Qualifying for surveys
There have been days where I get ZERO surveys, and want to quit. Then there are days you’ll have taken over 20 straight surveys.
When I first started I got extremely frustrated because I was screening out of most of my surveys left and right. You’ll feel that sites get your hopes up by making you feel like you’re suppose to be able to do every survey that comes into my email box and get paid for it. That’s not the case.
This information will give you an idea of what to expect before starting online surveys. Let’s talk about how you prevent screen outs. Screen outs prevent you from taking the survey itself.
Why can’t we take every survey
Imagine you’re taking a survey about energy drinks, but you don’t drink energy drinks. Since you are not in the market for energy drinks you’ll most likely select “I do not drink energy drinks” as your survey choice, and go to the next question.
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Usually , if you select a choice like this on most survey subjects, you’ll usually get a message that looks like the statement below. This is what is called a screen out:
“We’re sorry but we have met the maximum amount of participants for this study”.
Reasons we screen out of surveys:
User Controlled Reasons:
- Completing Screeners too quickly
- Making very unrealistic choices
- Not paying attention or reading selection choices
- You have already taken the survey with that survey company
Reasons User has no Control Over:
- Zip code quota is filled.
- Ethnic group quota is filled.
- You are not a heavy enough user of the service.
- Survey crashes during screener (or during survey).
- Survey was actually already closed* .
- Your lifestyle situation is not close to needed participants.
What Screener Questions Look Like
Screener questions appear before the actual survey takes place. These take about 1-2 minutes to complete successfully. For a better visual, here are some example screener questions:
Screeners explained further
- A) Do you or anyone in your house hold work in the following industries or areas?
- B) Do you own a vehicle?
- C) Have you taken a survey in the past 12,6, or 3 months?
- For Question A, If you answer the question with anything other than “none of the above” , you will most likely be screened out of the survey.
- For Question B, this question is indicating what the survey might be about, if you answer no, you’ll probably be screened out of taking the survey.
- Question C is making sure companies are getting a good variety of people giving their opinion, If you answer yes to 3 months or anything sooner, its very possible you may screen out.
- Don’t lie to get thru screeners, just giving a heads up on what information is being probed.
Be Consistent
Even though you might answer EVERYTHING perfectly, it’s still possible to screen out. If you successfully get through the screener then congratulations, you will then be directed to the survey, but beware. Even though you’ve successfully made it past the screener, you can still be “disqualified” during the survey if you are inconsistent, or rushing. Just be truthful, and careful with your choices. Being so gets you the money.