Conducting Surveys

Section 6: Corroboration

Note: This guide is intended to ensure that surveys conducted in the OAG meet reasonable requirements and expectations of survey professionals as well as the VFM audit standards of the Office of the Auditor General. The use of the terms "must" and "should" in this guidance document do not necessarily have the status of OAG standards and policies. However, they reflect methodological requirements and expectations in the conduct of surveys.

Corroboration is an important means of minimizing the risk of faulty observations or conclusions (see VFM Manual, section on Sufficient Evidence). In surveys, corroboration is important for estimating the risk of significant error due to problems with the accuracy and relevance of survey information. The need for corroboration is high when using questionnaires or interviews to obtain information from individuals. When individuals are asked to provide information, their uncorroborated answers reflect their views, not necessarily the factual conditions of interest. For example, when asked about resources expended, the accuracy and relevance of the answers depends upon the respondents' motivation, their awareness of the correct facts, their interpretation of the question, and so forth. Answers to survey questionnaires, however administered, are subject to the same concerns about appropriateness as are audit interviews in general (see VFM Manual, section on Sufficient Evidence). In planning the audit, the auditor is expected to determine the need for, and the nature of, corroboration for survey information.

Approaches to corroborating survey information:

There are a variety of approaches to corroborating, i.e., testing, the validity of information provided by survey interviews and questionnaires. One approach that has been used in the Office is to request, as part of the survey, specific items of documentation that support the responses to key questions, especially where the risk of inaccurate responses is high. For example, in the audit of Evaluation in the Federal Government, evaluation managers were asked to provide financial documents, evaluation plans, evaluation committee minutes, etc. in support of specific survey questions.

Other approaches to corroborating survey data include the following:

No single approach to corroboration of a survey is likely to be sufficient. In many cases different corroboration techniques will be required for different survey questions.