A Technical Guide to Using Amazon's Mechanical Turk in Behavioral Accounting Research

What is it about?

Multiple social science researchers claim that online data collection, mainly via Amazon's Mechanical Turk (MTurk), has revolutionized the behavioral sciences. While MTurk-based research has grown exponentially in recent years, reasonable concerns have been raised about online research participants' ability to proxy for traditional research participants. This paper reviews recent MTurk research and provides further guidance for recruiting samples of MTurk participants from populations of interest to behavioral accounting researchers. First, we provide guidance on the logistics of using MTurk and discuss the potential benefits offered by TurkPrime, a third-party service provider. Second, we discuss ways to overcome challenges related to targeted participant recruiting in an online environment. Finally, we offer suggestions for disclosures that authors may provide about their efforts to attract participants and analyze responses.

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