Study Distribution Explained

Studies become available on Prolific through various methods, ensuring that each researcher's needs are effectively paired with your eligibility profile. Here’s how the allocation works:

Studies without Prescreening

When researchers publish a study without specific prescreening criteria, it becomes available to all participants in the participant pool. These studies are typically allocated on a first-come, first-served basis, allowing you to start as soon as a study goes live.

We aim to distribute studies evenly to ensure all participants have an equal opportunity to take part. If you've recently completed a large number of studies, you might receive fewer invitations to new studies for a short period.

Targeted Studies with Prescreening

Researchers sometimes need participants with particular traits or backgrounds. To meet these needs, they can apply prescreening filters, which align with the About You questions on your Prolific profile. These filters may include factors such as age, location, interests, and more, ensuring that only participants who meet the specified criteria can access and complete the study.

For example, a study might only be open to individuals living in a certain country or within a specific age range.

Custom Sample Recruitment

In cases where predefined filters aren’t sufficient, researchers can recruit a custom sample. This allows for even more precise targeting based on unique study requirements.

Custom samples can combine multiple criteria to find the perfect match for the study. If your profile fits these specialized criteria, you might receive tailored invitations to participate in these studies.

Balancing and Representative Sampling

Researchers often aim for a balanced or representative group of participants to ensure the validity and reliability of their study data. Here’s how this impacts the studies you see:

  • Researchers can choose to balance their studies by gender or other demographics.
    • For example, they might aim for an equal number of male and female participants to maintain gender balance.
  • For a more detailed balance across various demographics, researchers can use demographic balancing.
    • This approach considers multiple factors such as age, education level, income, and more.
  • Some studies aim to reflect the demographics of a specific population, such as those in the UK or US.
    • Researchers can use the representative sample feature to achieve accurate representation, ensuring that study participants mirror the target population's demographics. If you belong to a group that's being specifically targeted, you'll have more opportunities to participate in these studies.

Further reading

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