The Moment Before You Hit Launch: How to Launch Online Studies Without the Anxiety
A practical guide to setting up online studies: what decisions matter, how to avoid common mistakes, and platform features that catch problems early.
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Read our latest articles for tips, tricks, advice and news about research techniques and solutions.
Escape from Bubble Hell: What Participants Wish Researchers Knew About Survey Design
Participants call it "bubble hell"—pages of tiny circles that make surveys miserable. Learn what survey methodology research says about designing better studies.
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How to Use Completion Branches to Pay Participants Fairly on Connect
Learn how Completion Branches on Connect pay participants fairly for partial completes, screen-outs, and failed attention checks.
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Data Cleaning in Online Research: A Practical Guide
Before you analyze survey data, you need to clean it. A practical guide to reviewing attention checks, flagging bad responses, and making exclusion decisions.
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Inside the Mind of a Fraudster: What a Fraud Farm's Own Playbook Reveals About Survey Data Quality
A Verisoul-hosted webinar reveals how fraud farms escalate tactics to evade detection — and why layered, behavior-based defenses matter most.
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Beyond Leprechauns: A Smarter Approach to Data Quality in Online Research
Most researchers use attention checks without ever validating them. Learn how benchmark validation, spectrum thinking, and a fit-for-purpose framework can improve your online survey data quality.
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Worse Off Than a Year Ago: New Yorkers Explain Their Economic Pessimism in a New CloudResearch and Siena Study
A new CloudResearch and Siena exploratory study asked New Yorkers about their finances, then let them explain, in their own words, why they feel worse off than a year ago.
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AI and the Future of Survey Fraud
AI agents can now complete surveys, passing 99.8% of attention checks. Part 2 of the data quality crisis explores AI as both threat and tool.
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A Front Row Seat to the Data Quality Crisis in Online Research
I've spent 8 years at the center of the data quality crisis. Here's what survey fraud actually looks like—from click farms to video interviews with fraudsters.
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From the Lab to the Cloud: How Online Platforms Transformed Behavioral Research
Where do researchers find online participants? Compare market research panels, MTurk, Prolific, and CloudResearch to find the right fit for your study.
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The Singularity Is Not an Event
The Singularity isn't a single moment — it's a rolling frontier crossing one domain at a time. Chess, Go, protein folding. Survey research is next.
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The Poll That Didn't Want My Story: Qualitative vs. Quantitative Research and How AI Is Changing Both
Qualitative research captures depth. Quantitative research captures scale. AI is making it possible to have both. Learn how conversational AI is transforming surveys.
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The Worst-Kept Secret in Market Research
Panel companies have known about the data quality problem for years — and kept laughing about it. CloudResearch explains why, and what accountability actually looks like.
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What Is an Experiment? Lessons from a Fake Knee Surgery
A surgeon performed fake knee surgeries to test if the real ones worked. They didn't. Learn how experiments separate what works from what we believe works.
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Introducing Sentry's Verisoul Integration and What It Means for Data Quality
A CloudResearch study shows that pairing Sentry's behavioral screening with Verisoul's device-level fraud detection flagged 84% of low-quality respondents.
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The Bots Have Arrived
CloudResearch detected autonomous AI agents attempting to complete surveys — less than 0.1% of traffic, but a clear signal. Here's what we're seeing and what it means.
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The Bot Olympics: A $50K Industry Challenge to Settle Whether AI Agents Can Fool Us All
AI agents can now take surveys with one prompt — and 30–40% of online surveys are already fraudulent. The Bot Olympics is the industry's $50K answer.
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Building a Causal Case: How Scientists Showed that Smoking Kills Without Conducting an Experiment
How did scientists prove smoking causes cancer without running an experiment? Learn the logic of causal inference and how to build a case when experiments aren't possible.
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Sunsetting the MTurk Toolkit
The MTurk Toolkit retires September 30, 2026. Read our original announcement and get updated guidance on moving your research to Connect.
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Bots, Cyborgs, Zombies, and Humans
Not every data quality problem in survey research is a bot problem. Learn the four-part taxonomy — Bots, Cyborgs, Zombies, and Humans — and why the distinction matters.
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Proactive vs. Reactive AI Bot Detection in Survey Research
Post-collection bot detection hands researchers a magnifying glass. CloudResearch explains why preventing AI infiltration before data collection is the only real fix.
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What Is Correlational Research? Finding Patterns That Are Actually Real
Learn how behavioral scientists use correlational research to find real patterns in human behavior—and avoid the traps our brains set for us.
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Reliability and Validity: What Thomas Edison's Famous Failure Teaches Us About Measurement
What are reliability and validity in research? Learn the foundations of measurement through Thomas Edison's famous failure—and a 2023 polling disaster.
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Connect Love: Celebrating Our Participants
Discover why participants love Connect. Read real testimonials about earning extra income, engaging studies, and a better research experience.
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Descriptive Research Explained: From Battlefields to Behavioral Science
What is descriptive research and why does it matter? Learn how behavioral scientists describe the world systematically—and what Civil War battles teach us about getting it right.
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Coming Soon: Panel Patrol
CloudResearch is coming to a kids channel near you with Panel Patrol — a new show about defending surveys from bots. (Okay, not really… but data quality matters.)
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Getting Started with Online Research: Platforms, Data Quality, and Best Practices
In this workshop recap, learn how to launch high-quality online studies—from choosing participant platforms to detecting survey fraud.
