Looking for the best sites for paid research studies?
Yes, you can get paid to share your opinion as well as participate in clinical trials and research studies.
Getting paid for sharing your opinions in research studies is becoming more popular. Companies and organizations find value in what people think about their products and services. Plus, it’s a way to earn extra money while helping improve different things.
When my husband was younger, he actually participated in a few medical research studies to help us earn extra money. He was usually paid around $1,000 for a week’s worth of time.
There was a research facility located near us that did testing for all sorts of things, and they were constantly in need of participants too.
Key Takeaways
- Studies take place online, in person, on the phone, or in focus groups.
- Pay can be anywhere from $1 for an easy online survey to $1,000+ for a clinical research study.
- Some of the most popular places to find paid research studies include User Interviews, Survey Junkie, and TrialSearch.
How To Find Paid Research Studies
What are paid research studies?
Paid research studies are projects in which organizations are looking for the opinions and feedback of people to gather data about products, services, or even healthcare. You can make money for answering questionnaires and giving feedback.
Why do companies pay people to take part in research studies?
When people share their opinions, researchers can make things better as paying participants bring in more diverse people with different views, making the insights more reliable.
Types of paid research studies
There are many types of paid research studies, such as:
- Online research studies – These studies can be done on the computer or your cell phone, and you may be answering surveys or questionnaires.
- In-person research studies – These studies take place in a physical location and may include product testing or answering questions in group discussions.
- Clinical trials – Paid medical studies usually focus on testing the safety and effectiveness of medications, treatments, or medical devices.
- Usability studies – These studies look to see how easy it is to use websites, apps, or other software on different devices like computers, phones, and tablets.
Best Places To Find Paid Research Studies
Below are the best places to find paid research studies.
1. User Interviews
User Interviews is a popular site to find paid research studies.
Companies like Pinterest, Spotify, Macy’s, Home Depot, Trip Advisor, and Amazon use User Interviews to get feedback from users about their newest products, apps, and websites.
You can make $50 to $100 per hour, or even more, by sharing your thoughts and feedback. Here are the types of studies they have:
- Online tests and surveys – These can take anywhere from 10 minutes to several hours and pay around $20 to $300+
- Online interviews – These take anywhere from 30 minutes to 2 hours and pay from $20 to $300+
- Online diary studies – These can take around 3 days to several weeks and pay anywhere from $55 to $400+
- Online focus groups – These take anywhere from 1 hour to 3 hours and pay around $40 to $200+
- Online studies – These may take 30 minutes to several days and pay anywhere from $20 to $1,500+
User Interviews starts more than 2,500 studies each month, and they need more people to sign up and join them. They paid over 87,000 participants in the last year, so there are lots of studies waiting to be done.
I’ve done a user interview myself and got paid $400 for just one hour of work. It was simple, and everything happened online through a video call to see my opinion on a new feature for a website.
Please click here to learn more about User Interviews.
2. Respondent
Respondent is a site that links you with market research companies and quality brands that are looking for feedback. They are looking for participants for surveys, interviews, and focus groups.
They have both remote and in-person paid research studies that range from $10 to over $100. I found that many are in the $50 to $100 range, so they do pay quite well for your time.
Some of the studies that are currently looking for people to answer questions include:
- Looking to talk to people about a financial tool idea plus feedback on the signup process
- Looking for people who are considering (or have done) IVF or surrogacy to talk about how they are making their decisions
- Do you repair HVAC equipment? Or do you manage folks that do? Join for a quick 15-minute conversation
- Looking to talk to people who have bought a home within the past year to speak to their personal experiences with finding and purchasing a home
- Decision-making study
3. Survey Junkie
Survey Junkie is a paid online survey company that pays you for your opinion.
You can get started by just creating a profile on their site, and they find and match you with paid online surveys that suit your demographic details.
You can receive payment in cash through PayPal, bank transfer, or in the form of gift cards for Amazon, Target, Walmart, iTunes, and others when you participate in surveys with Survey Junkie. They have a large community, with over 10,000,000 members taking their surveys.
Survey Junkie accepts members from the United States, Canada, and Australia.
Please click here to learn more about Survey Junkie.
4. American Consumer Opinion
American Consumer Opinion is a free online survey company that I highly recommend, and they pay you typically around $1 to $5 for each survey you complete.
American Consumer Opinion also occasionally gives you free stuff to test out (such as household goods).
