When you take a survey online, no matter the company, you’ll find a set of questions at the beginning called “assessment questions.” These are designed by the online survey company’s market researchers to determine if you, the respondent, fit the demographics of the company that hired them. How you answer this is of the utmost importance to your payment, as answering them “incorrectly” may result in your being excluded from the survey.
First, carefully read the survey invitation emailed to you by the survey company. If you say that the survey being conducted is about lawnmowers, then you are expected to speak intelligently about them. If you’ve never even bought a lawnmower in your life (ie you live in New York, like I used to), you will inevitably be excluded from the survey. This is because if you don’t fit the demographic, your input won’t help the hiring company develop their product to sell to that demographic.
Depending on your level of scruples, you may feel the need to “trick” the evaluators into continuing with the survey itself. That is, you can tell the examiner that, for example, are in college when you’re really not (for a college-related survey, of course). I personally don’t suggest it, although I’ve heard it can be done with fantastic results. One person I spoke with cheated an NFO MySurvey rater and earned 1,000 points (which is the minimum for a $10 check), where normally he would have been thrown out. The bottom line: your answers to the filter questions drastically affect your payment!
The main types of screening questions belong to the following groups:
- Basic information (gender, age, race, income, education level, etc.) – You will never be disqualified based on your answer to these types of questions, as such criteria are too broad and broad.
- Employment – The industry you work in can influence your opinions. Most of the time, the industries listed (marketing, advertising, banking, and others) will automatically screen out people who answer yes.
- Previous participation in the survey – If you have surveyed a similar product in the past, then your experience may skew the data. Answering yes to this question will probably rule it out.
- personality type – These, too, often exclude you. In the final of the survey, however, are only additional information for companies and do not affect your payment.
- Participation in Activities – This is the most important factor that determines your eligibility to take a survey! Sometimes you will be asked if you have seen a movie. Other times, you’ll be asked if you’ve ever bought heartburn medications or ceilings. Questions about your purchasing activity almost always exclude you if you answer negatively or positively but not recently. However, questions about your participation in social or recreational activities (movies you watch, TV shows you watch, who you go to the mall with, etc.) rarely do.
Obviously, I’ve been taking surveys for a long time, but I’m always learning more about the relationship between the questions asked and the effects of the answers. If I discover anything new, I’ll be sure to update this report.
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