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AI, Bots, and the Real Threat to Online Research Data Quality
AI agents can now take surveys with ease, but the biggest threat to online research data quality is still human fraud. Our Insights Association webinar explored both challenges and the layered defenses needed to protect research integrity.
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When Science and Nature Knock on Your Door
A reflection on the moment when scientific researchers shift from submitting papers and navigating peer review to being recognized as authorities—when leading journals and science journalists come seeking your expertise.
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How Technology Shapes Behavioral Research: From Steam Engines to AI
From steam engines to AI, technology has shaped how scientists study the mind. Explore the modern tools of behavioral research and how they've transformed the field.
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Trust What You See
Without a ground truth, you're not doing quality control — you're guessing. Learn why Sentry is the only data quality solution with face validity, and why evidence should always win over authority.
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What Is Behavioral Science? One Researcher's Story from Construction to CloudResearch
What is behavioral science? Learn how one researcher's unexpected journey from construction work to CloudResearch reveals why the scientific study of human behavior matters — and how you can start learning the methods for free.
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The Machine That Saw Me
A ChatGPT conversation about figure skating turned into an unexpected mirror, revealing blind spots about how facts alone don't move people.
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The AI Paradox: Widespread Use, Widespread Unease
New research reveals that 39% of Americans would press a button to stop all AI development or would seriously consider doing it if they could.
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Staying Ahead of the Curve: The Existential Threat of AI Agents to Survey Research
On December 17th, 2025, CloudResearch hosted an MRII webinar in response to a paper in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) reporting that AI agents passed 99.8% of attention checks, examining the implications for survey research and how CloudResearch is staying ahead of this emerging threat with purpose-built data integrity solutions.
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When AI Dreams: Hidden Risks of LLMs
As LLMs show hidden and deceptive behavior, new risks are emerging. Learn how CloudResearch is building defensive AI to protect data quality and research integrity.
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AI-Agent Detection in Survey Research: Results of a Randomized Trial to Detect Human vs AI-Generated Survey Data
CloudResearch has developed the industry's first comprehensive, platform-integrated solution for detecting and preventing AI agent participation in online surveys. In controlled testing, our system achieved a 100% success rate in detecting AI agents while maintaining a false positive rate of less than 1%.
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The AI Bot Threat to Survey Research: Why We're Not Seeing It (Yet)
Discover why the AI bot threat to survey research is real but not widespread yet, what new PNAS findings mean, and how CloudResearch Engage and Sentry protect data quality.
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True Leadership Means Seeing What Others Can't (And Acting Before the Crisis Hits)
Discover why true leadership means anticipating future threats before they emerge. Learn how CloudResearch uses Red Team/Blue Team strategies to protect data quality long before crises hit.
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Pumpkin Pie Diplomacy: Top 5 Strategies to Avoid Family Conflict This Thanksgiving
New data reveals Americans are prioritizing harmony at Thanksgiving tables despite political tensions. Discover the five key strategies families use to maintain peace during holiday gatherings, based on a nationally representative survey of 1,065 Americans.
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OpenAI's 28-Day Study on Connect
OpenAI and MIT partnered with CloudResearch Connect to conduct a longitudinal study examining how regular ChatGPT use affects emotional well-being. Learn why OpenAI chose CloudResearch for this ambitious 28-day research project involving 981 participants and over 32,000 surveys.
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A City Divided between Hope and Fear
Beacon Research partnered with CloudResearch to survey over 600 New York City voters using the AI-powered Engage platform, uncovering an election driven by two ...
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The Genie Is Out: Why We Must Lead the AI Revolution Despite the Risks
CEO Jonathan Robinson explores the unstoppable advance of AI, its risks and promises, and CloudResearch's responsibility to shape an ethical path forward—balanc...
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When AI Can't Believe Reality: A Wake-Up Call for Truth-Seeking Leaders
CEO Jonathan Robinson, PhD, reflects on AI misjudging reality, emphasizing his belief that truth, clarity, and independent thinking—free from ideology and socia...
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22% of Americans Under 30 Say Killing Charlie Kirk Was Justified
CloudResearch's AI-powered Engage platform surveyed Americans after Charlie Kirk's murder. Most expressed sympathy, yet others justified it, revealing generatio...
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Firing on All Cylinders: Our Quarterly Product Cadence Begins Now
With expanded teams and proven leadership across Connect, Engage, and Sentry, CloudResearch is positioned to deliver quarterly innovation—combining data quality...
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Quantum Computing: Unleashing the Universe's Ultimate Search Engine
CEO Jonathan Robinson, PhD, explores how quantum computing will transform discovery, revolutionize medicine, supercharge AI, and solve once-impossible problems ...
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Nuclear Fusion: The Limitless Energy Revolution on Our Horizon
Co-founder Jonathan Robinson explores how nuclear fusion is advancing rapidly, offering clean, limitless energy—and why this breakthrough could transform global power structures, economies, and our AI-driven future.
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The AI Revolution's Second Act: What the Labs Aren't Telling You
AI is advancing faster than the public realizes. Within two years, most knowledge work may be automated—forcing companies, workers, and society to confront dram...
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Are the Country's Best Days Behind Us? CloudResearch and Siena College Poll Show Why Republicans and Democrats Disagree.
CloudResearch's AI-powered Engage platform together with a Siena College poll, capture the rich, human stories behind New Yorkers' concerns about the economy th...
