Researcher General Information
Important note: Because of declining response rates, StudyResponse will no longer accept registrations for standard draw studies after February 6, 2009. We expect to complete all pending standard draw studies by February 27, 2009. After that date, StudyResponse will conduct direct payment studies only. We are working to provide additional flexibility and features for direct payment studies so that we can continue to provide beneficial services for a variety of research projects. Please contact the project director, Jeffrey Stanton, (jmstanto (at) syr. edu) with questions about these changes.
Doing an online survey provides one way to get data from a large, varied sample quickly and efficiently. Participants are difficult to find, however, and response rates, even from massive mailings, can be lower than 1%. Our goal is to make online research a more feasible endeavor for social science researchers. The StudyResponse project connects researchers with participants who have signed up with us specifically in order to participate in online research. Licensing fees provided by researchers are used by StudyResponse to administer participant incentives.
Looking for additional information for your proposal or presentation?
We have a set of reference documents available for download as well as published works from researchers who have used StudyResponse data. The standard recruiting message to participants is available here and visit our FAQ area.
Available Study Options:
1. Standard Draw: communicates the topic, terms, and URL of your study to a sample of participants whose size and composition you specify. Participant incentives for a standard draw are always awarded in the form of a random drawing for one or more dollar-valued incentives (typically gift certificates to Amazon.com). The total value of participant incentives is indexed to the number of participants involved.
2. Prescreening Study: is sometimes conducted before a standard draw in order to identify a set of eligible and willing participants for a study. In a prescreening study, StudyResponse hosts a short survey that asks a sample of participants about a set of eligibility criteria that you specify to us. We then provide to you a database containing numeric codes, demographics, and survey responses that help you choose participants for your standard draw. There is often a significant financial advantage to conducting a prescreening study before your substantive study because you can narrow your pool of participants to only those who are eligible for participation in your study.
3. Direct Payment: each sampled participant obtains a dollar-valued incentive either before or after completing your research instrument. The primary advantage of direct payment studies is the typical improvement in response rates over the standard draw study. Research on response rates clearly indicates that incentive provided in advance of completion of a study has the largest positive effect on response rates among all techniques involving incentives.
4. Additional Services: since the StudyResponse for Online Research works to create a customized plan for researchers seeking our services, it is sometimes necessary to alter the standard registration process. The additional services registration page allows SCOR clients to use the available online credit card processing system for any fees that may incur during registration or the project.