I am planning an experiment using Prolific’s ability to recruit pairs of participants in the United States. To do so, I will use the screeners Participating together with a friend on Prolific and Participating together with a romantic partner on Prolific.
There are currently 4,205 people with friends on Prolific, and 1,907 with a romantic partner in the USA active in the past 90 days. I have read Prolific’s help page on studies with couples, and I am wondering how many pairs of participants I can reasonably expect to recruit.
Can anyone share their experience trying to recruit friends/couples on Prolific, and their sample sizes? This info would be valuable for study design and power calculations.
Some relevant info:
- Will only have two surveys (initial screener + main study) and little delay between them
- Short, likely less than 5 minutes total (screener + main study) for median participant
- Well compensated: will target $15-20 / hour plus a small bonus
- I’m willing to leave the study running for an extended period (4–6 weeks, maybe even longer)
- Asynchronous. No need for participants to meet live or even record anything
- No other screeners besides USA and participating with another person
- Initial screener won’t eliminate anyone (just preliminary info gathering)
- Will be asking about political views on a hot-button issue (might turn off some people?)
- No deception
How many pairs can I get?