Facebook page “Exile with the LDK" published content on Sunday (May 31) that claims to present graphics from a pre-election survey of political parties in Kosovo.
This content claims that this survey presents the Democratic League of Kosovo as the leading party with 34.1%, followed by the Vetëvendosje Movement (28.1%), the Democratic Party of Kosovo (22.2%), the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (11.4%), and the Social Democratic Party of Kosovo (4.2%).
What's wrong with this content?
After verifying the facts, it was confirmed that this survey does not exist.
FACTS
Hibrid.info has searched Google regarding these percentages, but the results do not show any survey published with these data in the media or credible sources (see here).
Also, the aforementioned page did not clarify who conducted this measurement nor what the methodology used was.
What are surveys?
A survey is a preliminary research to know a situation, opinions or attitudes about something specific. In this statistical method Results are drawn based on the study of a portion of the population, called a sample.
Based on the institute's article Pew Research (research institute for surveys and evidence-based studies), it is clarified what information should be requested about how a survey was conducted.
Therefore, the reader who comes across such content, to verify whether it is a credible survey or not, should check:
Who conducted the survey and who sponsored it?
Who was interviewed?
How was the survey conducted?
How were people selected for the survey?
When was the survey conducted?
How many people were interviewed?
Was the survey weighted? If so, how?
Do the survey questions seem neutral and fair?
As of the writing of this article, the content published by the page “Mrgata me LDK-në” has accumulated a total of 313 likes, 21 comments and 11 shares (see here).
Hibrid.info during May has handled content that was falsely presented as surveys (see here, here, here, here, here, here and here).
Analyze
A piece of content published on Facebook claims to present the results of a survey on political parties in Kosovo.
According to the distributed graphic, the ranking of parties and percentages of support are specified, however, after verification, no survey published in credible sources has been found that confirms this data.
Also, basic information is missing, such as the institution that conducted the measurement and the methodology used, raising serious doubts about the veracity of the claim.
Based on its work methodology, hibrid.info assesses this content as "Fake News".
rationale
The “Fake News” rating is given to informational content that is entirely fabricated or that contains factually incorrect claims or information. Content that is rated as fake news can be defined as having been created and distributed with the intent to misinform the public, i.e., to present a claim that is completely false as fact.