FRUGing

When a survey is not conducted to gather valid information but instead to stimulate fund-raising for a cause or organization, this practice is know as FRUGing ("fund-raising under the guise of research") and rhymes with "tugging." In a FRUGing solicitation, the answers a respondent gives to the putative survey are of lesser or no importance compared to the main goal of eliciting donations.

The effect of FRUGing on the survey enterprise is a deleterious one. On average, response rates to surveys have been declining. Reasons for this are varied but include the unethical practice of conducting false surveys for an ulterior motive; FRUGing is one such practice.

The full extent and effects of FRUGing calls, mailings, and interviewing is difficult to estimate, although empirical research on nonresponse ...