Take Part in Research for Money – When Money Counts

So, You Want to Take Part in Research for Money?

Admittedly, many people take part in research for money. As you can imagine, a cash reward is one of the most popular incentives around. At WeParticipated we mainly promote non-monetary reasons for participating in research studies. However, sometimes, taking part in research for money makes more sense. We’ve listed a few situations in which you many want to pay extra attention to the monetary reward associated with taking part in a research study or when you may want to specifically request a cash incentive.

1. Travel Expenses

For the most part, people take part in research studies that are local to them or at a reasonable distance. However, there are instances when you may have to travel some distance before you get to the location of your study. In these cases, you may want to consider if the travel costs associated with getting to the actual location of your study are offset, in some part, by the reward you get for participating in the study. It may be the case that the travel costs are of no real concern to you, in which case, great! However, travel costs can quickly pile up, especially when taking part in research studies that aren’t local to you. In some situations, you may find that a researcher is extremely keen on getting you to participate in their study, because you’re a perfect fit for their highly targeted study. In these situations, if you’re also very interested in participating in their study, but the travel costs are an issue, don’t be afraid to say this to the researcher. There are special circumstances under which you can be supported to take part in a research study, especially if you’re from a clinical population.

2. The Cash Bonus

Some research studies you’ll take part in will include a performance bonus. This means that depending on how you perform during your study, you can receive extra cash on top of the fixed amount you will be paid for participating in the study. For example, you may be paid a fixed amount of £20 for participating in a virtual reality study, involving finding missing items in a virtual forest. However, on top of this, you may be paid 20p extra for every item you manage to correctly locate in the virtual forest. In these cases, it’s important to understand the reward structure, so that you’re not disappointed once you receive your well-earned reward! Always remember, if the reward you get for taking part in a research study is not clear, ask the researcher to clarify. In the WeParticipated app, once you sign up to a research study, you can chat with the researcher privately and ask them these sorts of questions.

3. Being Paid by the Hour

Sometimes, you’ll take part in research for money, but will be paid on an hourly basis. For example, say you take part in a paid clinical study, where your brain activity is recorded while you perform a basic task. If this study rewarded you at £15 per hour, then that’s exactly what you ought to get! So, if you spent three hours participating in this study, you should get £15 for every hour of your participation (£15×3 = £45). For research studies where you’re paid hourly, remember to be mindful of how much you ought to be paid, given how long you spent participating in the research study. After all, if you take part in research for money, then you ought to be paid what you’re owed.

Money Isn’t the Only Thing

If you take part in research for money, it’s important to be clear on how much you will be paid and when. Taking part in research through the WeParticipated app makes it easy for you to chat privately with the researcher and find out all the relevant information on your expected reward.

However, even if you do take part in research for money, it’s important to be mindful of the other benefits of taking part in research: click here to read our article on 5 reasons to take part in research. In the meantime, check out our video below on what types of rewards you can expect to get if you do decide to take part in research!