Psychological Science Measurement & Data Collection Resources

How many responses do you really need? This simple question is a never-ending quandary for researchers. A larger sample can yield more accurate results — but excessive responses can be pricey.

Check out this great article on everything you need to know about conducting a power analysis! Afterward, use this power analysis calculator!

Read this great blog post about Five Things you should NOT be Doing in Online Data Collection before beginning your project!!!

Pomona students can create surveys on the Pomona Qualtrics page.

Creating an Amazon MTurk Account:

1. Visit the MTurk Requester Page 
2. Click the orange tab on the bottom right “Sign in to Create Project”
3. If you already have an Amazon account, simply enter your username and password. If you do not, simply create a free account.
4. Upon initial registration, Amazon will ask you about how you intend to use the program; simply answer the questions.
5. Upon initial sign-in, Amazon will show you the resources page, which should answer most of your questions.

Creating an MTurk Project:

1. You will next be launched to the new project page 
2. In the tab “Enter Properties” you must:
   1. Enter a project name or copy survey link (e.g. Qualtrics survey)
   2. Describe survey (title, description, keywords)
   3. Set up your survey parameters (payment amount, sample size, provide time for taking survey, when you want data collection to be completed, time for auto-approval of payment)
   4. Determine whether you desire/need “Master Workers” 
   5. Select inclusionary criteria for sample (2 are included in base price, additional criteria cost more; indicating whether there is adult content)

What is the difference between MTurk and Cloud Research (previously TurkPrime)?

Cloud Research is a technology company that optimizes many participant recruitment platforms for scientific research. Mechanical Turk (MTurk) is one platform that they work with. They also work with dozens of  market research platforms (Prime Panels). Each platform has its own participant pool, referred to as an opt-in panel. Participants on these panels are profiled on hundreds of variables. Invitations are sent via email and dashboards to specific participants, based on their demographic profile. Depending on the study, one or more platforms may be used, based on a study's needs. In cases where the target group is very hard to reach a study may be feasible only when combining the resources of multiple platforms. This allows for more specific and representative samples, as well as samples that could not otherwise be attained using MTurk. 

1. Here is information about Cloud Research studies and here is where you sign up for a Cloud Research Account.
2. Create your study, with one of three options:
   1. MTurk Toolkit Study
   2. Prime Panel Study
   3. Fully-Managed MTurk Study

NEXT--> Run a pilot study