Frequently Asked Questions for Participants

What can I do at FindingFive?

You can think of FindingFive as a "marketplace" for behavioral research studies. You as the participant get to choose which studies to participate in, and in return, the researchers of those studies will either pay you a small amount of money or award you with course credits (if you are a student) as a token of appreciation.

In the future, we will also build a participant-researcher community so that you can also learn about the latest research findings in behavioral sciences, directly from the researchers who conducted the studies.

What does it mean that my data will be collected?

Most behavioral studies will ask participants to respond to a few carefully designed questions, or to perform a few simple tasks (such as making choices between several options). Your responses to those tasks are collected in the sense that they become the data used by researchers in scientific investigations. Your data will help scientists test hypotheses and theories about human behavior.

Why is my personal information collected?

The collection of personal information is completely voluntary. You can contribute as much (or little) personal information as you feel comfortable on your Profile page.

There are two main uses of your personal information. First, some researchers may wish to only recruit participants within a certain demographic, such as those over the age of 30. By filling out the details of your profile, you will become qualified for such studies. Second, some researchers may wish to analyze their data in the context of the personal information of their participants. In those cases, we will always take steps to make sure your privacy is protected and your identity remains anonymous.

Will researchers see my name and know how I performed?

Studies may collect participants' names as required by researchers' home institutions and also for the purpose of compensation (including assigning course credits). In those cases, we will let you know that your name and email are made available to the researcher before you start the study.

Importantly, data collected from participants are never connected to the identities of participants. That means researchers will *never* be able to connect your data to your identity, even though they know that you participated in their studies.

How much do I get paid/rewarded for each study?

Researchers determine how much to pay participants given the duration, the difficulty, and the budget of their studies. In general, more time-consuming and more demanding studies tend to pay more than quick and easy ones.

Some studies, especially those listed in the "Institutional Pool", may offer only course credits and other forms of non-monetary rewards.

Please remember that you must successfully complete a study to get rewarded. You must reach the last step of a study that says "That's it! Thanks for your time." for our system to record your successful completion.

How do I get paid/rewarded?

If you participate in a study that pays a cash reward, there are two possibilities. If the study says "Direct Payment via FindingFive", you will be paid directly from our platform. Your account's reward balance will increase once you finish the study successfully. Then, you'll be able to redeem the reward balance for either a PayPal transfer or a digital gift card (including a digital Visa/Mastercard debit card).

If the study does not mention anything about Direct Payment, you will need to pick up your payment from the researcher in person. The researcher who has invited you to participate will give you specific instructions on how to receive your reward.

What should I do if I have a complaint?

If you have participated in a study that you think may be problematic, you should first contact the researcher listed to discuss the issues directly. You may also report the study to the FindingFive team by submitting a complaint to [email protected]. Please note that this complaint will only be investigated by FindingFive for preventing a similar incident from happening again in the future. FindingFive is not responsible for issues arising from the conduct of researchers in ongoing or past studies.

Where is my completion code?

If you are participating directly on FindingFive's platform, since FindingFive has an integrated payment system, completion codes are not needed. If you need a code that will be entered on a platform outside FindingFive, that code is usually provided to you by the researchers within the study you participate in.

What if I experience a technical problem during a study?

If you experience a technical issue during the study (e.g., loss of power, internet connection speed dropping, computer crash, study programming error), you will need to contact the researcher to inquire about payment options. FindingFive records the amount of time you spend on a study, regardless of whether or not you complete it. You can submit this information to the researcher as proof of your participation. However, partial payment options are entirely dependent upon the researcher hosting the study. FindingFive does not require that researchers extend partial payments and will not be involved in settling disputes over payment in cases of technical issues during the study.

Is there a specific web browser I should use for participating in studies?

Yes! To facilitate ease of participation and to reduce likelihood of technical issues, we highly encourage you to use the Google Chrome browser or the Firefox browser when participating in studies on FindingFive.

Does FindingFive keep track of my performance as a participant (e.g., like Amazon Mechanical Turk’s acceptance rate)?

Yes. We record your performance statistics, such as how carefully or hastily you respond to each question. At the present time, such statistics are for internal research purpose use only and will not be provided to researchers. When this policy changes, we will notify you of the details.

We may also introduce a feedback system in the future where your performance may be rated by the researchers whose studies you have participated in.

Is there more to FindingFive than just a crowdsourcing platform for research studies?

Yes! We believe that participants deserve to be looped in as a research project progresses, because participants contributed all the data for driving the progress! We will soon release an exciting feature that allows researchers to offer regular updates on the progress of their study, and if applicable, specific stories about how participants’ data have led to scientific discoveries.