I went to Baltimore Research yesterday after school. It's an organization that gathers regular folks together and asks them questions about specific topics or products. Then they report the answers back to companies who deal with those topics or make those products. It’s market research.
I was invited to participate in a focus group about Restless Leg Syndrome (RLS). I haven’t been diagnosed, but I’m pretty sure I have it.
There were only five people invited. Two of them were sent home right away, leaving three of us. The moderator woman showed us various texts about RLS and asked us to rate them according to their thought-provoking-ness. A text would say something like “Lost Time: Are you tired of losing time because of your RLS? Lost time with your family? Lost time with your friends? Lost time at work?…”
It was interesting, but I was bothered by the fact that the two other guys didn’t have RLS. They were just fidgety people. They either lied in the interview process or they didn’t realize what RLS was.
We looked at the texts and gave our opinions for an hour and a half. Then they sent us home with $100 in our pockets. Nice.
So, are you tired of losing time from RLS? Because it seems to me that nothing holds you back from sleeping. It’s your gift.
Thank you for giving back to the world by participating in this study. Even if you got paid.
…and it turns you into a mutant.
hehe…”gathers regular folks”…
Translation: gathers freaks with bizzare circumstances that need to be researched. Hey, I could be a millionaire by now!!
How long did this market research take and therefore what is the hourly rate? Better than classroom work, I’m guessing.
So…where do we all sign?
“That’d be 90 minutes, Carol!” So let’s see…$1.10/minute? $66/hour? $2,640/week?
Again I ask, “Where do we all sign?”