They have paid out over $35,000,000 to survey takers and have had over 20 million surveys taken. Clearly, they are one of the most popular online survey sites.
Please click here to learn more about American Consumer Opinion.
5. Focus Group
Focus Group is a site that specializes in finding paid focus groups, research studies, and online surveys.
You simply register for their site, verify your identity, and then you will start receiving invitations for focus group opportunities to take part in. Then, you’ll be rewarded in gift cards to places such as Visa, Amazon, Target, and more.
Their focus groups are done in many ways, such as online, via phone call, and in person.
They are looking for all types of people, such as parents, business professionals, pet lovers, gamers, car owners, travelers, and more.
6. Search for clinical trials and medical studies near you
You can search for and participate in clinical trials and medical studies that need participants like you.
When I lived in St. Louis, we had a clinical trials company located right near us, and I even had friends who worked there full-time. You may have a business like this near you as well, and this is a good place to start if you are interested in taking part in higher-paying clinical trials.
Also, a popular website to find clinical trials is TrialSearch. This is a site that connects people with local clinical trial opportunities. This site is specifically for someone who is looking for treatment for a medical or health issue that they have. They then connect you with clinical trials, treatment options, and also the ability to get paid up to $3,000.
Other websites like ClinicalTrials.gov and CenterWatch allow you to find studies based on location and medical condition.
7. PRC
PRC is a market research company that conducts paid focus groups, online studies, and telephone interviews.
You simply fill out a form to join their database. If you fit the demographics that they are looking for, you will then receive an email with questions for paid research studies. They pay in cash or digital gift cards and usually over $100 per study.
8. Swagbucks
Swagbucks is a popular rewards site that pays you to complete surveys (as well as rewards you for several other tasks as well). Swagbucks was started in 2008, and they give out 7,000 gift cards every single day to Swagbucks members.
Swagbucks is a site that I’ve used to earn Amazon gift cards and PayPal cash with very little effort. In fact, I’ve earned over 110 gift cards with them over the years.
You can exchange the points you earn for gift cards or cash through PayPal.
I logged into Swagbucks and I had around 30 surveys available to me at one time. They all took less than an hour and paid less than $10. As an example, one of the surveys I had available asked me questions such as: “We are interested in learning about your dining out preferences and habits. Please tell us how you discover new places to eat, what types of cuisine you regularly eat when out, and what types of restaurants you prefer.”
Please click here to learn more about Swagbucks.
9. Engage In Depth (formerly Engage Studies)
Engage In Depth is a paid market research project company that pays you to join focus groups, online discussions, website usability studies, and more.
They are looking for consumers (anyone who shops at stores both online or in person!) as well as healthcare professionals.
Their paid studies typically pay around $50 to $150.
10. Mindswarms
Mindswarms is a platform that pays you for your opinions via video on your cell phone, tablet, or webcam. They want to hear your story and actually see you talk about your opinion via phone interviews as they believe it will better help them understand the market research.
They pay around $50 via PayPal for each study, which typically consists of around 10 questions.
11. Fieldwork
Fieldwork has paid focus groups and market research opportunities across multiple industries.
Fieldwork has in-person focus group locations in 11 cities in the U.S., and when you sign up, you can choose the one nearest to you. If you’re not close to any, you can join their database, which makes you eligible for phone or online research studies.
They are looking for anyone and everyone – from parents, children, seniors, and more to business professionals, patients, and even healthcare professionals.
12. Brand Institute
Brand Institute is a company that is looking for panel members to help them with market research in the pharmaceutical and consumer products industries.
This is a branding company that helps companies create their name, strategy, and more. And, that is where you come in. You will share your feedback on what you think of a company, as well as help them answer market research questions.
University Paid Research Studies
There are many universities that pay for research studies. Typically, you do not have to be a student of the school to take part. Many are in-person lab studies, but some are online as well. University paid research studies include:
13. Harvard University
At Harvard University, people can join different paid research studies led by the Department of Psychology. These studies cover many topics for psychological research and usually pay you for your time.
They specifically need local participants who can come to their Harvard campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts, for in-person studies.
14. MIT Behavioral Research Lab
The MIT Behavioral Research Lab looks into how people behave in different areas like finance, economics, and psychology. Their research studies are used to better understand human behavior.
