methods behind legitimate paid surveys

different consumer market research methods

Qualitative Research (QR) - Quality vs. Quantity

QR offers a higher response observation quality. Generally, it's performed to answer the question "why?" This type of research offers a more personal, in-depth, and detailed look. Regarding attitudes, opinions, beliefs, and feelings, quantitative research just can't stack up. Often looking for solutions to a problem or condition from the point of view of those experiencing it, QR is performed quite differently than QTR. In order to have this better look, this research is most often done in person, face to face.

Focus Groups
A group of people who are brought together to discuss a market-research question. These people are usually contacted by a marketing research company, on behalf of another company. They are usually paid.

Clinical Trials
Set-up by doctors or patients groups, these research trials are for people who suffer from any number of ailments. People that have been diagnosed by a physician can volunteer to participate and further the studies of medicine. Patients usually qualify for expenses, prescriptions, and other pays, but every study is different. (These are not a "get paid" opportunity! These are serious scientific research projects. Only those affected should even consider these. They are NOT an opportunity to "get paid" or make money online.)

Face-to-face Interviews and Reviews
More personal than focus groups. A persons responses can be better observed, providing an even more in-depth look. Some kinds of issues are best discussed with one person at a time.

Bulletin Boards
A straightforward, in-depth inquiry over several days, or they can be ongoing in nature. With bulletin boards, a discussion is started for a few days. Volunteers can then take time off to use a product or service or complete some “homework.” Then, they return to the bulletin board on a later date to participate in follow-up talks. Each day a group of pre-determined questions are posted. Volunteers agree to visit the board a set number of times a day, and to watch for follow-up questions during the discussion. A moderator visits frequently to assess participation and to post additional questions.

Usability Testing
Just like the name implies, "ability to be used" easily or as intended for the target consumer group. Oftentimes, consumers are recruited to take products home and use them according to instructions. While testing, they'll fill out questionnaires and return them after they complete the study. This testing provides more of a "real life" test than when products are tested at the testing center. These can include product evaluation, software ease of use studies, website analysis,  and ethnographies.

Ethnographies | In-Home Surveys
Research conducted in the subject's environment. Companies can benefit from watching you shop for or use a product in your usual setting. The moderator is often accompanied by a note-taker and/or videographer.  They may come to your home, drive in your car with you, or walk through a store with you. If you agree to in-home research, you should learn up front where in your house they would like to go and what they expect of you. Please do not agree to anything that makes you uncomfortable or you'd rather not do. The money may sound good, and you may want to get paid, but if people following you around watching you like a hawk creeps you out, don't do it!

Quantitative Research (QTR) | Quantity vs. Quality

As the name implies quantity, this type of research involves much larger sample sizes.  It is extremely structured, and provides raw data to predict, project, plan and prove a question. Most, if not all, of these "free paid surveys for money" fall into this category.

For the researchers, the time spent is way heavier on the planning phase and lighter on the analysis phase. They only have one chance to get a precise answer from you, unlike a face-to-face interviewer that can change a word or two to clarify on the spot. The results and the way the results are reviewed are mostly numbers and statistics driven. Instead of interviewing you and observing you, they're gathering mass amounts of data from thousands of people. Then, they run the results through a program to give them the likely end to given situation "X".

That's a very long-winded way of saying, if you take free online surveys for money, you're not even a number! You're part of a mass that swings one way or another. Don't read too far into that, you'll get paid for it, remember?

So, anyway, since the invention of the internet, most of these QTR paid surveys are conducted online. Duh, right? However, they still use the telephone and mail system for special paid surveys.

Telephone Surveys - standard questionnaire given over phone.

Direct Mail Surveys - answers gathered via mass mailings targeted to users.

Hybrid Surveys - a combination of QR and QTR methods.

• The two types of research work well together. Experienced marketing research analysts develop an understanding of which issues are best served by each method. Combining any of the methods can help get better, faster, and more responses.  The most common ones will be telephone / mail / telephone. They'll recruit, screen, instruct respondents by phone and then send them a survey. The respondent can either mail the questionnaire back or call an interviewer. 
  
  Online bulletin boards are another hybrid method.  Respondents are recruited, screened, and instructed by phone and then respond to web-based surveys – often to comments by other respondents as well as other survey questions.

Stay tuned as we continue to expand this section on legitimate paid surveys and their methods. Your patience is appreciated, as always.