How self-reported online news consumption was compared with passively tracked online activity | Pew Research Center

December 7, 2020

3. The promise and pitfalls of using passive data to measure online news consumption

How self-reported online news consumption was compared with passively tracked online activity

How self-reported online news consumption was compared with passively tracked online activity

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How self-reported online news consumption was compared with passively tracked online activity

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3. The promise and pitfalls of using passive data to measure online news consumption
When it comes to measuring news consumption, tracking respondents’ digital devices does not capture all of their online activity
How self-reported online news consumption was compared with passively tracked online activity
Estimates of online behaviors far higher in self-reported data than passive data
Estimates of news consumption higher by web traffic than survey, passive data
Lower knowledge of the media is not linked with more mismatches
Sample composition for passive panelists
Differences in survey responses between passive respondent panelists and general population sample
Those with untracked devices more likely to have mismatch between passive and survey data
Mismatches between passive and survey data vary by social media news use
Those who say news consumption is important to being a good citizen more likely to overreport their own news use