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Beyond the Horizon: Why I'm Writing This Blog
Five years ago, our team sketched out plans for an AI-powered conversational research platform. The vision was clear, but the technology wasn't there yet. We wa...
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Ensuring Data Quality in Online Experiments: The Role of Attention Checks
Explore data quality challenges in online experiments, attention checks and how the Connect platform improves participant attentiveness, reducing noise and enhancing experimental reliability.
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The Acquiescence Trap: A Better Way to Detect Fraudulent Respondents
Traditional attention checks are easy to spot and beat. CloudResearch's new fraud detection approach catches acquiescence bias (the tendency to say "Yes" to everything) using questions about fictional products and impossible scenarios that blend naturally into surveys.
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Why Costco Outshines Competitors in Employee Satisfaction: A Deep Dive into Our Latest Survey
CloudResearch used AI to gauge employee satisfaction at major big box retailers in the US.
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CloudResearch Launches “DoubleCheck” to Detect Suspiciously Perfect AI Responses in Online Research
CloudResearch, a leading online participant recruitment and data quality platform, today announced the launch of its innovative new feature called DoubleCheck.
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Tackling Survey Fraud: Insights from CloudResearch & Toluna at Quirks LA 2025
The session "Cultural Blind Spots: The Hidden Factor in Fraud Prevention" at Quirks LA 2025 highlighted the often-overlooked role of cultural nuances in fraud detection.
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Introducing Waves: A Better Way to Conduct Longitudinal and Daily Diary Studies on Connect
At CloudResearch, we understand both the opportunities and the challenges, which is why we created Waves—a tool designed to streamline and automate multi-stage studies.
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Changes to Connect Pricing
Starting January 1, 2025, the standard service fee on Connect increased to 40%. This adjustment supports our ongoing investment in delivering the industry's most advanced research platform, while maintaining our steadfast commitment to academic and non-profit research by keeping their service fee at 25%
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Sympathy for a Killer
CloudResearch conducted a study to better understand the people who support Luigi Mangione's decision to murder UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson
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Shifting Tides: Why Key Voter Demographics Chose Trump in 2024
A postelection study from CloudResearch looks at why Trump won the 2024 election, exploring factors that drew Black, Latino, young, and Independent voters to his policies on the economy, immigration, and national security.
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How Users Strategize to Influence Recommendation Algorithms: Insights from New Research
A new study using Connect participants reveals how users adapt their behavior to influence future recommendations, shedding light on the strategic interaction between users and recommendation algorithms.
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What is the Deciding Factor for Undecided Voters? A View from the Left, Right, and Center
CloudResearch uses its AI survey platform to explore why voters remain undecided and why some undecideds finally made up their minds.
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Reducing Expenses to Face the Future: Exploring Lay Theories About Wealth Creation in Retirement Allocations
A new study using Connect participants explores how common-sense beliefs about wealth creation influence retirement savings behavior.
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Exploring the Hidden Link Between Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder and Problematic Smartphone Use
A new study using Connect participants explores how Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) influences Problematic Smartphone Use (PSU). Learn about the psychological factors contributing to excessive smartphone use and their implications.
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Presidential Debate 2024: No Trump Bump as Harris Captured Voters' Attention
CloudResearch conducted a first of its kind, longitudinal, online poll using AI-driven interviews to explore how voters' perceptions changed before and after the September 10th debate.
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Who Is Kamala Harris? Deeper Insights Into the Persuadables Who Will Decide the 2024 Election
Siena College Research Institute and CloudResearch partner to use AI for polling, and explore how persuadables view Kamala Harris
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Voices from the Divide: Exploring the Path to National Unity After Political Violence
Exploring political polarization and national unity through interviews with 80 Americans, this blog delves into the impact of recent political violence and the potential for bipartisan cooperation to heal the nation's divisions using Engage AI conversational surveys.
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Key Insights from Engage AI Interviews on the Presidential Debate
Explore key insights and quotes from persuadable voters interviewed using Engage, our AI Conversation Interview platform, following the presidential debate between Joe Biden and Donald Trump. Understand their opinions on candidates, policies, and media coverage.
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Double Haters May Decide the Presidency
Siena College Research Institute and CloudResearch partner to use AI for polling insights, and explore how double hater voters will impact the 2024 election.
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Identifying Correlates of Support for Political Violence in the United States
A new study using Connect participants investigates the psychological mechanisms behind support for political violence in the U.S., revealing key correlates such as need for chaos, dehumanization, and social dominance orientation, while also discussing the role of political variables.
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The GAN Face Database (GANFD): A Free Database of Face Stimuli with Race/Ethnicity Manipulations for Researchers
The GAN Face Database (GANFD) provides a free resource of realistic, computer-generated face stimuli with race and ethnicity manipulations. Developed by Art Marsden and colleagues, GANFD aids researchers in conducting more controlled and generalizable studies, balancing internal and external validity
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The Power of Passion: How Seller Enjoyment Boosts Sales
A new study using Connect participants demonstrates an interesting phenomenon—buyers are willing to pay more for products and services that sellers enjoy creating, while sellers are willing to charge less for the same services.
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An Intersectional Lens on Young Leaders: Bias Toward Young Women and Young Men in Leadership Positions
A new study using Connect participants explores how age and gender biases affect young leaders, revealing critical insights into workplace discrimination.
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CloudResearch Unveils “Re-Engage”: A Bold Return to Human Interviewers in Survey Research
CloudResearch's "Re-Engage" platform emphasizes human conversation in survey research, moving away from AI to restore authentic interactions. Learn more about this exciting shift!
