A huge proportion of participants in behavioral science studies are recruited from “open sampling” services, such as Amazon Mechanical Turk and Prolific. These services can accelerate and democratize the production of scientific knowledge. They also allow researches to collect larger samples compared to traditional samples in behavioral research (e.g., undergraduate students). However, open sampling also poses unique challenges to behavioral researchers. For example, participants have increasing research experience, which can affect experimental validity and replicability; researchers face a tradeoff between collecting larger samples and providing ethical payments to individuals who participate in research to earn a living wage.

Dr. Gabriele Paolacci, Associate Professor of Marketing Management at the Rotterdam School of Management, will discuss the evidence underlying some of the issues related to open sampling, and provide recommendations for researchers to improve their survey and experimental practices.

The event will take place on May 26th 2020 at 14:00 CEST and will last between 60’ and 90’1. An invitation has been sent to researchers in the OSCR ReproducibiliTea mailing list. This email includes the Zoom link, meeting ID, and password. If you are not part of the ReproducibiliTea mailing list but would like to join, please contact Antonio.

During the Zoom meeting, please follow these guidelines:

  • wear headphones
  • mute your microphone
  • video is optional (in case of connection issues, you may be asked to turn it off)
  • pay attention to the moderator (which will be Antonio)
  • if you have questions
    • click on the Raise Hand button and the moderator will unmute you; or
    • write down your question in the chat and the moderator will read it
  • avoid talking over each other and make sure that everyone can have their opportunity to speak
  • arrive 5 minutes before the beginning of the call, to familiarize with the online environment and solve possible technical issues

Please remember that attendees of every OSCR event (in-person or online) are required to follow our Code of Conduct.

Hope to see many of you!

Take care,

Gabriele Paolacci and Antonio Schettino

  1. Depending on questions from the audience, which are highly encouraged… we love interactive discussions!↩︎