is there any program that lets you qualify for surveys?

[ana9018]

is there any software program that lets you qualify for surveys?discovering the answers they need?

[zeekers]

ana.....not that I'm aware of, however, you could google it to see if there is.

[find-nicole]

i don't think there is... The whole point of surveys is to get your 2 cents/opinions. But if you start using programs to help you discover what they're looking for, that kinda defeats the purpose of surveys...

[fiestyvermin]

It has been a while but there are form filling programs. I am not what they are called and have only seen it a few times but it seems I have seen reviews or something.

[ascott55313]

Yeah, I'm with nicole on this one. The whole point of this site is to help us with reputable, non-scamming research companies. We owe survey & companies commissioning these vendors the same - to be honest. If we're not what they are looking for, we aren't what they are looking for. Reputable companies pay billions of dollars every year and are honest in their search for the truth about developing products and services that will mean something to consumers. If we aren't honest we devalue the whole research process and there will be a time when the other people in companies won't believe data and won't even both asking us what we think.

Marketing research departments are filled with honest people who are championing the consumer, sounds silly but it is true. Most of the people running these departments have Master's degrees in marketing research because they care so much about us. The other departments inside companies (marketing, product development, packaging, advertising) are always challenging what the consumer wants, putting them second. I've been there, for eight years. It is a daily battle to bring the consumer to be the #1 motivator and not some political motive or a personal pet project of a person.

Just give it some thought, if I can help keep one person honest, I appreciate your time.

[ana9018]

Yeah, I'm with nicole on this one. The whole point of this site is to help us with reputable, non-scamming research companies. We owe survey & companies commissioning these vendors the same - to be honest. If we're not what they are looking for, we aren't what they are looking for. Reputable companies pay billions of dollars every year and are honest in their search for the truth about developing products and services that will mean something to consumers. If we aren't honest we devalue the whole research process and there will be a time when the other people in companies won't believe data and won't even both asking us what we think.

Marketing research departments are filled with honest people who are championing the consumer, sounds silly but it is true. Most of the people running these departments have Master's degrees in marketing research because they care so much about us. The other departments inside companies (marketing, product development, packaging, advertising) are always challenging what the consumer wants, putting them second. I've been there, for eight years. It is a daily battle to bring the consumer to be the #1 motivator and not some political motive or a personal pet project of a person.

Just give it some thought, if I can help keep one person honest, I appreciate your time.

For a survey of 30 minutes of 50 cents I will not lose my time giving honest answers and reading all questions carefully. I'm sorry, but I don't think you will work 30 minutes for 50 cents in todays days. Right now I did a survey for 25 minutes and I liked the design of the survey, so that motivated me to put honest answers, the survey was completed, and when I submited the survey to the panel, the survey appeared as disqualified. When I began doing online surveys I was honest. But after all these things, I don't care about them, because they don't care about my time.

[ascott55313]

Hi ana, I’m glad you posted your opinion, that is what is so great about internet forums, people coming together with common interests. Your view on surveys and incentives are precisely the profile of people the whole system is intended to not reward significantly. I’m sure there are other insiders or ex-insiders in this forum (I haven’t read all of the posts) but when we did studies for children’s cereals for example, we didn’t have to pay people. People were so eager to give their opinion because that was the type of people they were, we didn’t even need to compensate them. They came to us. When we tested products for a major electronics retailer, we didn’t need to pay people, they couldn’t wait to give their opinion. For some products, sure, people are not as interested. If you pay people too much, there is a phenomenon where their opinion is inflated and that is not good data.

As far as .50 for 30 minutes, this is all about supply and demand. There are clearly enough people who care about just giving their opinion and don’t care what they are paid given lower incentives. This is why many panels ask you why you are joining up front… “to win cash and prizes”…”to influence decisions”…etc. The quality of your answers also influences the types of studies you will get in the future. There are checks and balances in surveys and your survey will be thrown out and you will be flagged. Sure you can move on to another survey company but with all of the mergers in the industry you will eventually be reduced to .50 surveys. I am on my third week getting back taking surveys and because I have provided thoughtful, honest and consistent answers, I already have $200 cash in hand or on the way in check/gift cards. I have been invited to 4 online panels and 3 online focus groups. I work part-time and have two kids so I’m not answering surveys all day. I have put in some time but well worth $200.