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CloudResearch Unveils Engage-Link: A Neural Interface into the Human Brain that Transforms Human Subjects Research
CloudResearch unveils Engage-Link, a cortex implant, enables behavioral scientists to continuously collect data on human mental processes from diverse participants!
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CloudResearch is Now SOC2 Compliant!
Discover how SOC2 compliance, alongside CloudResearch's commitment to security through certifications and best practices, ensures data security and customer trust in the digital age.
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The New Frontier of Work: Navigating the Shifts and Challenges of Working Remotely Post-COVID-19
A new study using Connect participants explores the effects of the shift to remote work on employee performance and well-being, offering insights into the hybrid work era.
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Redefining Style: Bridging Technology and Expertise for Sustainable Fashion Choices
A new study using Connect participants explores tech and expertise in fashion for sustainability, focusing on fit and style preferences.
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Engagement, User Satisfaction, and the Amplification of Divisive Content on Social Media
A new study examines how social media algorithms amplify angry, partisan, and outgroup hostile content contributing to affective polarization.
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How a “SALE” Message (“Short-Asking with Long-Encouraging”) Will Change Sales
A new study using CloudResearch participants reveals how dual-time sales messaging boosts sales, offering key insights for effective promotions
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Building a Better Social Media Feed: Integrating Democratic Values into AI
A newly published study investigates the integration of democratic values into AI algorithms to reduce partisan animosity on social media platforms.
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Democracy and Destinations: Navigating Political Consumerism in American Vacation Choices
A new study using Connect participants links US democracy quality to vacation choices, showing modest impact on travel to states like Florida and Georgia due to political climate.
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Role Models on and off the Field: Navigating Ethical Challenges in U.S. College Athletics
A new study using Connect participants explores the impact of coaches' and student athletes' misconduct on event attendance, highlighting the complex dynamics of ethical conduct and its implications in collegiate sports.
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Unraveling the Mystery of Constant Checking: Measuring the Consequences of Smartphone Habits
A new study using Connect participants reveals that the habitual checking of smartphones, driven by goals like staying informed or connected, can lead to both beneficial and harmful consequences, affecting productivity, safety, and social interactions.
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Beyond Blissful Ignorance: Getting People to Speak Up When They Benefit from Bias
A new series of studies using CloudResearch participants investigates how highlighting the impact of bias on victims can prompt individuals who benefit from positive bias to recognize and actively counteract these unfair advantages.
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Can a Single Cause Produce Multiple and Mixed Consequences? Yes, but More So if You're a Holistic Person
A new study examines two unexplored dimensions of causality related to holistic vs analytic thinking styles and the implication for corporate social responsibility
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Connect's Global Expansion: A New Chapter in Empowering Research
Connect offers access to high-quality survey participants in 5 new countries – Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom.
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Are Large Language Models a Large Research Problem?
There are use cases for LLMs in online research but behavioral scientists have growing concerns about the impact large language models might have on data collection.
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Connect by CloudResearch: Advancing Online Participant Recruitment in the Digital Age
Learn more about Connect's capabilities as well as the vision and dedication that drives its success in our new white paper.
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Time to Move Your Mind and Improve Your Mood
A recent time perception study examines the relationship between activity and mental time and explores the potential link to detecting depression and inspiring potential new treatments. Learn more from CloudResearch grant winners Yrjö Rinne & Michiel Spapé.
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Harnessing the Power of Market Research Panels: Enhancing Participant Diversity and Reach in Behavioral Science Research
Market research panels are a great source of participants for studies that require larger samples, and highly-specific or international targeting. Our latest paper serves as a guide for how to effectively use market research panels for online research.
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Are Businesses Losing Billions to Market Research Fraud?
Are businesses losing billions to market research fraud? CloudResearch's Chief Research Officer, Leib Litman, uncovers the real-world impact fraudulent market research data has on the research community and society at large.
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What's the Secret to CloudResearch's Data Quality? Sentry®
Learn more about Sentry, the secret to data quality across CloudResearch's products. Discover how Sentry improves online data quality from any sample source.
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Online Research Changes, But CloudResearch Consistently Delivers The Highest Quality Data at the Lowest Price
Recent peer-reviewed research articles demonstrate that CloudResearch consistently ranks best among participant recruitment platforms for data quality and cost. Learn more about why CloudResearch is the top choice!
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What is CloudResearch? A Rundown of CloudResearch's Products and the Best Use-Case for Each One
Learn more about CloudResearch's products, including the best use case for each. Contact us for a demo today!
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CloudResearch Revolutionizes Online Survey Research with Virtual Recruitment of AI Participants
CloudResearch launches groundbreaking online research innovation using recent advancements in AI from products like ChatGPT. Learn more about virtual participant recruitment!
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How Do Black Americans Really Feel about the Phrase “It's ok to be White”?
CloudResearch examines new Rasmussen poll on racial disparities which led to Scott Adam's Dilbert getting cancelled
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Make Your Research Less WEIRD; Sample with Prime Panels International
Learn more about Prime Panels international sampling capabilities, which offers access to diverse high-quality participants in 19 different countries.
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Too Important to Get it Wrong: The Consequences and Embarrassment of Bad Data Quality
Data quality is a known issue within online panels. Considering the time and money research requires, gathering bad data is not a mistake you want to make. To avoid the consequences of bad data, you must take a proactive approach.
