Before reviewing this page, please save a copy of the document "Guidance on Incentives for Research or Survey Participants" and review that document. It is the most up to date guidance from the Colorado College Office of Finance and Administration. You may access that document by clicking on the title above. You are legally obliged to comply with the guidance in this document.

 

An introduction to research incentives/compensation: Any payment or non-monetary reward provided by a researcher to research participants to compensate for their time, effort, and inconvenience in participating would be included in the considerations on this page, as would any payment or non-monetary reward provided as an incentive to get participants to participate. Compensation/incentives include cash, gift cards, vouchers, food, promotional items, course credit, and other benefits. Such benefits can be made available to all participants or can be available only to one or a few through a drawing. Reimbursement of travel costs is not an incentive; if it is the only compensation it must be clearly described as such.

Compensation/incentives are not inherently unethical and are not necessarily illegal, but can be problematic if they have an undue amount of influence on someone's decision to participate in your research. This is especially a problem with people who are financially destitute if a sizeable amount of money is offered, and with people who are hungry if food is offered. The law requires that researchers seek consent only under conditions that minimize the possibility of undue influence or actual coercion. When compensating vulnerable individuals, the compensation should be appropriate for the amount of time, effort, and inconvenience involved, but should not be high enough to induce participants to accept risks of harms that they would not otherwise accept (or to participate in activities that they would otherwise find offensive or immoral). Overly high compensation/incentives for people in vulnerable situations are also problematic for the research itself, as they may lead potential participants to lie about their research eligibility or to conceal information about themselves that would make them ineligible.

Incentives and compensation payments should not be referred to as "benefits" in consent forms, and should not be related to the magnitude of any potential risk of harm; they should be in proportion to the amount of time, effort, and inconvenience on the part of participants.

Here are some additional ethical/legal points about incentives and compensation:

• The recruitment materials should not draw special attention to the fact that there will be compensation or incentives but should mention this fact, and should include incentive/compensation procedures as well as amounts
• The consent process/form should include all relevant details about compensation/incentives, including any pro-rating of rewards if the participant withdraws partway through the research; for drawings, the consent process/form should also include information about the date and location of the drawing, the odds of winning, and how winners will be notified
• The compensation or incentive must never require participants to spend their own money (so a discount coupon that would require the participant to spend their own money while receiving a partial discount is not acceptable)
• Use the term "drawing" rather than "raffle" or "lottery" to make it clear that there is no fee to participate in the drawing and that all eligible participants will be entered unless they choose not to be
• Contact IRB Chair Amanda Udis-Kessler if you are a faculty member and wish to use course credit or extra credit as an incentive, as this practice comes with certain additional challenges