[indlebe]

Can confirm. Most psychology undergraduate classes at research universities offer free/extra marks for research participation. Most studies leverage purely these participant pools, with behavioural psych perhaps being the area where this is seen the most. As such, most behavioural psych PIs at these universities won't even budget for research participant honorariums.

[pigsty]

Mine required participation in at least 3 studies.

I feel like undergrads who are participating in a study only because they’re told to will shift the results a bit.

[MikeTheGreat]

My initial thought was "Yes, you're absolutely right. That must shift the results", and I think that selecting for any particular subset of the overall population will shift it, but given that the researcher is already using a convenience sample (i.e., easily available college students) is it really going to change it more than the convenience sample already does?

Like, I can see there being a difference between a truly random sample from the overall population vs. students who are required to participate, but how much of a difference are you going to see between local students who volunteer vs. local college students doing this 'as part of their homework'.

[sgc]

Yeah, the biggest problem seems to be taking a bunch of extremely hormonal 18-20 year olds in an awkward and idiosyncratic social situation (university in general, and often forced dorm life for undergrads), and then calling that a universal study of human nature. Over and over and over again.

[sclarisse]

It’s not the only thing to shift the results. I took one of those surveys asking the classic question of whether I’d like money now, or a decent bit more money in a few months.

There I was, earning nothing, a little shy on cash, but I had a job offer in a few months for a decent little software job. I said I preferred the money now.

[SilasX]

Uhhhh doesn't that violate informed consent? "Participate in a study or don't graduate" doesn't feel as consensual as research ethics normally require...

[GalenErso]

I once participated in a study in college for $50. I was not studying human sciences.

[dhosek]

When I took intro psych in 1986, we were required to do 3 studies, but some of the studies did offer cash. Those usually were the first to get filled. I think I only got money for one of the three.