factors influencing telling falsehood that are systemized in a theoretical model? The research results showed that more than a half of survey participants stated being not sincere and not open. There were revealed three main reasons of telling falsehood in online educational research. They may be defined as shortage of time, striving for a better image, and lack of anonymity. The analysis of scientific literature also highlighted that the most important factors influencing telling falsehood in online educational research are researcher’s imposed authority, respondents’ attempts to create a better image, lack of the supportive environment. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5755/j01.ss.84.2.7484