Chicago CDR Virtual Labs Review and Earning Guide

The Chicago Center for Decision Research has recently started offering paid virtual labs to worldwide participants interested in contributing to behavioral science studies. But, is it worth signing up?

This Chicago CDR review and earning guide breaks everything down, including how the virtual labs work, who can join, how safe it is, the earning potential, and more. All backed by first-hand experience, reviews, insights, and data from real Chicago CDR participants and other sources around the web.

Be sure to read on before signing up!

What is the Chicago CDR?

The Chicago Booth Center for Decision Research (CDR) — part of the University of Chicago — is an organization of behavioral scientists studying things like social psychology, cognitive psychology, behavioral economics, consumer behavior, anthropology, and sociology.

In more simple terms, the Chicago CDR examines the ways people think, feel, and interact with others.

As of 2020/2021, the Chicago CDR has been conducting paid online research studies (aka virtual labs) via surveys, Zoom, and other remote methods, allowing anyone around the world to help researchers better understand human behavior, judgment, and decision making — all while making money!

About the Company

• Founded: 1977
• Parent company: The University of Chicago Booth School of Business (Chicago Booth)
• Located: 5807 South Woodlawn Avenue, Chicago, Illinois 60637
• Founder(s): Hillel Einhorn
• Socials: Twitter
• Contact details: CDRlabs@chicagobooth.edu | 773.834.9857

Is the Chicago Center for Decision Research Legit?

Yes, the Chicago CDR is legit. It's run by a reputable university and the organization has been conducting research labs for many years now.

Here's are some key reasons why we believe the Chicago CDR is NOT a scam:

• They have a valid and clear privacy policy
• It's free to get started as a research participant
• They're very honest and straightforward about how their virtual labs work and how you can join and make money
• It's easy to find the team behind Chicago CDR; they have a clear faculty page. It's also easy to find contact information (phone or email) if you need to contact the lab staff for any reason.
• They pay on time and promptly

Note: Have proof that shows otherwise? Leave a comment or contact us.

Related: How to Spot Survey Scams & GPT Scams (in 10 Steps)

Payment Proof

To further show that Chicago CDR is a legit panel, here's a payment proof from our reviewer:

Who Can Join? (Requirements)

• Age requirement: Participants must be 18 years or older to register.
• Country requirements: Worldwide. As always, opportunities can vary by location.
• Device requirements: Any device that allows you to access the internet with a browser. A strong internet connection. For some studies (i.e. virtual complex studies), you'll need a desktop computer that can run Zoom.
• Payout requirements: You'll need a valid email to receive your Amazon gift card payments.
• Other requirements: English fluency, basic computer skills, and the ability to maneuver a Zoom video call (for more complex studies).

Safety Inspection

Conducted on October 11, 2021.

• SSL certificate? Yes.
• Privacy policy: Here.
• Terms of Use: None
• Personal data collected from CDR participants:
  • For registration: First name, last name, email address,
  • For account creation: Age group, gender identity, ethnicity, level of English fluency, other languages you know, student status (if you're a student), employment status, income status, annual household income, zip/postal code, country.
    • Note: some of these questions are optional
• Do they share user data? No, user information is kept confidential.
• Do they sell user data? No.
• Can you opt out? Yes, you can contact Chicago Booth to have your information removed.
• Do they protect user data? Yes, from their privacy policy: “Chicago Booth utilizes reasonable and appropriate technical and administrative procedures to safeguard the information we collect and process. We protect account information by placing it on a secure portion of our website that is only accessible by certain qualified employees of Chicago Booth.”
• Can you delete your account and data? Yes, contact CDRlabs@chicagobooth.edu.

Is the Chicago CDR Safe?

The Chicago Center for Decision Research seems like a completely safe website to use and participate in studies on.

That said, I don't like that the fact that they don't have a privacy policy specifically written up for respondents. All they have that I could find is the privacy policy for Chicago Booth, which doesn't actually mention anything about the Chicago CDR.

That said, this Youtube video they uploaded explaining how the lab studies work mentions that the personal information of respondents is always kept 100% confidential.

Of course, your information most likely will be shared with some of the research staff inside the CDR. I'm not sure how they would conduct their studies otherwise.

In some cases, you may be asked to join live Zoom calls for studies as well, which means sharing your face with researchers. If that makes you uncomfortable, you can stick to the question-based surveys on CDR, but you'll be missing out on a large chunk of work.

Overall, I'd say Chicago CDR is one of the safer focus group/survey sites out there. And the fact it's run by a reputable university makes me even more confident in that verdict.

