Our studies

Be rewarded for contributing to scientific discovery

We need you. If you can spare 30 minutes to 2 hours to be part of science at our Colchester Campus, we'll reward you with £5 - £50 per study for taking part.

What studies involve

A social science study is a tool for understanding human attitudes, perceptions and behaviour, among other things.

In a typical study, you may make decisions or answer questions on a computer. You may either be on your own, or interacting via a computer with other participants. Your experience will vary from one study to another.

We'll come to you

We also conduct studies using ESSEXLab Mobile, using surveys on iPads. These studies can be conducted anywhere, from classrooms to offices, in your home or even on the street. Once you register for our participant database, you'll be notified of studies coming up soon near you.

Influence policies that affect lives

Social science research is vital for policy makers. As a participant at ESSEXLab, you'll help influence policies that will affect the lives of you and others. Our studies have:

• had a major impact in economics, deepening understanding of social preferences and market behaviours
• helped to understand the processes behind charitable giving and donation
• shed light on the dietary and nutrition choices of families.

A growing number of sociologists, anthropologists, economists, psychologists and political scientists conduct research ranging from learning how people make decisions and interact to how different social institutions and organisations might work.

With the introduction of the Behavioural Insights Team at the Cabinet Office, social science research is of increasing importance to policy makers. Understanding social processes helps to design policies to be better and more effective in their service of the public.

What our participants say

"It’s interesting how it makes you think about your actions and values afterwards."

"I like the idea of being a part of, and helping social science."

"It’s a great experience to be a part of these experiments, especially when you know and can see how they are conducted and lead to answers about many different questions."

Register now

We are striving to improve the world. You can help too by registering for our participant database to take part in our studies.