The ones that pop up on the “Volunteers” page—you take a 15 or whatever minute survey and supposedly they use it for research and you might win a hundred bucks or whatever it is. The URL is always something that seems legitimate, like a columbia.edu, but the sites seem kind of sketchy, and I’m not sure what kind of validity any craigslist-based research would have. But it’s not like you have to enter any info other than checking box 1-5, so I’m not sure how it could be a scam.
What’s the deal?
I’ve done a few Craigslist surveys – psych or otherwise – and they’re often companies or universities (students, etc.) that need one-time volunteers for one research study or another. I’ve always gotten paid, but the studies I’ve done were all from big orgs like UC Berkeley, Yahoo!, and eBay.
Craigslist does have its share of scams, but it’s still a nice way to find local people for one-time events.
Oh, but I should note that these were all events that occurred in the physical world. They found me on the Internet, but I’d always go to their buildings for the actual studies. Not sure how reliable online-only studies are, if that’s what you’re asking.
Ditto what Reply said. I’ve participated in a few studies (consumer & psychological) that I found through craigslist. They were on-site and I was paid as promised except for one little incident. The ad said the pay would be $100, and when I completed it I was given $75. I asked the lady what’s up, and she said, “Oh, there was another study which paid $100 but this one pays $75”. My BS-o-meter was going off as I was quite sure I had read the ad correctly. When I got home I went online to check it, to find that she had deleted the original ad but had also assured me through e-mails that I would be paid $100. When I confronted her with these e-mails asking for the other $25 (also through e-mail) she sent me a reply which stated: “Done. The check is in the mail”
I never got that check. Lesson learned? Always demand to get paid in full & and in person.