Field Work

What is Field Work?

Field Work is a market research company that enlists freelancers to participate in focus group research.

Field Work Review:

This site arranges focus groups in major cities across the U.S., sometimes paying $100 an hour or more to participants. Doctors and medical professionals — nurses, lab techs, medical office managers and others — are in particular demand. And this research often pays even more than the ordinary studies.

These can be interesting and engaging meetings, where you get to discuss something that you know a great deal about and are probably passionate about. For instance, it might be a focus group of new parents talking about baby food. Or a gathering of general practice doctors, who prescribe antibiotics. Or luxury car shoppers.

How it works

You sign up, providing basic information about who you are, what you do, your age and other information about your demographics and family status. And then you wait. Focus groups are not every day events, so you’re likely to be chosen just once in a while.

If you are chosen for a focus group, however, you’re likely to enjoy it.

Most are done in person in this site’s elegant offices. In some cases, you’ll be part of a panel of 10 or 20 people. In others, you’ll be interviewed individually. Either way, you’re asked to spend an hour or two discussing in detail some product or service. For that, you can be paid as much as $75 to $200 an hour. (Medical professionals make up the bulk of the highest-paying slots.)

Personal data

However, realize that you give up a lot of privacy to qualify. When you register with this site, you’ll be asked a series of questions, ranging from your age and family status to your income, whether you own a home or buy certain products. Field Work says that many of the questions are optional. But your chance of getting a study is greater when you answer everything.

Field Work maintains that it does not share your personal data with anyone, but once you’ve typed it into a database, it’s in a database. Numerous data breaches in the past several years should alert you to the fact that if someone has your data on a computer, it’s possible that it will get shared in ways that you didn’t anticipate.

Different types of studies

This site arranges focus groups for national brands that look at everything from breakfast cereal choices to politics. When we recently viewed available studies, one was offering to pay parents $150 for a 90-minute interview. Another sought out medical professionals; and a third was looking for voters willing to spend 2 hours in exchange for a $200 fee.

The most lucrative studies are those that involve going into Field Work offices. However, people who don’t live near an office can participate in national panels. In addition to focus groups, Field Work does taste tests, product trials, in-home interviews, shop-along interviews, phone interviews, and online research.

Recommendations:

You can sign up with Field Work here.

Like the idea of participating in focus groups, but don’t live near a Field Work office? You can find similar opportunities at FindFocusGroups; Shifrin-Hayworth, SignUp Direct and Consumer Opinion Services.

What their focus group participants say:

We found only two complaints about Field Work from focus group participants.

One was from someone whose research study was cancelled and only got a partial payment. Another was from a doctor, who was owed a $420 payment for a study done right before the U.S. shut-down in-person meetings due to Covid. Field Work responded to the doctor with an apology and his pay. The site said that in the chaos of trying to close offices and continue their work with everyone at home, his payment had been delayed.