Have you ever thought to yourself, “If I could just get a hold of $20, I can definitely make it through the rest of this week?” There is an easy way for students to do just that right on the campus.

Students interested in earning an easy chunk of cash can sign up for a study through the linguistics and sociology departments. For each hour you work, you can make $10.  Many experiments take 90 to 120 minutes, translating to a payoff of $15 to $20.

Setting up a time to participate is simple. Students need to create a username and password for the Sona website, the system used to track students volunteer hours. Students can select a time that works for them, and, after completing the study, they are given cash on the spot.

“People just don’t know about it,” said freshman communications major Hillary Wilk, who said she would probably do a study after finding out she could earn money. “And at the same time, it’s like, ‘What am I getting myself into?'”

Jeffrey Lucas, director of graduate studies for the sociology department, said their studies usually involve group interactions. 

Experiments  posted on the linguistics SONA website involved listening and identification tasks, reading sentences and responding to questions and brain wave recording with noninvasive EEG and MEG. 

Lucas said all studies must follow certain guidelines to protect subjects: Experiments have to be approved by the Institutional Review Board that oversees issues such as participant compliance and anonymity.

Students interested in participating in a study on the campus can log into www.umlinguistics.sona-systems.com or www.umsociology.sona-systems.com, or they can e-mail groupslab@socy.umd.edu.

Students interested in earning a little more cash should also check out the corkboard in McKeldin Library. Off-campus departments often use it to advertise their own studies, which pay more but are still just exams, interviews and surveys. 

For example, The National Center for Health Statistics is offering $40 for participating in an hour-long survey.  Stephanie Wilson, a survey methodologist at the center, said their department alone will call in about 150 paid participants a year. 

“We advertise in the newspaper, like The Washington Post, and they give out that free newspaper, called The Express, and the local library,” said Wilson. 

ga@umdbk.com