We try to compensate participants for their time if possible since we're asking them to do labor for us. It's true that incentives can bias who responds but the ethics of compensation outweighed our concern about that. Our challenge is that it needs to be something everyone can use so in-person retail stores don't always work (ex: not everyone has a WholeFoods nearby.) We also wanted something with a lot of options so that it was truly useful to everyone (ex: not just Barnes and Noble.) Economics studies suggest gift cards (or other tangible rewards that aren't just cash) often motivate more in short-term scenarios than cash. That includes VISA or MasterCard options so that's what we often used. Though like someone else noted it does come with a processing fee. We've also done Target gift cards, which have a decent online retail site. On Thu, Aug 5, 2021 at 5:01 PM S.A. Applin <sally@sally.com> wrote:
It isn’t always true that someone who is wealthy wouldn’t want to participate. Sometimes they do.
Alternately, with no incentive, people for whom time is a by-the-hour-compensation issue, may be more willing to.
I understand that for government it would be different.
I’m glad there is more discussion in the list archives.
When I did my dissertation, my research subjects were more interested in being heard than being compensated, and that was interesting in itself.
Sally
On Aug 5, 2021, at 1:48 PM, Peter Timusk <peterotimusk@gmail.com> wrote:
Just mentioning again ( this topic is discussed in the list archives) the luxury of working in government surveys that while some of our surveys are legal mandatory to respond to many are voluntary and we offer no incentive at all.
There are possible biases introduced with incentives. Example: someone who is wealth will not reply because a 50$ Amazon gift card is not worth it.
In government surveys too, we can not favour any private businesses, so gift cards to businesses are not going to work.
My suggestions for more neutral unbiased survey work.
Peter not speaking for my employer Statistics Canada
On Thu., Aug. 5, 2021, 11:23 a.m. Hara, Noriko, <nhara@indiana.edu> wrote:
Hello all,
I am wondering if anyone can recommend any alternatives to Amazon gift cards for providing incentives for study participants.
Any suggestions would be appreciated,
Noriko
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Noriko Hara, Ph.D. | https://norikohara.org<; https://norikohara.org/> Professor Department of Information & Library Science Luddy School of Informatics, Computing, & Engineering Indiana University
_______________________________________________ The Air-L@listserv.aoir.org mailing list is provided by the Association of Internet Researchers http://aoir.org Subscribe, change options or unsubscribe at: http://listserv.aoir.org/listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org
Join the Association of Internet Researchers: http://www.aoir.org/
_______________________________________________ The Air-L@listserv.aoir.org mailing list is provided by the Association of Internet Researchers http://aoir.org Subscribe, change options or unsubscribe at: http://listserv.aoir.org/listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org
Join the Association of Internet Researchers: http://www.aoir.org/
_______________________________________________ The Air-L@listserv.aoir.org mailing list is provided by the Association of Internet Researchers http://aoir.org Subscribe, change options or unsubscribe at: http://listserv.aoir.org/listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org
Join the Association of Internet Researchers: http://www.aoir.org/