Prolific Academic Survey Alerts

Value

Not had any today yet but I had one yesterday and four on the 2nd.

elsien

I had a stray AI one last night. And a couple of others that I’ve been screened out of - other than that incredibly quiet but it has been New Year, so I’m not surprised. 

Prolific have ignored my two messages about the rejected study though. And my report to them don’t show up in messages so I can’t actually check when I sent them and what exactly I said. Will have to remember to screenshot next time.

I’ve been doing my sums. I am below £1000 for last year, but I’m over for this year so will have to report next January. Although I wasn’t sure if things like credit card cashback and nationwides hundred pounds “thanks for being a customer” count towards that total, does anyone know?

MollyR

I had three yesterday.  One for 60p, completed no problem, awaiting review.  One for 50p, got taken to the home page of where the study should have been hosted;  messaged researcher;  no reply;  returned study.  Researcher later replied, apologising and saying it was her first study on Prolific, and asked me to try again;  carefully explained to her that after returning a study one cannot just open it again, and that if I had not returned it I would have been timed out by then.  Recommended Prolific's Help pages.  And the third study (Robot Perception by Imed Ben Nasr for 60p) gave a page with brief instructions, then a page asking which of three answers was appropriate to what I had been told (none was;  and if it was an attention check it was in total breach of Prolific's rules) and when I selected one answer option the survey terminated, without any complaints but without any completion code either.  I immediately messaged the researcher to tell him.  Shortly afterwards I received a message saying that my participation had been rejected "Finished the study too quickly".  I responded protesting bitterly that he should not land me with the permanent black mark of a rejection just because his study was not working properly.  I got no reply, and lodged an official complaint with Prolific, for which I got an acknowledgement.  Hopefully they will remove the rejection;  in the past they have done, although it takes a long time.

So yes, I had surveys;  but for all the good they did me I might as well not have done!

MollyR

@elsien, I very much doubt whether Nationwide's customer bonus counts - it was not in any way "earned".  I have been talking with the tax people and they said that while every time one is paid for a survey counts, the survey portals which don't pay that way but just do a monthly draw do not count, as lottery-type winnings are not "earned".  I hadn't thought about cashback - hopefully Google will answer that one!

bizzie

The Nationwide Fairer Share counts as interest earned - 

9. How is the payment treated for tax purposes?

The payment is taxable savings income. This means that it is treated in the same way as any interest you may earn on your savings account or current account. We are not required to deduct any tax from the payment, but we will report it to HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC).

You may be liable for income tax on the payment, depending on whether the total amount of interest you have received in the tax year is more than your Personal Savings Allowance. You can find out more about your Personal Savings Allowance at nationwide.co.uk/psa. 

This tax information is based on our understanding of current law and HMRC practice applying to UK resident taxpayers. Current law and HMRC practice may change. For more information visit hmrc.gov.uk (opens in a new window).

Nationwide takes no responsibility for tax advice and if you are in any doubt, you should seek your own tax advice.

silvercar

I wouldn’t have thought any form of cash back counts. Otherwise all those nectar points and Tesco clubcard price discounts are going to have to count. They are just incitements to purchase by offering a discount and calling it cash back.

when you talk about breaching £1000 in the year, I assume you realise a tax year is 6 April to 5 April, not a calendar year. Also you can slightly move earnings between the year by not cashing out at the beginning of April and moving the cash out to after 6 April. Alike to getting your pay day moved in a paye scenario.

onemouseplace

I've had a couple of AI ones, but they are disappearing quite quickly now, so I need to get back in the mindset of shifting stuff round so I can get on with them when they appear - I had got quite used to them being round all the time so I could do one when I felt like it.  

MePlus4

I did my initial test survey before Xmas and got the £8.00 straight away but had nothing since, does it normally take a while to start getting surveys regularly can anyone remember?

snowwhyte

onemouseplace said:

I've had a couple of AI ones, but they are disappearing quite quickly now, so I need to get back in the mindset of shifting stuff round so I can get on with them when they appear - I had got quite used to them being round all the time so I could do one when I felt like it.  

I managed to get two this morning before they disappeared. It's better than nothing. 

snowwhyte

MePlus4 said:

I did my initial test survey before Xmas and got the £8.00 straight away but had nothing since, does it normally take a while to start getting surveys regularly can anyone remember?

It's probably more to do with it being the tail end of the holiday period than with you being new. If you check the Prolific Reddit page you'll find lots of people commenting on how quiet it is. Things will pick up.