I don't expect you to have read this far in my post since you said you don't really care about surveys. Do the right thing and it will come back. Do the wrong thing and it won’t. That is how life is. Taking surveys is free will and what I have written is just the reality of the situation. I don’t mind sharing what I know and have learned if anyone wants to listen, everyone can use some extra $$ and it is a legitimate way to earn cash. I still find it ironic that this is a forum that is policing surveys and we should reciprocate as respondents.

[footfree]

As far as .50 for 30 minutes, this is all about supply and demand. There are clearly enough people who care about just giving their opinion and don’t care what they are paid given lower incentives. This is why many panels ask you why you are joining up front… “to win cash and prizes”…”to influence decisions”…etc. The quality of your answers also influences the types of studies you will get in the future. There are checks and balances in surveys and your survey will be thrown out and you will be flagged. Sure you can move on to another survey company but with all of the mergers in the industry you will eventually be reduced to .50 surveys. I am on my third week getting back taking surveys and because I have provided thoughtful, honest and consistent answers, I already have $200 cash in hand or on the way in check/gift cards. I have been invited to 4 online panels and 3 online focus groups. I work part-time and have two kids so I’m not answering surveys all day. I have put in some time but well worth $200.

While I'm sure most survey companies are on the up and up there a lot of them that aren't.I also think with their pay scale that they are treating us like we live in a third world country!I agree with you that we need to give them truthful answers it's not only beneficial to them but to us the consumers.

My belief is that they need to be regulated like any other company out there.For us who live in the USA I think we should be paid at least minimum wage(I don't know the laws on this in other countries). There are laws that mandate this yet somehow the survey companies have found a way to fall thru the cracks.As you can tell I don't believe this to be a fair practice.I give my opinion because I enjoy doing this and have been for the last 8 years and have noticed a steady decline in pay because of people wanting to do this for free.At the same time I would like to be paid for my time but only if it's fair to both of us.It seems both honest people and honest survey companies need to find a solution to get rid of the bad while all being treated fairly.

Not that I'm calling you dishonest but really 3 weeks and $200 dollars?That is far from the norm.Plus most survey companies wont let you do focus groups so close together ,unless your not telling them when you did your last.Well the only other person I know who makes that kind of money doing surveys is a man.I find it hard to make that kind of money being a women because there are so many more of us doing this then the men.

Sorry about caps didn't mean to do that but I'm to lazy to rewrite it ARE YOU TRYING TO GET EMPLOYED BY THEM AGAIN?iT ALMOST SOUNDS LIKE YOUR DEFENDING THEIR BAD BEHAVIOR AND THAT WE SHOULD JUST EXCEPT IT AND EXCEPT IT.Why cant they change and pay us fairly?

[zeekers]

I always put honest answers, why wouldn't I? If I get into a survey that turns out I don't like, I "x" out of it, but that has only happened twice since I started doing surveys.

I don't take surveys as a full time or a part time job, because that would make me a "professional" survey taker, which I believe is NOT what these companies are looking for. I take them because I want to be a part of something new, give my opinion, help shape a new product, I enjoy taking them, and get a few extra dollars on the side. HOWEVER, I agree with Footfree when he/she states that what we are being paid is "like we live in a third world country". The companies that hire the survey organizations putting out the surveys we take pay a lot of money. The survey organizations can tell the good surveyers from the poor ones by monitoring our time spent, responses, etc., and have canceled some people they thought were being dishonest in answering surveys; therefore, I think that they can afford to pay more and send the invites to the honest ones and either cancel poor performers, dishonest surveyers, or let them work 45 minutes for a 50 cent reward.

As for making $200 cash in hand within 3 weeks, I'm lucky to make that in 6 months, but again, I'm not taking surveys every day of the week either. Perhaps it is my honesty that goes against me and why I do not make that kind of money. Who knows? I would also like to know why it takes 6 to 8 weeks to receive a $5 check? How many of them have to wait that long until they are paid? And would they work for a company if they knew that they would not receive pay for services rendered until 6 or 8 weeks after the fact?

[KBLover]

I don't take surveys as a full time or a part time job, because that would make me a "professional" survey taker, which I believe is NOT what these companies are looking for.

It's not what they looking for because they would then have to pay something resembling a wage a professional would want at a reasonable time. Not 6 to 8 weeks for $5 like you said.

I don't do it as a job because if I did, I'd be homeless.

I don't buy that "it's not what they would want because it would invalidate the data." All of these "try to trick you" stuff in surveys would take care of that like they do for any survey taker.

