As a part of our participant panel, researchers may reach out to you via phone, email, or the messages tool to verify screener responses, ask additional screener questions, pass along study instructions, or simply remind you of your session. Whether researchers can contact you before confirming your session depends on if the researcher has our "Double Screening" feature on their study.
Studies without "Double Screening"
Most studies (about 70%) do not have "Double Screening". This means researchers will only see a participant's email and phone number once the participant has confirmed their session. Researchers may use this contact information to:
- Give further instructions about the session
- Send an NDA or consent form
- Provide a session link
- Send additional reminders
- Call the participant at their session time for phone studies
Researchers can also message participants using the messages tool. These messages will be sent both as a text and email. To view and reply to those messages, follow the link in the email or text to the "Messages" tab of your account.
Studies with "Double Screening"
If a researcher has the "Double Screening" feature, they will receive the participant's email and phone number as soon as the participant applies to the study vs. after they're confirmed for a session. This allows the research team to further verify information that will help them make decisions on who they want to participate in their study. The researcher may reach out for any of the reasons listed in the above section, but can also use this contact information to:
- Confirm screener answers
- Ask additional screening questions
- Gain verification of some sort
- To review the study requirements
- To coordinate a date and time or ask about availability. See note below.
If within 10 business days of your completed session you do not see your session listed under the "My Studies" tab of your account, or if a researcher invites you to a *new* study outside of UI, please alert us immediately. Reporting these instances will help us root out researchers going against our policies! If this happens to you, please email support@userinterviews.com.
Q&A
Can I see which studies have "Double Screening" before applying?
Yes! Studies that have "Double Screening" will have a note at the bottom of the study details page that the researcher may contact you.
Will a researcher communicate additional screening steps in the study application so I know what to expect?
We heavily encourage researchers to provide as much information upfront about study expectations. We know emails can go to spam or get passed by if they're not familiar, and that many people will not answer a call from an unknown number, so we nudge researchers to include the phone number or email address they'll be contacting you from. Some teams are better about providing details than others, though, and we cannot guarantee that all touchpoints will be listed in the application.
Will I be paid for my time on a call or email chain if I'm contacted for "Double Screening" purposes?
No. This is considered additional screening to help the researcher determine who will participant in their study, and is not compensated time.
How long should I anticipate a call for "Double Screening" purposes?
Most calls are short, averaging about 10 minutes. If the researcher contacts you for additional screening, feel free to inquire how long this screening call will be. If the additional screening time exceeds your personal limit, you are welcome to tell the researcher you're no longer interested in the study.
How often will a researcher call or email me?
For studies with "Double Screening", researchers only reach out to participants who they think may be a good fit for their study, and typically only reach out to participants one time before approving them. Occasionally they may reach out more than once if the study has multiple parts, the study will span multiple weeks or months, or for studies with very high incentives.
Researchers may have varying outreach points once you're confirmed for a study—you may never hear from them via phone or email, or some may send you an email or two ahead of the session with more instructions, links, reminders, etc. If you feel you're being contacted too much for a specific study, let us know.
Can researchers contact me after the study?
Researchers should not be reaching out to you after the study has been completed. If a researcher is contacting you to recruit you off our platform, is sending you sales or marketing emails, or otherwise contacting you, please contact us here.
I do not want my contact information shown to research teams. Can I participate without it?
Both a phone number and email is required to participate. We cannot remove one or both from a researcher's view.