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Research on The Self-Regulation of Face-Touching: Running a Remote Observational Experiment
In March 2020, health authorities around the globe were quick to release recommendations to avoid COVID-19 infections. As many things about COVID-19 were uncertain, several recommendations were based on research on other infectious diseases, some of which are transmitted via smear infections. One of these recommendations that remains on the CDC's website to this date was to "avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth with unwashed hands."
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Introducing Connect: A new site for paid online surveys
Introducing Connect, a new participant platform for paid online surveys. Sign up now to start earning money for participating in interesting tasks and surveys!
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Connect by CloudResearch: A New and Versatile Platform for Online Recruitment
CloudResearch is thrilled to introduce Connect – our new platform for online research! Connect is dedicated to delivering high-quality data, making collaboration among researchers easy, and pushing the boundaries of what is possible with online research. Sign Up Now!
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Juneteenth is a Federal Holiday. But What Do People Know About it?
Despite widespread media attention in recent years, polling conducted by CloudResearch in June of 2021 and again in 2022 shows that most people know little about the holiday Juneteenth. Only about half of the US population, for example, knows that Juneteenth marks the end of slavery. And only one fifth of people have plans to celebrate the holiday this year.
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The Trouble with Maintaining Data Quality in Online Research
When it comes to data quality in market research, our team at CloudResearch thrives on creating solutions and leading important conversations. What better way to “talk shop” than joining experienced UX Researcher and industry thought leader, Matt Valle on his...
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Do Parenthood and Parental Care Motives Lead To Increased Religiosity?
Psychologists have spent a lot of time studying how parenting affects children. Attachment theory, for example, may be one of the widest studied topics in all of psychology. But despite a longstanding focus on parenting and children, relatively little time has been spent thinking about how parenthood affects parents themselves. This is in many ways surprising.
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CloudResearch® and InnovateMR Partner to Address the Most Pressing Challenge In the Online Survey Industry: Data Quality
CloudResearch and InnovateMR jointly announce a strategic partnership to improve the most pressing challenge facing the online survey industry: data quality.
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CloudResearch is Removing the Dynamic Completion Code From Our MTurk Toolkit
Several years ago, we introduced the option for researchers to create a dynamic completion code when setting up MTurk Toolkit studies. While this system has worked well in the past, we are discontinuing its use over concerns about security and utility.
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The State of Data Quality in Research: A Podcast Interview with Cheskie Rosenzweig
The never-ending research discussion: data quality. Hear from Cheskie Rosenzweig on the importance of data quality and how the industry can do more.
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How CloudResearch and IARPA Completed the Largest Longitudinal Online Research Project Ever
Learn more about the largest longitudinal online research project ever conducted, including tips for retention in longitudinal studies
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Can Funny Pandemic Memes Help Get You Through COVID-19 Related Stress?
a new study explores the effects of memes on COVID-related stress
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Is Social Psychology Still Relevant to Everyday Life? Asking a CloudResearch Sample
a recently published study examines perceptions regarding the relevance of social psychology in society and the importance of social psychology in education
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3 Ways Your Online Research Sample Provider Is Ruining Your Brand Tracker Survey
When decisions are made based on brand tracking surveys with low quality data it leads to false conclusions and costly mistakes.
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Not Your Grandmother's Fraud: How Data Quality is Measured in 2022
Online data quality is a huge deal. You need to know how much online survey fraud exists, how it's measured, and what you can do to avoid it.
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Five Years of Mechanical Turk Data in Five Figures
Learn more about MTurk participant data based on tens of millions of HITs facilitated via CloudResearch.
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CloudResearch is Retiring the “Block Low-Quality Participants” Option
Learn more about why CloudResearch is retiring the Block Low-Quality Participants feature and continuing with the CloudResearch Approved Participants option.
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The Truth About Online Data Quality: 30% of Survey Respondents Live on Pluto
Filtering through bad data in hopes to preserve the validity of online research can threaten your project, and just be plain time-consuming.
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Pandemic, Paranoia, and the Participant Pool
A new study published in Nature Human Behaviour examines the impact of the pandemic on paranoia and belief updating!
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How to Cite CloudResearch in Your Journal Articles
Starting with the methods section of your academic paper can make the process easier—we're here to help you accurately cite research samples.
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Age ISN'T Just a Number: Age Verification in Online Studies
Learn how to verify participant age in online studies using a new method from CloudResearch.
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Survey Screening Questions: Good & Bad Examples
Learn how to construct survey screening questions. We also demonstrate examples of good and bad survey screening questions.
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3 Things I Learned During My CloudResearch Internship
Learn about the CloudResearch internship experience, helping students make informed decisions about staying in academia vs. going to industry
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Announcing our Innovations in Online Research Conference & $10K CloudResearch Grant Award!
We are thrilled to announce our Innovations in Online Research Conference and our snippet: >- 0,000 CloudResearch Grant Award!
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What Are Survey Validity and Reliability?
Understanding survey reliability and validity is important for people who conduct and consume research. Learn more about the details of both constructs here.
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How Non-Response Bias Can Affect Research Surveys
Nonresponse bias can impact even well-run research. Learn how you can avoid this fundamental risk to data quality in your online surveys.
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Mechanical Turk Demographic Trends During the Year of COVID-19
CloudResearch updated data examines if there have been any changes in the composition of people taking studies on MTurk.
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How to Conduct an Online Pricing Survey
How much is your audience willing to pay for your product or service? Brands often struggle to answer this crucial question; online pricing surveys offer a fast, efficient solution.
