When it comes to Canadian survey panels, Angus Reid Forum is one of the biggest ones. But it seems like there are not many reviews of this site, as I have been getting a few emails from Survey Satrap’s Canadian readers wanting to know if Angus Reid Forum is scam or a legit panel worthy of their time.
So, I decided to spend some time researching this site to find out what’s really going on.
Angus Reid Forum
Angus Reid Forum was established in 2006 by Dr Angus Reid, a Canadian sociologist who’s first market research firm was founded in 1979. ARF today it is an acknowledged leader in the Canadian research panel market.
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The company behind ARF is Vision Critical, a North American based research company that has earned much industry accolades with footprint across the globe.
The idea behind this panel is to provide a conduit for residents in Canada to express their feedback on a number of issues and topics. Here is a little snippet of how the firm describes itself:
Are you often intrigued by the processes that drive decision among the legislators, or inside the boardrooms of corporate Canada, or maybe how your neighborhood supermarket decides on the pricing of individual products on the shelves? Good data underpins all of these decisions.
When you participate in public opinion survey, you are going to have a say on the factors that govern these decisions. And Angus Reid Forum encourages you to do just that without leaving your home.
As for its standing with the BBB, the profile its under is that of Vision Critical. I am not going to repeat the details here since I have already talked about VC in my recent review of Springboard America (another survey panel operated by Vision Critical).
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How Does it Work?
First off, you must be a resident of Canada and at least 18 years of age. Additionally, as is the standard in the industry, the site does not accept anybody who works in a market research firm or related industries.
During the registration process, you will be presented with a short Member Survey. A confirmation e-mail will be sent to you upon successful registration.
The Member Survey allows the panel to create a brief personal profile about the applicant. The sort of information they look for is your personal contact details, and also some basic information which helps to guide them to understand you better.
One major reason in wanting to know you better is that the panel wants to be assured of it covers as wide a spectrum as possible among Canadian residents, in the context of gender, household income and education.
The panel sends out invitation e-mails to members for survey participation. There would be a link inside the invitation e-mail which you either click on, or copied to your Internet browser’s address bar. It would subsequently take you to the website that hosts the survey.
That same e-mail would spell out very clearly about the amount of survey dollars the member sets to earn if he or she duly qualifies and able to complete the survey on time. Member can accumulate the survey dollars inside individual account at the completion of every survey.
On a regular month, member can expect to receive up to four surveys. To be eligible for the active member status, one is encouraged to at least participate in one survey every three months.
Occasionally, invitations will be sent out to get members into surveys that involve their “Trusted Partners” — a classification for their clients with whom Angus Reid Forum has developed a trusted working relationship. The choice of candidates would be subjected to the internal criteria established by the survey panel.
As usual, members are channeled through to a separate website that holds the survey from the invitation e-mail.
Upon completion of the survey, members will again be taken back to their dashboard and they would be presented with the opportunity to give comments and feedback.
In general, there is no difference in survey dollars paid out to members for both average survey and survey involving the trusted partners.
Survey Dollars
The redemption process over here works similarly to those from other points-based systems, i.e. a certain amount would have to be accumulated before Angus Reid Forum pays out. It’s the same way Global Test Market rewards survey participants.
For this particular survey panel, the minimum amount is set at 50 survey dollars. That amount was set after taking into consideration their own administrative fees required to run the survey panel successfully.
Effectively, whenever your personal account hits at least 50 survey dollars, with a face value of $50 CAD, you are at complete liberty to redeem the balance.
Your personal account, with your survey dollars balance, can be accessed from Angus Reid Forum members’ page. All redemption are to take place online.
Hit on the button “Redeem Survey Dollars Now” if you want your payout. From the members’ page, you can decide if you want a $50 check to your name, or a $50 donation to support your charity cause.
Scam or Legit?
I can confidently say this site is a legit paid survey panel. In term of time to reward ratio, it is fair to say that the survey panel actually pays generously. For example, a survey that takes no more than 10 minutes to complete can be accompanied by $3-$4 CAD.
Personally, I have never been paid this much for completing a survey with that little short time, anywhere else. My only grouse is the $50 limit for cash out.
Out of 5, maybe I give Angus Reid Forum a 3 rating. In all fairness, I was not able to enroll as a member since I live in the US. But I have read enough and gathered enough feedback from Canadian residents who belong to this survey panel, to say that it is a decent site to join so long you are Canadian.
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