Obligatory disclaimer: Nothing on the internet is 100% safe or private. The above are opinions based on our independent research. Please take caution and do your own due diligence.

Related: For more info + tips on how to stay safe on places like the Chicago CDR, read this guide.

Chicago CDR Support Quality

Of the 3 Chicago CDR users we've surveyed, only 1 had experience contacting the support team. Here's what they had to say:

Their contact support is very helpful. I contacted them about payment issues and they responded after 24 hours.

– u/AggressiveSet8737

Have experience with Chicago CDR support? Leave a review below.

How Do Chicago CDR Virtual Labs Work?

Following the pandemic, all Chicago CDR studies have been moved online to the Virtual Lab.

Earning with the Chicago CDR (Center for Decision Research) is pretty easy. You can access the website via your PC or mobile phone browser where you can register and start participating in studies.

This is not a strict work arrangement — you can pick up surveys/studies whenever and however often you like.

To earn, you'll participate in study labs that help researchers understand how people make decisions and form judgments. These research studies are funded by some governmental organizations as well as non-profit agencies. Some funding also comes from the Booth School of Business, University of Chicago.

Typically, all studies have a specific timeframe, and how much you earn per study is based on the time spent. Rates are usually at $1 for every 5 minutes required by a study, or around $12 per hour. More on earning potential below.

After signing up, filling your profile, and completing some paid pieces of training (more details below), you can view all available studies in the Studies Dashboard (pictured above).

At the successful completion of every study, you are required to provide your username and a preferred email. An Amazon digital gift card estimated for that survey will be sent to the email you provided.

Chicago CDR Earning Potential

As mentioned above, Chicago CDR themselves state a rate of $12/hour for their studies. Still, your actual earnings per hour may vary from this number.

Based on 3 Chicago CDR users that we've surveyed so far, here are the stats we gathered on Chicago CDR's earning potential:

• Avg. $/hour: $5.33
• Highest $/hour: $10
• Lowest $/hour: $1
• Avg. $/month: $13.33
• Highest $/month: $20
• Lowest $/month: $2

Note: These numbers are updated regularly as we survey more users. Sign up here to stay up to date + receive exclusive content.

How Often Is Work Available?

As with all survey-based earning opportunities, the amount of paid work you receive will depend on your demographics.

Of the 3 Chicago CDR users we've surveyed:

• 1 reported receiving work a few times a week
• 1 reported receiving work a few times a month; and
• 1 reported receiving work less than a few times a month

Needless to say, it's tough to predict how many opportunities you'll receive after signing up. On average, expect a few a month.

• Bottom line? Don't expect Chicago CDR to replace your full-time job! This is an opportunity for side cash.
• Want to share your experience? Leave a comment!

Chicago CDR Review and Rating Breakdown

Ways to Earn on Chicago CDR + Tips

Earning is pretty straightforward with CDR, as you earn by participating in studies. These studies could either be done as surveys or virtual labs (via Zoom). Whichever you select will probably depend on availability or choice.

There are also studies available for children. We'll talk about these more below.

1. Surveys

Surveys are questionnaires that require you to type answers or select answers to a set of given questions. The links to these surveys are given as soon as you select the survey in your dashboard.

Usually, surveys take between 5 and 15 minutes. Once a survey is completed, you will get to submit your email for payment processing and receipt. These survey studies also require a one-time paid computer skills test (more details on this below).

2. Virtual Labs

Virtual labs are Zoom studies that could last anywhere between 15 minutes to an hour. This depends on the nature of the study. Sometimes, studies are broken into 2 parts if they tend to extend past an hour.

Studies like this could be a simple conversation or take the form of a role-play.

To participate in virtual labs, you will have to take a one-time Zoom prerequisite test (paid). This test helps them confirm that you can perform basic tasks on Zoom, such as responding to a chat, muting and unmuting your microphone, and also sharing your screen (more details below).

While browsing through the available studies, you can always click on them to view more details about them (pictured above). They always provide details such as time, pay, and the duration of a study.

3. Virtual Labs for Children

I'm including this as a separate opportunity although it's very similar to the paid virtual labs for adults (above).

If you have children aged 4 or older, you can opt-in for Chicago CDR's research with children, here.

By the looks of it, all child studies are conducted via Zoom.

According to Chicago CDR, these studies last around 5-15 minutes each, and typically ask children to listen to stories and respond to a series of questions.

As a parent, you can be present during these studies, but just as a spectator.

And as far as we can tell, payments for child studies work the same as for any other CDR study.

