dscout supports two features which allow users to clean their data by reporting an issue and excluding submissions from their final analysis dataset in Recruit, Express, Diary, and Live. Read on or click the links below for more information!
Overview
Researchers can flag and/or exclude submissions and entries that fall into these categories:
- Dishonest content
- Inappropriate content
- Low effort
- Instructions not followed
- Suspected gen AI use
- 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.
- Suspected gen AI use: media that contains suspected (or obvious) AI-generated content, written responses that you suspect may have been generated using AI.
- Duplicate account: finding two instances of the same person in your mission.
Reporting an issue
When reviewing submissions and interviews, you can report quality concerns regarding the data received.
- To report an issue in Diary and Live: select an individual entry or interview > click on the flag icon in the upper right hand corner.
- To report an issue in Recruit and Express: select an individual application (Invite tab) or submission (Analyze tab) > tap the three dots in the top right corner next to the participant’s name > select Report an issue
After tapping to report an issue, you will be prompted to select the main reason for reporting the issue:
- Select Participant for end-user quality concerns (inappropriate, dishonest, low effort, etc.)
- Select Technical when you suspect or observed a technical issue which resulted in issues with the final submission or interview
After selecting the main reason, you’ll be required to select a reason and provide comments regarding the issue observed.
Note: when flagging a Live session, please provide any specifics you’re able to regarding the time in the session the problem occurred. This ensures our Support team is able to efficiently identify the issue reported.
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. This may include following up with the participant to share feedback or communication regarding corrective actions; feel free to reach out to our Support team (support@dscout.com) if you ever have any questions or concerns!
Report an issue: Recruit
Report an issue: Diary
Report an issue: Live
Report an issue: Express
Requesting refunds and backfilling data (Express only)
When reporting an issue in Express, you’ll see a few resolution options available to you for data cleaning, refund, and backfilling purposes. See screenshot and additional guidance below:
Exclude from my dataset
The entry will be excluded from your dataset, but will not be refunded or backfilled. You may reinclude data as needed when you select this option.
Request refund
Within 7 days of an entry’s submission date, you can optionally choose to request a refund for the participant’s incentive when reporting an issue 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. At the top of the reporting menu, you will see the status of the participant’s payment alongside their payout date.
Request refund and recruit additional participant
Within 7 days of entry’s submission date, you may also choose to backfill the participant’s data as well as requesting a refund by selecting this option to maintain your original submission goal. If your mission is still launched, your mission openings will automatically increase by one; if your mission is closed, the system will automatically reopen, increase your openings by one, and automatically close after the new submission is received.
Note: this option is only available for “Auto-recruit from the Dscout panel” Express missions. Learn more here.
Excluding data
If you want to hide entries or submissions from your data set for analysis or data cleaning purposes, you can do so by using the exclude data feature. You may choose to use this feature in conjunction with the “report an issue” feature or on its own, depending on your reason for excluding the data. Excluded data will not appear in any of the Entry views (such as the Entries grid, Closed-ended Responses page, or Open-ended responses page) and will not appear in any exports from the mission.
Note: it is not currently possible to exclude data in Recruit. We recommend using the “assign fit” feature to categorize the application into the Low Quality or Bad Fit categories. You'll still have access to these applications if needed, and will have the option to reassign a Bad Fit back to Good Fit, Possible Fit, or Eligible.
- To exclude data in Diary and Live: select an entry or interview > click on the exclude data icon in the upper right hand corner (next to the flag icon) > confirm that the entry should be excluded.
- To report an issue in Express: select an individual submission (Analyze tab) > tap the three dots in the top right corner next to the participant’s name > select Exclude entry from data set
Excluding data: Diary
Excluding data: Live
Excluding data: Express
Re-including data
Excluded data will not be deleted from the platform and researchers will be able to re-include any entries or interviews that may have been excluded accidentally. (Note: if you have requested a refund for a submission in an Express mission, you will not be able to access the data or re-include it in your data set.)
- To re-include a Diary entry: click the “Excluded entries” icon in the top right corner of the Entries view > select the entry in question > tap the “re-include” button in the top right corner
- To re-include a Live session: click the “Excluded sessions” icon in the top right corner of the Sessions view > select the interview in question > tap the “re-include” button in the top right corner
- To re-include non-refunded Express entries: click the “View hidden entries” icon in the lefthand panel of your Analyze tab (Analyze > Participants) >
Re-including data will add it it back to your main dataset, meaning the entry or interview will be included in counts, exports, and summary charts.
Re-including data: Diary
Re-including data: Live
Re-including data: Express
Note: not seeing this option in Express? This means you’ve only excluded entries that you were refunded for, which you are no longer able to access after excluding.