A week ago I posted about how social science and personal experience have combined to demonstrate that, while I am biologically male, I do not act like it in negotiating situations. Instead, I might as well be wearing Strawberry Shortcake underoos when I sit down at the bargaining table.
Shortly thereafter, I was asked to participate in the Nielsen surveys for online activity. Partly because my research interests lead me to be interested in what this survey looks like, I agreed, even though they said the survey would take 45 minutes. Plus, they said they'd send a check for $15. Later, I realized that their attention to response rates was probably such that there was another incentive level for reluctant respondents than just $15.
Anyway, they sent the URL and told me the check was on its way, but I've been pretty busy here and so doing a 45 minute survey hasn't made it to the top of the daily queue. I opened the link and looked at the first page, but that's all. Today I received the reminder e-mail noting I had "begun" the survey but not finished, and wondered if there were any problems.
My response: "The length of the survey appears such that I would need a larger incentive than what I was offered for it to make sense for me to complete it."
I could not feel any more manly right now, even if I walked outside and strangled some majestic deer to death with my bare hands and downed a case of Schlitz to celebrate, crushing the can against my forehead and belching loudly after each one. Seriously, I feel like I've just been hosed down with testosterone gel.
I will let you know what response I get from the folks at Nielsen.
9 comments:
I can't wait for that response to show up, years from now, as evidence in some article on survey methodology and incentives.
i feel totally icked out by your weird attempts to be "manly." can you just be yourself?
Way to stick it to 'em!
Of course your realize that by trying to drive up incentives for crappy marketing surveys, you may in turn drive demand for higher social survey incentives too, right? Just a thought.
JJ
I'll bet you're swaggering around your apartment right now. You're wearing a muscle shirt too, aren't you?
so what kind of underoos does a manly sociologist wear?
If y'all think Jeremy's knee boo-boo constitutes icksome gore, there is entirely too little zombie-based entertainment in your lives.
I mean, he scraped his knee. That little girl in Night of the Living Dead ATE HER OWN MOTHER.
Tonya: Not only am I wearing a muscle shirt around my apartment, but I'm riding a motorcycle around my apartment as well. While eating a gigantic shank of meat.
T-L: The Brewers announcer anecdote is hilarious. I'm worried about your Brewers thing, though, they are destined to break your heart.
JJ: I don't even want to get into the whole survey incentives literature, about which I also have some (not always willing) familiarity, other than to say that it was part of how I figured they would be likely using a differential incentives scheme. The only reason they might not is that they are such a well-known survey and bloggers could get out the word on what their maximum is.
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