Related: Best Survey Sites & Apps

How to Cash Out Your Chicago CDR Earnings

Cashing out with Chicago CDR is as easy as signing up for a study. As soon as you complete a study, you'll be prompted to submit an email to receive your payment.

Payments are not held on the site, they are disbursed directly to you. So, there's no annoying minimum threshold to hit before being able to withdraw!

1. Amazon Digital Gift Cards

• Minimum Payout: $0.01
• Fees: None
• Payment Speed: 1-2 business days.

Once the digital gift card has been emailed to your preferred email address, you can decide to redeem it to your Amazon account, or keep it for later.

Please note that these gift cards can only be redeemed via the United States-based Amazon.com.

If you don't want to keep your Amazon gift card, you can always try selling it for a small loss in order to get cash. You could also try using a site like Purse.io to exchange your gift card for crypto.

Additional Tips, Notes, and Features

A few things to keep in mind when signing up for CDR's Virtual labs:

• You should be sure of your availability at the specified time. If you won’t be available at the agreed time, you must cancel your participation at least an hour before the scheduled time.
• Missing your scheduled study without proper cancelation twice will result in a permanent restriction in enrolling for studies.
• Virtual labs require video, so be prepared to show your face on camera. Also, you should be in a space that is well lit, free from noise and distraction.
• You can checkout Chicago CDR's code of conduct here.

Chicago CDR Reviews From Real Users

Here are some reviews of Chicago CDR Virtual Labs from verified users that we personally surveyed. Each reviewer was given a small incentive for providing their unbiased thoughts and feedback.

See more reviews in the comments or leave your own!

Chicago CDR Pros and Cons

Is Chicago CDR Worth It?

If you enjoy paid survey opportunities and you're interested in contributing to interesting research while making extra money, Chicago CDR is worth checking out. The pay rate here is higher than on most survey sites, and the studies are more interesting as well.

How to Get Started on Chicago CDR

Becoming a research participant for the Chicago Center for Decision Research is easy.

Step 1. Sign up

To sign up, head here to learn more about the virtual labs and to register an account.

During registration, you'll be provided with a web form to fill in your name, email address, country, zip code, and a few other small details.

Step 2. Log in to the study portal

After registration, there is a waiting period of 24-48 hours for processing. Once this is over, you'll receive a welcome email with personalized login details. This includes your username and password.

With the username and password given, go to the website provided in the email address to log in.

Once logged in, you'll be asked to fill out some profile information, including your age group, gender identity, ethnicity, level of English fluency, languages, employment status, income status, annual household income, etc. This info is used to connect you with relevant studies, so be sure to fill it out as fully as you can.

Step 3. Take screening tests

Next, you'll be required to take the paid computer skills screening and the Zoom prerequisite study. This is to mark you as eligible for any related studies.

You can find the computer skills and Zoom prerequisites studies by clicking the “view available studies” button in your dashboard:

And then finding the “CDRVL: Zoom Prerequisite Study” and “CDRVL: Computer Skills Survey” options:

Completing the computer skills survey makes you eligible for survey studies. Completing the Zoom prerequisites study makes you eligible for virtual labs (which typically pay more).

Once you're finished, payments for each screening will be sent to your email as specified. If you complete both, you'll earn $5.

4. Start Participating in Virtual Labs

As soon as you're done with the screeners, you can participate in all studies/virtual labs available in your dashboard. Just click on the Studies tab to see available studies, just as you did before.

Once you see an available study you're interested in, view the available time slots and select which is most suitable for you. The number of available studies you participate in is up to you. Always remember to show up and be on time.

Chicago CDR Alternatives

Since Chicago CDR doesn't have a super consistent stream of available studies, it's worth signing up for a few other similar sites if you enjoy the work and want to increase your income.

Here are some Chicago CDR alternatives to check out:

• Prolific
• Testable Minds (review coming soon)
• Respondent.io
• User Interviews

For similar money-making ideas and opportunities, check out the Hustle Finder, or one of these guides:

• Best Survey Sites & Apps (Ultimate Guide)
• Sites That Will Pay You to Test Websites and Apps
• Micro job sites
• Ways to make extra money
• Ways for teens to make money
• How to start working from home

Final Thoughts

Hope you found this review of Chicago CDR Virtual Labs helpful! If you did, please consider sharing it to spread the word — one share helps more than you know!

• Are you a Chicago CDR Virtual Labs participant? Click here to leave your own short Chicago CDR review below.
• Have questions or feedback? Leave a comment or contact us.