Chicago Booth CDR Earning Guide

How to Start Earning with the Chicago Center for Decision Research (CDR)

If you're brand new to Chicago CDR, here's the optimal way to get started:

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 and accurately 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.

3 Ways to Make Money on Chicago CDR

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

Chicago CDR Tips and Tricks to Earn More Money

Ok, now that you know how to make money on Chicago CDR, let's look at some tips to help you earn more in less time.

1. Fill out the prerequisite studies

We mentioned these above, but they're worth mentioning again. Be sure to do them! They pay and they'll make you eligible for more studies.

2. Read study details carefully

Pay attention to a studies duration and time slots before you apply for it. You can cancel a study at least an hour before the scheduled time, but try not to. If you cancel without proper notice more than two (2) times, you could be banned from the platform.

3. Get comfortable

The virtual labs on Chicago CDR are live interviews. These typically pay more than the basic survey studies so try to get comfortable being on camera!

4. Read the rules of conduct

Besides being comfortable on camera and adhering to study schedules, there are some other codes of conduct as well:

• Respond to questions sincerely
• Don't participate in the same study more than once
• Be sure to prepare your space beforehand so you're not interrupted during a study
• Keep your phone on silent during studies