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How Has COVID-19 Affected MTurk Worker Demographics?
The COVID-19 pandemic has affected everything about how we work. New research from the CloudResearch team dives into its effects on MTurk worker demographics
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4 Strategies to Improve Participant Retention In Online Longitudinal Research Studies
Participant retention is a key factor in any longitudinal study, particularly for researchers operating online. Learn 4 key strategies to improve your retention rate.
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Pay Justice in a Newly Developing Economy
In 2020, the Covid-19 pandemic initiated an unprecedented shift in the American workforce. In a matter of weeks a significant portion of the labor force shifted to working online, a change likely to remain in place for the foreseeable future. Although many of these workers are continuing to perform their pre-pandemic jobs from home, an ever-expanding number are participants in the gig-economy.
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Comparing Data Quality on CloudResearch to Prolific: a Reply to Prolific's Recent False Claims
Reply to MTurk, Prolific or panels? Choosing the right audience for online research
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How to Conduct an Online Brand Awareness Survey
Measuring brand awareness is vital in today's competitive digital landscape. Learn more about how to conduct online brand awareness surveys here
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What Went Wrong With 2020 Presidential Election Polls?
Learn how and why the election polls in the 2020 presidential race underestimated the Trump campaign. Read more here.
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Five Common Mistakes and Misconceptions About Polls
Keep these five common misconceptions and mistakes in mind when reading polling results to develop a more critical eye for interpreting poll data.
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Webinar – Quick & Clean, Not Quick & Dirty: How to Maintain Data Quality During Crunch Time
Join CloudResearch to discuss common pitfalls when working with tight timelines and learn best practices to ensure quick fielding without sacrificing data quality.
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Examples of Good (and Bad) Attention Check Questions in Surveys
Attention check questions are a valuable tool for ensuring data quality in surveys, but only if done right. See specific examples of good (and bad) attention checks here.
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Vast Majority of Republicans Believe Vote by Mail Was a Fraudulent Process, Trump Is the Real Winner of the 2020 Election
A majority of Republicans believe unsubstantiated claims about election fraud and voting corruption, and that Trump is the real winner of the 2020 election
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Over 70% of Republicans Believe That Trump was Cheated Out of the Election. Many More Believe Improprieties Occurred
The country is divided on whether the election was conducted fairly. Vast majority of Republicans believe that “President Trump is being cheated out of winning the election.” Vast majority of Democrats think the election was fair.
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How Different Are Holiday Shopping Trends in 2020?
Discover 2020 retail shopping trends through Prime Panels, an online survey platform offered by CloudResearch. More here.
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Are Polls in Pennsylvania Still Missing “Shy Voters”?
In this article, we take a deeper dive into whether or not the oft-debated “shy Trump voters” exist, and how they might be affecting poll results in the crucial swing state of Pennsylvania.
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A Majority of Republicans and Democrats Expect a Contested Election, Increased Racial Tensions, Violence, and Economic Upheaval
According to an October poll, the majority of Americans are anticipating a contested 2020 Presidential Election result. See how attitudes toward this event, and the potential effects of it, differ by party.
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Clean Data: the Key to Accurate Conclusions
Learn why survey data cleaning - separating high-quality from low-quality responses - is important in order for researchers to draw accurate conclusions from data.
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How to Use CloudResearch to Conduct Online Behavioral Research During COVID-19
As the COVID-19 pandemic keeps behavioral researchers out of the lab, you may be wondering how to take your study online. Follow our simple guide to get started.
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Study: Are Election 2020 Poll Respondents Honest About Their Vote?
The ‘shy Trump voter' was a common topic of poll analysts following the 2016 presidential upset – but do they exist? New research helps shed light on polling accuracy and honesty.
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Should I Reject This Participant? How to Fairly Identify Low-Quality Research Participants
Academic researchers have a major ethical decision to make when choosing whether to reject research participants. Learn how to be certain you're making a fair choice.
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Mask Wearing Is Not Just About Political Party: Regional Infection-Rate Density Plays a Big Role in Who Is Wearing a Mask, and This Has Important Implications for Survey Sampling
CloudResearch users are now able to quickly and easily sample respondents in cities identified as COVID-19 hotspots, giving researchers new insight into the human effects of the pandemic.
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Best Practices That Can Affect Data Quality on MTurk
Amazon's MTurk has given researchers a powerful tool for connecting to survey respondents online. See how six simple best practices can help improve your data quality.
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What Is It Like to Participate in Online Research on Amazon Mechanical Turk?
Can using Amazon's MTurk to conduct online research cause distress in survey respondents? A new study from CloudResearch shows that for most workers, the answer is no.
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New Solutions Dramatically Improve Research Data Quality on MTurk
New solutions from CloudResearch help researchers obtain high-quality data on MTurk while blocking inattentive and otherwise low-quality respondents from participating.
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Surveying the First Quarantined Community in the United States: Lessons Learned About Psychology and Public Health
Surprisingly little is known about the psychological impact of quarantine. Read our research on the consequences of prolonged isolation.
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The Superworker Sampling Bias on Mechanical Turk
Explore the numbers behind superworkers on Amazon mturk and learn how these professional survey respondents can bias your behavioral research sample.
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No, Americans Are Not Gargling Bleach: How Bad Survey Data Inflated Estimates in the Latest CDC Report – And How to Prevent This From Happening in the Future
A recent CDC report made the alarming claim that 39% of Americans engaged in high-risk behavior to avoid COVID. A new study from CloudResearch questions these claims.