15. Stanford Graduate School of Business
The Stanford Graduate School of Business organizes paid research studies, giving people the chance to add to academic research and make extra money.
Studies typically pay in cash or gift cards at around $25 per hour.
16. University of Nebraska–Lincoln
The University of Nebraska–Lincoln’s WISH Lab has many research studies that pay for research help.
Some of the studies currently available include:
- Emotion Processing Study (Ages 60+)
- Parents of Newborns Study
- Impact of Learning a New Language
- How do Kids Process Emotions?
17. Carnegie Mellon University
Carnegie Mellon University is well-known for having lots of paid research studies, and they have many departments there looking for people to join different projects.
Payment is around $10 per hour for in-person studies, and around $8 per hour for online studies.
18. Northwestern University
Northwestern University has many paid research studies in different subjects, welcoming participants from the university and the community.
19. Purdue University
Purdue University pays for research studies in topics such as healthcare, parenting, language, and more.
Payment varies, and it could be anywhere from $10 to over $250.
Paid Research Study Topics
So, what kind of areas are studied in paid research studies?
This is a great question because they are not all the same. In fact, paid research studies can be quite different.
This section will talk about three main areas where you often find paid research studies: Studies related to Psychology, Studies in Medical and Healthcare, and Studies about Consumer Behavior and the Market.
Psychology related studies
Psychology-related studies look to figure out why people behave the way they do, how they make choices, and what they see and remember. In these studies, researchers look at different parts of the mind and behavior to learn how thoughts and feelings influence what people do.
When you join psychology studies, you could fill out surveys, do interactive tasks, or be part of group talks. Usually done by universities and research groups, these studies might need you to be online or in person.
Medical and healthcare studies
Medical and healthcare studies aim to learn about certain medical problems, try out new treatments, and make healthcare practices or products better. These studies include clinical trials, paid medical studies, or surveys on healthcare.
Clinical research studies tend to have higher financial compensation, but, of course, that is because there are more potential risks and work (as a clinical study participant, you may have to get a lot of blood samples done, take medications for certain health conditions, try out a new drug, etc.). There is also usually a longer time commitment needed.
When my husband did clinical research studies, they were typically several days long, and he usually had to come back several weekends over the course of a month to get his health checked.
Some examples of medical and healthcare studies are:
- Clinical trials – These studies find out if new treatments, therapies, or medications are safe and work well.
- Paid medical studies – These look into different parts of healthcare, like medical tools, tests, or ways to treat issues.
- Healthcare surveys – These types of surveys want to hear your thoughts or experiences with healthcare services, doctors, or insurance.
Consumer behavior studies
Consumer behavior studies try to figure out how people use products, services, tech, and websites.
Examples include:
- Market research – These try to figure out what people like (such as taste tests or what their favorite stores are), trends, and how they use different products and services.
- Usability studies – These check how well websites, apps, or other tech things work, how they look, and how easy they are to use.
- Surveys – These get opinions about products, services, or how customers feel.
Frequently Asked Questions About Paid Research Studies
Below are answers to common questions about paid research studies.
How do I find research studies that pay?
Starting with the list above of paid research companies is a great way to find ones that pay. Popular sites include User Interviews, Swagbucks, Survey Junkie, and TrialSearch.
How much do you get paid to take online surveys?
Your earnings from taking online surveys will vary, and it depends on the amount of time it takes to complete, the funding of the survey, the topic, and more. Usually, you can make $0.50 to $5 per survey. Although, there are paid research studies that can pay $100 or more for your time (marketing research studies tend to pay a lot less than a clinical study). This will not be a full-time income but can be an easy side hustle.
Are there any eligibility criteria to participate in paid research studies?
Yes, there can sometimes be requirements.
Eligibility criteria for participating in paid research studies depends on the specific study being conducted. Certain studies need people of a particular age, gender, or medical history, and others might want participants from specific areas or groups.
How can I make sure a paid research study is legitimate?
Before you join a paid research study, I recommend checking reviews of the company to make sure it’s safe and ethical. If you have any questions, research the study and organizers carefully before you decide.
Paid Research Studies – Summary
I hope you enjoyed this article on how to find paid research studies.
Joining paid research studies not only can pay you money or free gift cards for answering questionnaires but it also helps companies improve research, add to what we know, and make products and services better which can affect your daily life.
Have you ever done a paid research study? Why or why not?
Recommended reading:
Leave a Reply