dscout supports two features which allow users to clean their data by flagging and excluding submissions and entries from their final analysis dataset in Recruit, Express, Diary, and Live.
Now, researchers can flag and/or exclude submissions and entries that fall into these categories:
- Dishonest content
- Inappropriate content
- Low effort
- Duplicate account
- Duplicate entries
- Technical errors
- Off-topic entries
Below we've included some examples for each of the flag types:
- Dishonest content: inconsistent answers within a submission, inability to provide proof of ownership for missions about specific products or items.
- Inappropriate content: rude or disrespectful language + media.
- Low effort: nonsensical answers or responses that suggest minimal to no effort was given.
- Duplicate account: finding two instances of the same person in your mission.
Read on or click the links below for more information!
Recruit, Diary, and Live
Flagging Data
When reviewing entries and submissions in Recruit, Diary, and Live, researchers can flag low-quality, dishonest, or inappropriate content. To flag, select an individual entry, submission, or interview and then click on the flag icon in the upper right hand corner, report the reason for flagging the entry and provide a comment, and then click on the blue "Flag entry" button. Our Support team reviews all flags and takes action as needed; any context you can provide about your flag in the comment field helps ensure our team takes the appropriate action.
Flag in Recruit and Diary
Flag in Live
When an entry or application is flagged, our Support team will review your flag and take action as needed. This may include following up with the scout to share feedback or corrective actions; feel free to reach out to our Support team (help@dscout.com) if you ever have any questions or concerns!
Excluding Data
If researchers want to hide entries or submissions from their data set for analysis, they can use the exclude data feature. They may choose to use this feature in conjunction with the flag data feature or on its own. Excluded data will not appear in any of the Entry views (such as the Entries Grid, Close-Ended Responses page, or Open-Ended responses page) and will not appear in any exports from that Diary or Live mission or screener.
To exclude an entry or submission, select an individual entry, click on the exclude data icon in the upper right hand corner (next to the flag icon) and then confirm that the entry should be excluded.
Exclude in Recruit and Diary
Exclude in Live
Re-including Data
Excluded data will not be deleted from the platform and researchers will be able to re-include any entries that may have been excluded accidentally. To re-include an excluded entry, click on the Excluded Entry icon in the upper right hand corner on the Entries Grid page, which will navigate you to the Excluded Entries grid. There, researchers will be able to go into individual entries and click the Re-include entry icon in the upper right hand corner, which will add it back to their main dataset, meaning the entry will be included in counts, exports, and summary charts.
Re-include in Recruit and Diary
Re-include in Live
Express
Reporting an issue
If you find a problematic participant entry in an Express mission, you can report it to us and take actions based on the situation. You can report a participant entry for the following reasons:
- Dishonest content - the participant or their content was dishonest
- Low effort - the content suggest minimal or no effort was made
- Inappropriate content - the content was rude, disrespectful, or off-topic
- Technical issue (participant) - the participant experienced a technical problem
- Technical issue (platform) - the dscout platform caused a technical a problem
- Duplicate account - the participant is intentionally operating multiple accounts
Note: at this time, flags cannot be edited once submitted. We recommend reviewing your selections before submitting to ensure you have requested a refund or additional entry as desired (read more below for more details about these options.)
Requesting a refund
Researchers can optionally choose to request a refund of the participants incentive when reporting a participant to dscout. When you select this option, the entry will be excluded from your dataset; please note that this cannot be undone, and will withhold the mission incentive from the participant. This is available only within 7 days of the participant submitting their entry to the mission, as incentives are automatically processed within 8 days of the submission date.
Backfilling the entry
Researchers can optionally choose to backfill a reported participant in order to maintain the same number of participants in the mission. If selected, the system will restart recruitment to get the additional participant and the time to backfill will be dependent upon your mission. If you have not also selected the "Request refund" checkbox, the flagged entry will remain in your dataset; this means the flagged participant will still be paid, and your mission's participant limit will increase by one.
Note: if your mission is closed, the system will automatically reopen your mission until your backfill requests are completed, then automatically close the mission again.