I’d like to ask a question regarding participant payment and the recruitment of a custom sample.
In our study, we need to recruit participants who are considered naive to a certain topic/subject/field and others who are experts on it. We plan to recruit the naive sample using the prescreening options that Prolific offers. So far so good.
Now, regarding the expert participants, we will need to create a first study (a short one, max. 10 min to complete) to filter the experts on the subject that we need. According to this article Recruiting a Custom Sample – Prolific, we can create a Custom Allowlist, which will allow us to invite the participants of interest to proceed to the actual study.
What I wanted to ask is what would be a fair payment for the participants who would take part in the first, short study? There would be no time limit but the questions (5 or 6 in total) pertain to the collection of data on their field of expertise.
Thank you in advance, I’m looking forward to hearing your suggestions!
How much to pay them? As usual, the general rule is not to fall below the minimun required (£5.00 per hour), that for a 10-mins study translates into £0.84.
Consider that at the end of part 2 you’ll have to deal with payments for 3 categories of participants: (1) those who only took part in part 1 because were not eligible for part 2 based on their replies; (2) those who participated in both parts because eligible for part 2; (3) those - hopefully very few - who were called for part 2 but did not participate.
To help reducing the number of particpants of type 3, you may want to defer the payment of part 1 to the end of part 2. Speaking of this payment, you can offer a bonus payment for everyone who completes both parts (category 2), but still pay everyone the base reward for completing part 1 (categories 1 and 3).
Another point to keep in mind is that submissions are automatically approved after 21 days, so it’s not possible to delay payment beyond this (Automatic approvals).
Lastly, I would state it clearly in the study description of part 1 that the whole study consists of two parts but that not everyone would be called back to participate also in part 2. And I would probably also mention the “extra reward criterion” to reduce attrition, as said before.
Let me know if there is any other doubt.
Hope it helps!
Veronica, thank you so much! This is really helpful; I’ll relay this information to my colleagues and, if it’s not too much trouble for you, I’ll come back with follow-up questions, if any. Again, thank you so much
Hi Neliswa
This forum is for researchers rather than participants, but you can get help on payments to participants, as a participant on the unofficial subreddit regarding prolific at
