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'Busy Danish parents' study recalled

The Local Denmark
The Local Denmark - [email protected]
'Busy Danish parents' study recalled
A study stating that half of Danish parents don't do daily activities with their children has been withdrawn. Photo: Colourbox

The Danish Mental Health Fund released a study stating that half of all Danish parents are 'too busy' for their children, but has now pulled the report after concerns emerged about the company behind it.

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A study from the Danish Mental Health Fund reported over the weekend that in half of all Danish homes parents don’t engage with their children on a daily basis. 
 
The sensational findings led to stories in the national press, including an article published Sunday on The Local. 
 
The Danish Mental Health Fund has now pulled the study, citing concerns about the analysis firm that provided the statistics. 
 
“We cannot prove that the numbers in the study are insufficient or directly wrong, but we cannot prove the opposite either and therefore we are retracting the study,” organization spokesman Niels Adler told Politiken. 
 
Questions about the study arose when TV2 contacted the analysis firm behind the survey, Corcom, about its methodology in contacting the 1,400 Danish parents that company said were involved in the study. Corcom said that the interviews were conducted by remote employees working out of their homes, but refused to provide proof of their employment with the firm. Corcom’s director then explained that the company did not actually have any employees. 
 
Corcom provided documentation about the parenting survey to the Danish Mental Health Fund, which found it lacking and decided to retract the study. 
 
Following the questions about the parenting survey, several other Danish organizations that have used Corcom since 2001 – including the Danish Union of Early Childhood and Youth Educators (BUPL) and the Danish Diabetes Association, and several Danish municipalities – have also removed Corcom studies from their websites. 
 
In light of the developments, The Local has removed its article on the parenting study. We apologize to readers for publishing misleading information. 

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