Poltracking Indonesia: Ethics Board Of Persepi Is Biased

Poltracking Indonesia has raised some red flags about the fairness of the ethics board at the Indonesian Public Opinion Survey Association (Persepi). They’re concerned about how Persepi explained the different electoral survey results for three candidate pairs in the Jakarta gubernatorial election, which were reported by the Indonesian Survey Institute (LSI) and Poltracking itself.

Masduri Amrawi, the Director of Poltracking Indonesia, mentioned on Tuesday, November 5, 2024, that Persepi only looked into LSI's methods and how they were carried out, which can be analyzed effectively. However, they didn’t really explain how or why those methods could be scrutinized in that way.

During a meeting with Persepi's ethics board, Masduri pointed out that LSI had swapped out about 60 primary sampling units (PSUs), making up 50 percent of their total PSUs for the Jakarta gubernatorial election. 

"We think it’s important to share this with the public because changing PSUs can affect the quality of the data," Masduri stressed. He also mentioned that Poltracking Indonesia had provided 2,000 survey data points related to the Jakarta gubernatorial election to Persepi.

The ethics board later asked for the raw data from the dashboard, which Poltracking sent over on Sunday, November 3, 2024. Masduri pointed out, "The ethics board said they couldn't verify Poltracking's data, even though we submitted everything they asked for and gave detailed explanations."

The raw data has been sent in. The ethics board wanted the raw data from the dashboard to compare it with what we've provided from the beginning. "We've already given them everything," he mentioned. Poltracking noted they were only asked to provide more info if needed, which they did by October 31, 2024.

Masduri clarified, "There wasn't a specific request for the raw data attachment from the dashboard." He highlighted that Poltracking's survey was done entirely through a digital app, unlike LSI's manual paper questionnaire approach.

He added, "You can't compare the electoral results for the three candidates in the Jakarta Pilkada from Poltracking Indonesia with LSI's, which uses printed questionnaires and raw data." He also pointed out that they don't get the difference between the initial and final data mentioned by the ethics board of Persepi. "We've met the ethics board's request for the raw data from the dashboard. There’s no difference between the two data sets," Masduri stated.

He also emphasized that Poltracking has followed all Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) for surveys to maintain data quality. "We've shown and explained this to the ethics board," he wrapped up.

Tag: Ethics Board Masduri Amrawi Persepi Poltracking Indonesia