Nielsen rating offer

[Dznypal]

Today we got in the mail an offer from Nielsen rating to do a survey
There were 2 1$ bills to get you started
When you do the survey then you can pick from PayPal or gift cards.
I don’t remember if they said what they were for thiugh
Just wondering if this is legit
I have heard of the Nielsen ratings
Has any one ever done these

 

[DodgerGirl]

Today we got in the mail an offer from Nielsen rating to do a survey
There were 2 1$ bills to get you started
When you do the survey then you can pick from PayPal or gift cards.
I don’t remember if they said what they were for thiugh
Just wondering if this is legit
I have heard of the Nielsen ratings
Has any one ever done these

Did you have to fill out a diary of the shows you had to watch when you have to do the Nielsen Ratings survey? I remember my parents having to do this survey once and they had to fill in a diary of the shows we watched and they gave us money and it was good

 

[Twilghtsprkle]

Lol, I made the mistake of filling out one a few years back. They then decided my address was the place for them to put in a box to collect data. Every few months someone would drive to my house and try to convince me to become a ‘Nielsen family.’ It took like 3 years before they finally gave up.

My husband wanted no tracking stuff in the house. Think it’s pretty bad now where they may even have a camera mounted on your TV to watch you watching TV.

 

[bnf0522]

Today we got in the mail an offer from Nielsen rating to do a survey
There were 2 1$ bills to get you started
When you do the survey then you can pick from PayPal or gift cards.
I don’t remember if they said what they were for thiugh
Just wondering if this is legit
I have heard of the Nielsen ratings
Has any one ever done these

I did one where they wanted to know what radio stations I listed to. I had a booklet to record my stations for a whole week. I think I got $2 at the beginning and then a $5 bill in the mail when they received my completed booklet. Haven't gotten anything from them since!

 

[Dakota731]

It’s legit but you only are paid the $7

 

[tvguy]

I wasn't aware that Nielsen still used diaries, but that used to be one of the ways they tracked broadcast audiences. These days your Internet Provider, Cell Phone Provider, the apps on your phone, Streaming Service, cable and satellite providers are all tracking what you are watching and listening to and selling that information to Nielsen.

 

[Chernabob]

Nielsen tracks all sorts of things, including but not only media use. They’ve largely phased out diaries for recording media consumption, but they also measure consumer behavior in towns all across America. And they still stick a few bucks in with the initial invite, with greater incentives for returned diaries, agreeing to install meters, etc.

So yes, it’s likely legit if you want to take the time.

 

[disneydreamer1980]

My parents had a Neilson box put in a few years back. They got money but it wasn’t much if I recall

 

[firefly_ris]

I did one where they wanted to know what radio stations I listed to. I had a booklet to record my stations for a whole week. I think I got $2 at the beginning and then a $5 bill in the mail when they received my completed booklet. Haven't gotten anything from them since!

Same, we did the self reporting radio one.

 

[lanejudy]

We've done Nielsen diaries years ago, and then more recently (but still probably 5 or so years) we did something online. I don't recall the specifics. But yes, they are legit. You won't get rich helping them but there is a small stipend if you agree to installing a box or participate in one of their expanded data collections.

 

[focusondisney]

I did a booklet type survey a few years ago. Got the dollar or 2 initially & a few dollars after. Wasn’t offered a gift card. I got another request about 2 years ago & ignored it. It wasn’t worth my time.

 

[Grace&Carolinesmom]

We were a Nielsen family for around a year and a half recently. They do tend to send cash through the mail for certain incentives. Once you get set up as a Nielsen family, you get a small check per participant each month. We wore trackers (I wore it on a lanyard around my neck and DH wore his on his wrist) that picked up media we were watching or listening to meaning both TV and radio. Each night we put the trackers into a charging device that would also transmit the data via another plug-in device in the house. We were required to wear the trackers for a certain number of hours per day/per week to "earn" our small monthly check and often to get entries into monthly cash drawings.

Nielsen keeps members for a finite period of time and they notify you when your "time is up" and send you materials to return your equipment. You can also end your membership at any time.

 

[CarolynFH]

We were a Nielsen family for around a year and a half recently. They do tend to send cash through the mail for certain incentives. Once you get set up as a Nielsen family, you get a small check per participant each month. We wore trackers (I wore it on a lanyard around my neck and DH wore his on his wrist) that picked up media we were watching or listening to meaning both TV and radio. Each night we put the trackers into a charging device that would also transmit the data via another plug-in device in the house. We were required to wear the trackers for a certain number of hours per day/per week to "earn" our small monthly check and often to get entries into monthly cash drawings.

Nielsen keeps members for a finite period of time and they notify you when your "time is up" and send you materials to return your equipment. You can also end your membership at any time.

We too were a Nielsen family for a couple of years, some years back, and had the tracking devices you describe. I think we earned a couple of hundred dollars? Can't remember, but we were glad to be finished when our term was up!

 

[DisneyHardin]

I've done it a couple times.

 

[Kestryl]

I've done a few. My first one was about tv habits over the course of the week. I think they gave me $2 as a start incentive and then $10 once I submitted the survey. Since then, they've sent me a few bucks here and there as incentives, but the past few submission rewards have been low-level virtual Visa gift cards (like $2-5). I buy Amazon gift cards with them. Hey, it's only a few bucks, but every penny counts!

 

[AquaDame]

We received one within the last 6 months or so. It was a couple bucks and said they'd give us another $10 or $20 (I cant remember) to fill out an online survey which I went ahead and did. It was super easy for us, as we don't have cable and don't use the radio. There were no followup questions based on that and I had forgotten about it until the money came. It was a check I think? Definitely not paypal or a gift card.

 

[_19disnA]

A lot of times I see various articles that indicate how many households watch certain shows. Is this done using Neilsen data or some other method?

 

[Twilghtsprkle]

A lot of times I see various articles that indicate how many households watch certain shows. Is this done using Neilsen data or some other method?

Yes. It’s an archaic method that really should be eliminated.
It is estimated that one Nielsen house stands for 50,000-100,000 houses.

 

[_19disnA]

And hopefully their viewing habits are representative of so many others?...........LOL. Sounds a bit like political polling that always turns out wrong or the margin of error exceeds the difference in the actual results.

 

[Communicore1991]

And hopefully their viewing habits are representative of so many others?...........LOL. Sounds a bit like political polling that always turns out wrong or the margin of error exceeds the difference in the actual results.

It's actually a pretty good representation based on statistics. I felt the same way as you, until I took my college statistics course and it was fascinating how you can poll or survey or look at a small sample size and it ends up accurately representing a much larger set.

The best way to explain this is to read about the Birthday Problem https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Birthday_problem
We tried this in our class of ~50 people and about halfway through the professor asking a person's birthdate, we found two people with the same birthday.