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Demographics of People on Amazon Mechanical Turk
Take a behind the scenes look at the Amazon Mturk worker pool. CloudResearch investigates turker trends by gender, age, and other key demographics.
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Support for Graduate Students Impacted by COVID-19
To support academic researchers during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, CloudResearch is waiving service fees for graduate students until the end of May.
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Is Online Data Collection Affected by Time of Day Bias?
The speed of modern online data collection platforms introduces a new wrinkle for survey-based research: time of day bias. See how to control for it using CloudResearch.
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The Persistent Gender Pay Gap: How Wage Inequality Affects Anonymous Workers on Amazon's Mechanical Turk
While it seems like the gender pay gap would close in an anonymous, online environment, a study from CloudResearch sheds new light on wages and gender on Amazon MTurk.
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An MTurk Alternative: Data Quality Analysis of Mturk vs Online Panels
A data quality analysis of Mturk and our Prime Panels tool. See how this alternative online research platform stacks up against Amazon's Mturk.
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Understanding Turkers: How Do Gig Economy Workers Use Amazon's Mechanical Turk?
By now, most people have heard of the gig economy and have some idea of how it works. In the gig economy, people perform short-term jobs or tasks to earn money. Gig economy jobs are considered independent or contract work, meaning people who work in the gig economy often trade the benefits and stability of traditional employment for the freedom and flexibility to decide when and how much they work.
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How to Easily Run a Pilot Study on CloudResearch
Last month, we published a blog titled, “Five Things You Should Not Be Doing in Online Data Collection.” Among the things we identified that you should not be doing was launching your study without piloting it first. As a way...
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Spread Your Data Collection Over Days or Weeks With MicroBatch
One reason Amazon Mechanical Turk has become so popular among researchers is the speed with which data can be collected. Compared to more traditional research methods — lab-based experiments, field studies, ethnographic interviews, etc. — MTurk is exceptionally fast, making...
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Tips for Navigating the CloudResearch Dashboard
Overview of CloudResearch Dashboard changes and navigation tips for improved user experience.
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Five Things You Should NOT Be Doing in Online Data Collection
Three weeks ago, we published a blog explaining five things you should be doing in your online data collection. In this blog, we follow up with five things you should NOT be doing when collecting data on MTurk.
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Revisiting CloudResearch's Survey Group Feature
What Is a Survey Group? Survey Groups are one of the most powerful and dynamic tools on CloudResearch for controlling which workers are eligible and ineligible for your study. A Survey Group is exactly what it sounds like: a collection...
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Announcing the CloudResearch Suggestion Box
A new year represents the opportunity to consider priorities, set goals, chart new courses of action, and decide how to move forward in the coming months. At CloudResearch, we're moving into 2019 looking for ways to expand the tools and...
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Five Things You Should Be Doing in Online Data Collection
Researchers are responsible for being an expert, or at least knowledgeable, in several areas. There's the topic of your research, the methods common within your discipline, best practices for open science, and the mediums used to communicate about your work—just to name a few. For many researchers, online data collection has been revolutionary, helping collect data faster and more affordably than ever before.
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Including and Excluding Participants From Studies Run Through CloudResearch: What, When and How
In this blog, we explain everything you could ever want to know about including and excluding participants from studies while using CloudResearch. In last week's blog on longitudinal studies, we described our Include Workers feature, but this blog digs into the nitty-gritty and explains what our features are, when you might want to use them, and how they work.
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Running Longitudinal Studies on CloudResearch
In this blog, we describe how to run a longitudinal study on MTurk, using CloudResearch. We also provide tips for maximizing worker participation and minimizing attrition.
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Understanding Geolocations and Their Connection to Data Quality
In this blog, we outline the history of our Block Duplicate Geolocations tool, provide an overview of what geolocations are and the information they convey, and present the results of a study that examined the quality of data obtained from repeated geolocations that are not linked to server farms. We conclude by outlining the steps we are taking to change the default options on our Block Duplicate Geolocations feature.
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How to Gather Demographically-Representative Samples in Online Studies
Most social science research relies on convenience sampling of participants, meaning few samples look like let alone represent the general population. For many research questions, convenience samples are not a problem. Yet, for other questions, being able to capture and represent the opinions of people from different groups is essential. Because most researchers do not routinely gather these kinds of samples, knowing where to find one when it's needed can be difficult.
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Recruiting Older Adults Online
People of different ages vary greatly in their beliefs and behaviors. For example, a recent Pew report outlines wide generational gaps in people's opinions on several political issues like presidential job approval, perceptions of racism, views on immigration, and political ideology (Pew Research Center, 2018). Furthermore, some issues, like the use of Medicare, depend on age and therefore are more relevant to older adults than younger ones.
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Running Dyadic Studies on Mechanical Turk Using CloudResearch
Studying pairs of people (e.g., married couples, friends, coworkers, etc) is becoming increasingly common in the social and behavioral sciences. Online participant populations, such as Mechanical Turk and other online panels, can potentially serve as a rich source of dyadic...
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Moving Beyond Bots: MTurk as a Source of High Quality Data
About a month ago, we published After the Bot Scare blog on workers providing bad quality data on Amazon's Mechanical Turk. This month, we followed up with our “farmers” to assess the effectiveness of the tools we created to deal with the problem. In this blog, we present data from our follow-up study and evidence to suggest our tools are working.
