Making money from market research studies

So you are contacted by a local market research recruiting firm and they ask you if you are interested in answering a few questions, and if you qualify, you may earn $75 from a 2-hour interview with other participants at their office. Great you think to yourself, easy money.

But how did this market research recruiting firm know you existed? Why aren’t you pissed that they called while you were having your dinner and how did they know you were interested in this research topic?

Simple, you had earlier went on there website and filled out a questionnaire and gave them your personal information. From what you like, what car you owned, your medical condition, where you live, your income, your ethnicity, gender, age and anything else the research firm thought would help them in tagging you for future research.

This list will give you a summary explanation of what these studies are like. So if the recruiter on the phone tells you it’s going to be a dyad or a mini-focus group, you’ll know what they are talking about.

The thing to remember is that once you arrive at the facility, you earn the incentive reward! Normally the incentive is given at the end of the focus group.

A recruiter recruits extra respondents for the research study. Sometimes one or 2 people will be asked that they are not needed and will be given their incentive and they can leave without even participating in a focus group.

Original article: http://hubpages.com/hub/Making-money-from-research-studies

Remember, once the research starts, you might as well state your honest opinion. There is no right or wrong answer, and you will still get paid if the client behind the one-way mirror dislikes your answer!

Just don’t act like an ass or you will be asked to politely leave. The research budget can sometimes reach a hundred thousand dollars or more if it is done in multiple markets and most often everyone is working within a tight deadline to get everything done. The last thing needed is someone who is acting up and ruining the research gathering process.

One more thing, and this is one of the most important things you need to know if it’s a scam. If they start to sell you something, anything, then you know it’s not for a research study. No legitimate research firm will try to sell or ask for financial accounts from you!

Below is a list of some focus group recruiting firms in local markets. You could go to these registration sites and join the research company’s database.

San Francisco Bay area

Nichols Research - https://secure.nicholsresearch.com/participate/register/

Miami

Ask Miami - http://www.askmiami.com/FocusGroupParticipant.html

Dallas

Market Research Dallas - http://www.marketresearchdallas.com/particpants.shtml

Washington, DC

Shugoll Research - http://www.shugollresearch.com/participate/index.html

These other market research recruiters have offices all over the country so check out their sites if they have an on office in your city. This is just a short list; there are a lot of recruiters in each state. Some specialize in certain ethnic groups or people with medical conditions. Below are general recruiting firms that will try to recruit everyone.

AIM Research – http://www.aimresearchnetwork.com/contact_aim.aspx

Murray Hill - http://www.murrayhillcenter.com/index.html

Schlesinger Associates - http://www.schlesingerassociates.com/joindatabase.html

Plaza Research - http://www.plazaresearch.com/

fieldwork - http://www.fieldwork.com/Participants.aspx

Savitz Field and Focus - http://www.savitzfieldandfocus.com

Ethnographic interviews focus on going into the respondent’s environment. Most often, it’s a person’s house. For instance, a respondent is recruited with friends to cook a client’s food product. An interviewer and a client will observe how the food product is cooked and what they use. In addition, the interviewer will ask questions on what they normally buy, cooking preparation, likes and dislikes, etc. Some projects will give you shopping money and ask you to go shopping at the local market while an interviewer observes and asks questions at the market. A person with a video camera will often times accompany the interviewer.

Original article: http://hubpages.com/hub/Making-money-from-research-studies

Plan on 2 hour-long home interviews. The length can sometimes increase to 3 to 4 hour-long interviews with an addition of going out to a restaurant, favorite hangout or a market where the interviewer will observe your natural surroundings. You will be told before hand the length and reward incentive.

Reward incentive – The host normally receives most of the money, estimated $150+ and friends would normally receive more than $50+.

So you’re walking on the sidewalk minding your own business and someone comes up to you and asks if you want to take a survey. Most people say no or just ignore the person and take a quick step out of the way and move on. If you do stay and answer the question, ask how much you’ll get and how long the interview will take.

Most of these street interviews are just answering questions. Other times you will be asked to take a taste test of a soft drink or an ad test and be shown a video or advertising copy. The more creative research firms will video tape interviews and compile them in a video presentation for their clients.

Reward incentive – estimated $1 to $20+ depending on the length and nature of the interview. Sometimes coupons or some other reward are given.

Same as street intercepts but inside mall locations. Some research facilities are inside malls, and you might be asked to take an online survey after you pass a quick screener. A screener is a short list of questions. If you pass the screener questions, you might be asked to take a longer online survey inside the mall facility.

Reward incentive – estimated $1 to $20+ depending on the length and nature of the interview. Sometimes coupons or some other reward are given.

This was the primary method to gather quantitative research a few years ago and is still used by market research companies today. This is that telephone call you receive around 6pm asking for your opinion. They’re not trying to sell you anything, and if you want to disappear from their database tell them that you want your name dropped from their database. If they hassle you, ask for the name of the company they work for and send a complaint to the Better Business Bureau and to the telephone interviewing company.

Original article: http://hubpages.com/hub/Making-money-from-research-studies

Reward incentive – estimated $1 to $20+ depending on the length and nature of the interview. Sometimes coupons or some other reward are given.

Market research firms use online research panels that invite the panel members to take their client’s online surveys. You join one of these online research panels and populate your personal profile. Once you have given them your personal information, the online research panel will use your profile to match you with an online survey.

Online surveys should not been seen as a way to get rich or as a job, because they are not.

Another online research method is online focus groups. These are just gathering 10, 15, 20+ people in a chat room and a moderator asks questions in a free flow interactive environment. Participants are sometimes shown videos or pictures and the moderator will ask everyone’s opinion.

Click this line for more information on how to make money off of online surveys.

Reward incentive – estimated $1 to $5+ depending on the length and nature of the interview. Sometimes coupons or some other reward are given.

A group that consists of 8 to 10 individuals asked come together and responds to a series of questions asked by a moderator. The moderator is trying to get your honest opinion on the product or subject of the research. There is no right or wrong answer to any question; you will still get paid at the end of the focus group.

Length of time is normally 2 hours at a focus group facility. Focus groups are normally held at 6 and 8pm weekdays.

Click on this line to find out how to make money off of focus groups.

Reward incentive for 2 hours – estimated $50 to $300+ per person. Most people will receive an incentive closer to $50 to participate in a focus group. Business owners, physicians or executives would normally receive an incentive closer to $300.

Mini focus groups consist of 4 to 5 respondents. It’s just a focus group but cut in half.

Original article: http://hubpages.com/hub/Making-money-from-research-studies

Length of time is normally 2 hours at a focus group facility. Mini focus groups are normally held at 6 and 8pm weekdays.

Reward incentive for 2 hours – estimated $50 to $300+ per person. Most people will receive an incentive closer to $50 to participate. Business owners, physicians or executives would normally receive an incentive closer to $300.

Interviews with 2 or 3 respondents and interviewed by a moderator. This is a focus group but with 2 or 3 people. An example is interviewing a husband and wife, parent and child or friends in the case of triads.

Length of time is between 1 to 2 hours at a focus group facility.

Reward incentive for 2 hours – estimated $50 to $300+ per person. Most people will receive an incentive closer to $50 to participate. Business owners, physicians or executives would normally receive an incentive closer to $300.

One-on-one interviews are just that, a moderator will interview one individual. Most of the times, this is to interview respondent regarding sensitive topics, primarily medical in nature.

Length of time is about 1 to 2 hours at a focus group facility.

Reward incentive for 2 hours – estimated $50 to $300+ per person. Most people will receive an incentive closer to $50 to participate. Business owners, physicians or executives would normally receive an incentive closer to $300.