The effect of research project descriptions on samples drawn from Mechanical Turk
- WCU Author/Contributor (non-WCU co-authors, if there are any, appear on document)
- Christopher James Holden (Creator)
- Institution
- Western Carolina University (WCU )
- Web Site: http://library.wcu.edu/
- Advisor
- Harold Herzog
Abstract: The use of online research is growing in psychology. This growth has been augmented
by the development of the free online service, Mechanical Turk (MTurk) created by
Amazon. While Buhrmester, Kwang, and Gosling (2011) found that MTurk is a reliable
means of data collection; the MTurk data collection process may be prone to recruitment
bias. This study investigated whether the keywords in project descriptions influence
responses. Subjects were recruited through MTurk and selected to be in one of four
keyword conditions. These subjects completed a five-factor model personality measure,
a political ideology scale, and the Homophobia Scale (Wright, Adams, & Bernat, 1999).
Scores on these three scales were assessed for differences based on the keyword
condition. After analysis, it was determined that there were no significant differences
between conditions on any of the dependent measures. Keywords do not seem to
influence recruitment bias on MTurk surveys.
The effect of research project descriptions on samples drawn from Mechanical Turk
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Created on 3/1/2012
Views: 2735
Additional Information
- Publication
- Thesis
- Language: English
- Date: 2012
- Keywords
- Homophobia, Methology, MTurk, Online research, Personality, Political ideology
- Subjects
- Internet research
- Psychology -- Research -- Data processing
- Psychology -- Research -- Methodology
- Psychological tests