# Where can I request participation for an academic survey?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-can-i-request-participation-for-an-academic-survey/485114>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [February 9, 2009, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-can-i-request-participation-for-an-academic-survey/485114 "2009-02-09T19:10:36Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Juliette\_Culture\_Junkie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5fc32e/32.png) [@Juliette\_Culture\_Junkie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Juliette_Culture_Junkie)\
**Post date:** [February 9, 2009, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-can-i-request-participation-for-an-academic-survey/485114/1 "2009-02-09T19:10:36Z")

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I have a brief, simple academic survey which I need to administer to a small general cross-section of Americans. Is there a website or online forum where I could post this or advertise for participants? I need between 50-100 participants, and I have about a month to meet this quota. I feel that the internet would be the best way to get a random sample, as most of the real-world options I have for administering this survey would skew the results, but I’m hoping for something a little more credible/reliable than Craigslist.

Thanks for any help!

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**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\
**Post date:** [February 9, 2009, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-can-i-request-participation-for-an-academic-survey/485114/2 "2009-02-09T19:13:49Z")

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If you need an accurate cross-section of Americans, nothing on the internet will provide that. There are still plenty of Americans not online.

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**Author:** ![Juliette\_Culture\_Junkie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5fc32e/32.png) [@Juliette\_Culture\_Junkie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Juliette_Culture_Junkie)\
**Post date:** [February 9, 2009, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-can-i-request-participation-for-an-academic-survey/485114/3 "2009-02-09T19:32:17Z")

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I’m aware that I can’t get a truly accurate random cross-section on the internet, but I still think that an online sample would be more diverse and representative of generalized beliefs than any sample I could feasibly collect in my own area. If I tried to collect data virtually anywhere in or near my home city, it would be biased and represent the views that are most common here.

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**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\
**Post date:** [February 9, 2009, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-can-i-request-participation-for-an-academic-survey/485114/4 "2009-02-09T20:37:55Z")

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Ask the mods if you can post it here. We’ve done stuff like this in the past but it’s best to ask for permission.