Recruiting Participants: Choosing the Right Session Type¶
Written by Noah Nelson
Noah Nelson is VP of Product and has volunteered at FindingFive since 2017. He has a PhD in Linguistics from the University of Arizona.
Welcome! This guide explains the different recruitment session types available on FindingFive and how to choose the one that best fits your research needs. This guide is especially useful if:
- You are not sure which session type to use.
- You are exploring participant recruitment options.
- You are evaluating whether FindingFive fits your research workflow.
Looking for quick help?
Jump to a summary table outlining common recruitment needs and the recommended session type for each.
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What is a Session?¶
If you've built a study on FindingFive, you know that the platform is designed to be modular.
A Study contains the Study Grammar code that defines the participant experience: stimuli, responses, and experimental procedure (see our Studies FAQ for more information).
A Session represents a specific round of recruitment. Sessions define who can participate, how they are rewarded, and other recruitment-related settings (see our Sessions FAQ for more information).
This separation allows a single study to be used for multiple rounds of recruitment. For example, you might:
- Pilot a study by giving course credits to students at your institution.
- Recruit cost-effectively from the general public through the FindingFive participant pool.
- Collect additional data as needed through Prolific.
All three recruitment efforts could use the same underlying study while running as separate sessions.
Key Factors in Choosing the Right Session Type¶
Choosing the right type of recruitment session for your needs depends on several factors. Here are three key factors to consider when making that choice.
1. Managing Participant Identities¶
Many advanced recruitment features require some knowledge of participant identity to be effective, including:
- Demographic filtering
- Participation prerequisites and anti-prerequisites
- Longitudinal study chains
- Participant history tracking
- Managed participant rewards
In order for any platform to accurately apply these features, they must be able to track participant identities and collect at least some personal data from them. This is generally done through the creation of participant accounts on that platform. Of course, it’s also possible to handle everything yourself, but in general recruitment platforms take measures to maintain participant privacy and session-by-session anonymity that are simply too difficult for individual researchers to achieve.
Ultimately, the choice comes down to whether you need participant identities to be tracked, and who will be managing those identities if you do.
| Session Type | Participants Managed By | Advantages |
|---|---|---|
| FindingFive Pool | FindingFive | easy-to-use, in-house recruitment features |
| Institution | FindingFive | easy-to-use, in-house recruitment features |
| Classroom* | FindingFive | easy, in-house, student sessions are free |
| Prolific | Prolific | robust filters, verified participants |
| Anywhere | Other (incl. self-managed) | no participant accounts required |
Something to note is that sessions for which participant identities are not managed by FindingFive can not make use of FindingFive's recruitment features. Instead, they are dependent on you—or whatever third party recruitment service you may choose to use, inluding Prolific—to process participant identities as needed.
*Classroom sessions let students recruit each other
FindingFive offers a suite of features designed for teaching students about designing and running experimental research through hands-on application. Instructors pay for a Classroom license and invite students to join. Classroom members (instructor and students) can then build studies in the Classroom and recruit other members of the Classroom to participate, without the need for each student to have their own subscription.
If you’re interested in learning more about using FindingFive in your own classroom, reach out to us!
2. Managing Participant Rewards¶
How you plan to reward participants is another critical factor in choosing your session type. FindingFive makes it possible to reward participants directly with digital cash payments or institutional course credit*, or to process no rewards through FindingFive at all.
You can provide rewards outside FindingFive
Note that, in the event of "no FindingFive rewards", you can still provide your own rewards or use a third party—such as Prolific or SONA—to reward participants for you.
| Session Type | FindingFive Reward Options | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| FindingFive Pool | Cash rewards only | Automatic payments upon completion |
| Institution | Cash, course credit*, or no reward | Automatic rewards, or set up your own |
| Classroom | No rewards | Students join each other's experiments |
| Prolific | No rewards (managed through Prolific) | Manually approved digital cash rewards |
| Anywhere | No rewards | Use 3rd party or set up your own |
*FindingFive can manage course credit rewards
FindingFive offers its own course credit management system whereby credits are granted to students automatically after they complete your experiment. In addition, students can choose which course(s) to apply those credits to. This makes life easier for administrators, researchers, and students alike. It requires a department-level license, but is typically a good deal more affordable than alternatives. Plus, the license often includes free subscriptions for researchers in the department, like you. If you’re interested, reach out to us!
3. Budget and Time Constraints¶
Finally, consider your research budget and how quickly you need to collect data, as some sessions are better or worse for these considerations.
| Session Type | Budget Considerations | Timing Considerations |
|---|---|---|
| FindingFive Pool | Low recruitment and payment fees | Can have slower recruitment times |
| Institution | Low (or no) fees, course credit options | Depends on your institutional pool |
| Classroom | License required, but free for students | Depends on your students |
| Prolific | Higher fees, but good data quality | Fast recruitment times |
| Anywhere | Low (or no) fees, self-managed rewards | Depends on how you recruit |
If budget is your primary concern, consider what kind of rewards you will be giving. If you can use course credits, this can considerably reduce your costs. Consider using the Institution or Anywhere session types for this. If you need to pay cash, consider using the FindingFive participant pool, which includes automatic, hassle-free cash payments with significantly lower fees than most alternatives.
If your timeline is the main concern, consider using Prolific. They have a large pool of verified human participants with robust demographic and eligibility criteria that can be applied.
Case study: using Prolific with FindingFive
Don't just take our word for it! Check out this case study on using Prolific with FindingFive to learn more about how to turn months-long recruitment programs into mere hours.
A Summary of Recruitment Needs and Recommended Session Types¶
| Recruitment Needs | Recommended Session Type | |
|---|---|---|
| Recruit your own participants and use FindingFive eligibility criteria | Institution | most popular |
| Recruit your own participants without FindingFive accounts (no eligibility criteria) | Anywhere | most anonymous |
| Low-cost recruitment with flexible currencies and automatic cash rewards | FindingFive Pool | easiest payments |
| Reliable recruitment with strong verification and eligibility criteria | Prolific | most reliable |
| Allow students to launch sessions without a subscription (license required) | Classroom | most classroom-friendly |
Considering MTurk? It will be permanently shut down Sept. 30, 2026
For more information, see our announcement and the Amazon Mechanical Turk site-wide banner