umontreal.ca - Prolific Researcher Reviews

i was rejected for acccepting too fast, i think it was unfair.

Mediocre study that likes to drag on and gets easily repetitive. Even for 5 GBP, it feels longer than what's advertised.

Like many other participants, I was rejected for "finishing the study too quickly." I followed all of the study instructions and completed it attentively as usual. When I asked the researcher about the rejection, they said (numbers redacted for anonymity): "Hello. As part of our study, you were asked to watch all clips in their entirety. Based on our data, you watched less than X% of the duration for X of them. Moreover, your responses appear to be random compare to other participants responses." This is wrong. In the study instructions, we were told that we could finish clips early if the player got stuck or died, which I did a handful of times. I also rewatched many clips multiple times, so I had spent more than the minimum time required in the study compared to if I had only watched clips once. My responses were not random. We were asked to evaluate parts of the clips based on a multiple choice selection of criteria, which is what I did, again according to the instructions. Many of the clips were repeated or similar, but I rated all of them according to the instructions. The researcher offered to return the study. I declined and asked for compensation. They have stopped replying to me, and I escalated this to Prolific as an unfair rejection. Many other participants seem to have been rejected with the same message, word for word, who have also followed the instructions. What is particularly strange is the researcher claims many participants are "responding randomly" despite those participants being able to quote the instructions and clearly describe clips from the study. I believe the researcher is trying to scam participants out of their compensation by misrepresenting their instructions, and claiming we were not allowed to skip any part of any clip, which is false.

Was rejected for "Missing Data." After I messaged the researcher I was told he "misclicked" and gave me another reason for rejection which seemed incorrect. I asked if I could return the study instead which he allowed. Multiple typos in every message and in the study description on site.

I was asked to return the study: "Hello. As part of our study, you were asked to watch 66 clips in their entirety. Based on our data, you watched less than 80% of the duration for 3 of them. Moreover, your responses appear to be random compare to other participants responses." This is complete and utter nonsense, I did everything correctly.