Is anybody experienced in how to recruite participants for online-studies?

[katrin]

Hello,

I am currently writing my masters thesis and conducting an online-study (http://versuche.iwm-kmrc.de/tubenga/signon.html) at the University of Tuebingen, Germany. Actually, everything is fine, except one thing: The major problem I'm facing is the recruitement of participants for the study. As I'm in need of participants from outside of Germany, I cannot use the university mailing-lists here, and I don't have access to those abroad.
I have posted the study on several experimental-lists (websites for online-studies like webexperiment.net and so on). I've tried to use facebook-groups to post there, but I wonder if anybody reads the messages there. I have asked all my friends who have contacts abroad.
And still I have only 60 participants - of 240 needed.

Can anybody maybe give me an advise, how to manage the problem? Is anybody of you experienced in conducting online-studies?

I would be very happy if you could help me.
Thanks a lot in advance,
best wishes,
Katrin

[Enigma]

I found this: http://internetresearch.donyell.net/advertising.htm

Hope it helps. 

[spider]

Would you be willing to pay people to take part?

[katrin]

Hi!

@Enigma: That's an interesting site - the advices there sound good, like the one, not to make the survey/experiment to long). My study takes 30 minutes, and I think that's definitely too long, but unforunaltely, it's too late to change anything in the study. And the study is already posted on the sites he or she is proposing. But anyway, thanks a lot for your answer.

@ spider: there's a lottery where every participant has the chance to win one of two amazon gift coupons worth of 65 $ US, and it's not possible to pay more than that. But sure, if I would pay everybody, there would be more participants, I guess.

Thanks for your answers!
Yours Katrin

[susie23]

really simple
1 do you have a social networking site (facebook, twitter, skype)
2 send your request to all your friends
3 they will then pass it forward to all of their friends and eventually you will have a range of people from all over the world responding.
just remember to include the correct link to your online study.