[zeekers]

KBLover.....I disagree with you, because there are people who do take surveys as a full time job, and they make good money at it. There are reasons why they ask certain prescreener questions, and if you have a person who does this for a living day in and day out, that person has got to be lying on the prescreener which to me is invalid data. Thanks to people like that, it is us, the honest ones who pay the price and get screwed. I do it because I like it, find it interesting, like to think I am contributing something, and getting a few bucks on the side as well. Hell yes I wish they'd pay us what we're worth and in a timely fashion! However, we've all read the terms, rules, regulations before signing up, and all of them (at least the ones I've joined and read,) state they can change the rules & terms at any time, yet I still joined. So part of me says I knew what I was getting into, but the other half screams at me that it isn't fair or just. I can quit at any time, so why don't I if it all frustrates me? Nobody is holding a gun to my head. Nothing will change until we can get legal recourse behind us, which is why I am looking into Consumer Law/Labor Relations statutes and legislation laws through my State Attorney General. After all, it was lawyers who wrote all those terms and conditions, so I figured I start with the source. Another thing I am keeping a record of is the actual company who is paying the survey site that pays us. I think it's a good piece of information to have, especially with sites like OTX out there. Has anyone done an OTX survey lately?

[find-nicole]

KBLover.....I disagree with you, because there are people who do take surveys as a full time job, and they make good money at it. There are reasons why they ask certain prescreener questions, and if you have a person who does this for a living day in and day out, that person has got to be lying on the prescreener which to me is invalid data. Thanks to people like that, it is us, the honest ones who pay the price and get screwed. I do it because I like it, find it interesting, like to think I am contributing something, and getting a few bucks on the side as well. Hell yes I wish they'd pay us what we're worth and in a timely fashion! However, we've all read the terms, rules, regulations before signing up, and all of them (at least the ones I've joined and read,) state they can change the rules & terms at any time, yet I still joined. So part of me says I knew what I was getting into, but the other half screams at me that it isn't fair or just. I can quit at any time, so why don't I if it all frustrates me? Nobody is holding a gun to my head. Nothing will change until we can get legal recourse behind us, which is why I am looking into Consumer Law/Labor Relations statutes and legislation laws through my State Attorney General. After all, it was lawyers who wrote all those terms and conditions, so I figured I start with the source. Another thing I am keeping a record of is the actual company who is paying the survey site that pays us. I think it's a good piece of information to have, especially with sites like OTX out there. Has anyone done an OTX survey lately?

hi zeekers!

I got lots of invites from OTX, but I never get qualified. I guess i'm not within their demographics. Have you??

[zeekers]

NICOLE RUN AS FAST AS YOU CAN FROM OTX!!! We've all boycotted them, so they started sneaking their surveys through other sites until somone caught on (I still check browser, etc. when sent from one site to another to make sure it's not OTX.) OTX as far as I am concerned is so low, they need a ladder to reach the belly of a snake, robbers and theives refuse to be seen with them. OTX cheated so many of us for a very long time and got away with it, no legal recourse, we had to take it. But we banded together and this is the first I've heard anyone receiving an invite in ages. Greeneyeddevils and Vipercat would probably remember, maybe footfree, leefall (?) maybe even Fiestyvermin may remember. OTX is bad, bad news.

BTW.....Hello there! (lol) Meant to say that first, but you really threw me for a loop on OTX. Good to see you in the forum. You've been missed.

[Leefall]

OTX has "infected" many survey sites. Stay away. Opinionshere is OTX, ssi the same format as OTX. Opinion Outpost ssi surveys always available, stay away from these. Multiple prelims, info gathered and then disqualified.

[zeekers]

Thanks for the backup Leefall! I haven't received anything from OTX, not even through InBox, and Inbox used to have OTX, but I sent those surveys to Deletesville. Call me paranoid, but I still check to make sure I do not take another OTX survey. Its a shame about Opinion Outpost, I used to have so-so luck, but still liked them....I guess dishonesty seems to work out pretty good for some. Call me a goat...I at least can say I have a clear conscience. Tried lying as a kid, got caught everytime. (LOL) Wasn't good at lying and mom said my eyes always told on me. So I gave up my shot of being a career criminal by the age of 6 or 7 and this is where I landed! (LMHO) I may not be the Queen of Sheba, but I am happy and rich in many other ways. Okay, I'm off the soap box. Sorry. Why doesn't somebody tell me I talk too much? Cheers everybody and goodnight!