Increasing the Efficiency of Data Collection With a Research Participation Night

Abstract

Data collection can be a frustrating experience for student researchers due to difficulty in scheduling appointments with participants. To increase the efficiency of research project data collection, we organized a Research Participation Night in which volunteers were incentivized to participate in as many experiments as time allowed. By offering course credit, pizza, and other prizes, we attracted 95 participants who completed over 250 experimental sessions, accounting for 35% of the experimental sessions completed during that semester. We have outlined here how to organize such an event, which is particularly suitable for collecting data for a variety of relatively short experiments. It is highly recommended for student researchers struggling to recruit research participants in a short period of time.

Canadian psychology department participant pools: Closing for the season?

“…The bigger issue on the supply side is not recruitment but retention; specifically, why so few students are motivated to participate in research? To counter non-participation because of lack of motivation, Kilb and Herzig (2016) organized a research participation night at Plymouth State University, offering students who attended a slice of pizza, a drink, a dessert, a raffle ticket, or research credit. While there was a positive response to the evening, the number of credits awarded that semester for research participation was no greater than other semesters.…”