What does screening mean?

A screening is a process conducted by survey companies to evaluate whether a respondent is suitable to take part in a certain survey. Given this, you cannot always qualify for every survey you want to take. You will need to meet the company’s eligibility criteria. This can be frustrating but it’s unavoidable. Plus, some platforms will actually pay you even if you are disqualified i.e. you may receive a disqualification bonus. So, you still get something and your efforts are rewarded.

Why do paid online survey sites screen you?

Before a survey is sent to you, survey companies will screen you. But is this necessary? The answer is, yes. The reason paid online surveys exist is so that organizations can conduct market research. Hence, they need to get data that is both useful and appropriate.

Survey companies will want to ensure that their clients who have ordered and paid for the survey get their money’s worth. The information gathered will eventually be used to make decisions regarding their services and products.

For instance, a detergent company can hire a survey site to design a survey for the detergent they sell. So, the survey site will have to ensure that the respondents are people who actually purchase detergent or do laundry. Otherwise, they will end up with information that isn’t of any use since the respondents will be incapable of providing relevant or useful data. This is why screening is the first step for survey companies.