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How to Obtain an Online National Sample Stratified by Wealth
A Case Study From a Recent JESP Article A new study appearing in the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology suggests Americans strongly believe in economic mobility because they fail to appreciate how vast wealth inequality really is. In this blog,...
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The Universal Exclude List: A Tool for Blocking Bad Workers
By now, even casual users of MTurk have heard about recent concerns of “bots” or low quality data. We've written about the topic here and laid out evidence that suggests “bots” are actually foreign workers using tools to obscure their true location (here). Perhaps most importantly, we've created two tools to help keep these workers out of your studies. In this blog, we introduce a third tool: the Universal Exclude List.
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After the Bot Scare: Understanding What's Been Happening With Data Collection on MTurk and How to Stop It
In this blog, we review recent concerns about bots, along with general data quality issues, on Mechanical Turk and report the results of a study we conducted to investigate the problem.
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CloudResearch Tools to Help Combat Responses from Suspicious Geolocations
Last week, the research community was struck with concern that “bots” were contaminating data collection on Amazon's Mechanical Turk (MTurk). We wrote about the issue and conducted our own preliminary investigation into the problem using the CloudResearch database. In this blog, we introduce two new tools CloudResearch is launching to help researchers combat suspicious activity on MTurk and reiterate some of the important takeaways from this conversation so far.
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Conducting Research: How Online Research Tools Can Help
When researchers learn about conducting research online, it can sometimes be difficult to understand quite how all the tools that are available can actually be applied to a project. This post is about how specific research ideas can be carried...
Read MoreStrengths and Limitations of Mechanical Turk
Hundreds of academic papers are published each year using data collected through Mechanical Turk. Researchers have gravitated to Mechanical Turk primarily because it provides high quality data quickly and affordably. However, Mechanical Turk has strengths and weaknesses as a platform...
Read MoreVerified US Region Targeting
Many researchers wish to target participants from specific states or regions of the United States like the Northeast or the West. The problem they often encounter is that using MTurk’s Geographic Qualification to specify a particular state is often not...
Read MoreDynamic Secret Completion Codes for SurveyMonkey and Alchemer (formerly SurveyGizmo)
CloudResearch now supports dynamic completion codes for SurveyMonkey and Alchemer (formerly SurveyGizmo) studies. Dynamic codes ensure each MTurk worker receives a unique completion code, eliminating code sharing and enabling auto-approval...
Read MoreReusable Include and Exclude Groups
Problem: You are running a longitudinal study and have identified 1000 workers who you want to allow to take your second phase studies. How do you easily group those workers for easy access. Or you want to exclude certain workers...
Read MoreGoogle Forms Integration with CloudResearch
Google Forms can be used to deliver a study with CloudResearch in a similar manner to other survey platforms (like Qualtrics and SurveyMonkey). In Google Forms set up your survey and then set up the secret completion code display: Click...
Read MoreDemographic Consistency Over Time on Mechanical Turk
Ever wonder if workers are being honest with you when they answer a survey? Or, if you specify that your study should be taken only by women, whether some workers take the study even though they are not women?
Read MoreNew Safety Feature: Assignment Rejections Are Not Automated and Require Manual User Action
Many researchers set up their studies to use the TurkPrime AutoApprove feature so that they do not need to manually approve worker assignments based on the secret code that workers enter. On occasion, a researcher may set up his study...
Read MoreBlock Multiple Responses From the Same IP Address
Our most popular feature request has been to allow the blocking of multiple workers from the same IP address.
Read MoreWorkerID (And All MTurk Fields) Sent to Qualtrics
CloudResearch can now automatically add Worker ID, HIT ID, and Assignment ID to data files, including CSV and SPSS files. These variables can be very useful when you want to match Workers across multiple data files. For example, in longitudinal studies,...
Read MoreBounce and Completion Rate
In the latest release of CloudResearch.com we added many new features and fixes among them 2 additional metrics for every survey: Bounce Rate Completion Rate The Bounce Rate is the percentage of Amazon workers who previewed your survey but decided...
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Reverse Rejections
Problem: How can a Requester who rejected an assignment in error undo his mistake? A rejected assignment affects the Worker negatively and will often impact the Requester with negative feedback which can damage the Requester’s online reputation which lowers Worker...
Read MoreLongitudinal and Follow Up Surveys on Mechanical Turk
Problem: Suppose you need to run a survey on Mechanical Turk and follow up with the same workers a week, month or year later. A few issues come up: How can I limit the follow up surveys to survey takers...
Read MoreIRB Template for Mechanical Turk and TurkPrime
An IRB will generally request a description of how participants will be recruited, reimbursed and interacted with. Additionally IRBs always request information about how anonymity of the participants is protected. Members of the IRB board may not be familiar with Amazon Turk, and it may be helpful to include a brief description of MTurk in your IRB application.
Read MoreThe New New Demographics on Mechanical Turk: Is there Still a Gender Gap?
In this blog, we report on the demographics of Mechanical Turk workers by reviewing 75 studies conducted with US-based Workers in 2013 and 2014. From a total of 32,595 Workers, we found 15,324 were female (47%).
Read MoreDetermining Completion Rate and Dropout Rate on Mechanical Turk
What is the completion rate and dropout rate? Dropout rate is defined as the percentage of participants who start taking a study but do not complete it. Dropout rate is sometimes referred to as attrition rate, and is the opposite...
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