The importance of data, stats, and research has increased over time. Data has become the central force for marketers, researchers, scientists, and academic scholars alike. However, getting reliable data from real people can be a challenging task for companies and academic scholars. Therefore, a reliable platform is required for this purpose.
If you’re a researcher who wants to study the behavior of human beings for different scientific purposes, it can take a lot of time and money. If explained in a few words, Prolific is an online survey website where you can create your studies within minutes and let the people solve them. The participants get paid for becoming part of the studies.
What if we tell you that you can get paid by just participating in scientific and research studies?
Yes, alongside creating surveys, you can also earn money by becoming a participant in different surveys. In this article, we will be talking mostly about making money by participating in the surveys. The platform is becoming popular for participants to take part in studies from different fields and get paid.
We will discuss the platform’s legitimacy, pros, cons, and the final conclusion on whether you should join the survey website and make some money by becoming part of interesting studies. So let’s get into it.
What Is Prolific?
Prolific or Prolific Surveys is an online survey website that is very popular for academic researches. Students, professors, and researchers from different top universities worldwide conduct several surveys that require feedback and input from real people. The Prolific survey is a two-dimensional platform that is productive for researchers and participants alike.
Prolific was launched in 2014, and the platform has become one of the top platforms for participant recruitment. The platform guarantees you ethical and trusted research and market surveys completed by real people who get paid for this.
The company identifies its core values as follow:
- Trustworthiness, transparency, and openness
- Curiosity and eagerness to explore new avenues and make the world a better place
- The company is focused on solving problems(scientific and market gaps) by providing a reliable research platform
- Customer is the most important part of the company’s fabric
When the company was launched, it was named Prolific Academic. However, the name ‘Prolific’ become famous and is now the official name of the platform. You can access the website on the following URL: Prolific.co. The name of Prolific from Prolific Academic was changed in 2015. So you shouldn’t confuse the two names.
Most Asked Question: Is Prolific Legit?
Since prolific is notably different from other survey websites, many people question the legitimacy of the platform. If the answer to this question is given, it will indeed favor the legitimacy of the Prolific.
It is a legit platform having a great reputation, global presence, and work history with high-end companies, universities, and institutions.
Some notable examples of the platform’s clients are World Bank, University of Oxford, Stanford University, etc. The names of these world-class institutions add to the legitimacy of the platform.
Therefore, you can signup to the platform for creating surveys and participating in surveys without worrying about its legitimacy. If anyone asks you, ‘is Prolific a scam?’, you can confidently say that it is a highly-reputed and trusted survey participant recruiting platform.
In a minute, we will explore how to sign up for the service and how does it work.
How Can You Sign Up For Prolific Surveys?
As we discussed earlier, Prolific is a website platform for researchers as well as participants. You can sign up to the platform as a researcher or a participant. We will discuss the signup process for both the researchers and participants.
For both options, there are general requirements that must be met for signing up:
- Age above 18 years
- Name
- Address
- Demographic Details
- Valid Email Address
Besides the necessary information, the users can add more details to get a more personalized experience of creating surveys and participating. Higher the amount of information, better chances of being matched to a research study that is exactly according to your interest. The additional information can include interests, education, background, family, languages, religious, political, and social beliefs, shopping habits, etc.
You must belong to a country where the company operates to sign up for participating in research and market studies. However, you can apply as a researcher from any country worldwide. Currently, the Prolific operates in Canada, the U.S., the U.K., and some other European countries. You can check out the list of countries from the website before signing up.
How Does Prolific Work?
We know that Prolific is a survey database where researchers can find the participants for the research study. It would be more precise to say that the researchers can get ideal participants for different research studies.
The researchers can set the pay rate for the participants and also specify the number of participants required. The platform recommends paying a minimum of $6.50 per hour to the participants. The general workflow on the Prolific for any research study is as follow:
- The first step in any survey is its creation. Researchers, marketers, and different companies create the studies and surveys by signing up.
- Afterward, the company sets the fund to specify how many participants are required and the pay rate per participant.
- The prolific website publishes the survey and matches the most qualified participants to take part.
- The participants fill the surveys and submit them.
- The results are compiled and forwarded to the researchers.
- The last step is when the participants get paid for taking part in the surveys.
How To Make Money On Prolific?
Now the most asked question of how to make money via Prolific will be answered.
Yes, you can make money as a participant on Prolific. There are a few ways you can make money without becoming a participant in any survey. We will discuss each method and how you can make the most out of your Prolific profile.
Online Surveys
Online surveys are probably the best way of making money through Prolific. All you need to do is signup as a participant and get paid for completing surveys. You have to signup, complete your profile, verify your phone number and email address.
When researchers worldwide post their surveys, the suitable participants are notified through email or Dashboard notification. If you are an ideal participant, you will get an invitation to participate in the survey. The surveys can be as long as a couple of minutes or hours. The studies can be multi-part and longer-term studies. We already discussed that you can earn the lowest of $6.50 per hour or more.
Other Ways
You can also earn money from Prolific even if you’re not a research participant. The researchers can become part of the Researcher Referral Scheme. By this program, the referrer and new client can earn a credit of $50 and $100, respectively.
Benefits
Now let’s summarize the pros of the Prolific in a few points.
The researchers can get ideal participants to fill the surveys and trusted results backed by Prolific.
The participants also have an opportunity to earn money by completing surveys.
The Researcher’s Referral Program helps the researchers to invite new users and earn credit.
The cash out is easy through the trusted gateway of PayPal.
Unlike other survey websites, the platform gives you real cash and not just points or scores.
Limitations
It is not a global platform that limits the participants from different parts of the world to complete research surveys.
It is a UK-based company. Therefore, Prolific will work in British Pounds only. It can be confusing for citizens of other countries.
Final Verdict: Is Prolific Worth It?
We have discussed the detail of Prolific, its working, pros, and cons. It is time for the final verdict about the worth of the platform. Should you sign up for the platform as a participant?
The answer is YES!
If you’re someone who wants a side gig to earn extra money, have internet access and a computer, it is indeed worth it. But if you want to signup for making a full-time income, the platform is not for you. Besides, if your survey is rejected by the researcher, you will not get any money against it.
In a nutshell, it is one of the best options for making quick money without any hassle but not a long-term income stream to rely on.