Online Research Platform

Under this contract, a Contractor will provide a self-service research platform to CFPB researchers to execute social science experiments and studies via the internet. The CFPB is not seeking to build a custom platform; the Contractor's online research platform should be one that is currently available for use. CFPB willdesign the study and determine the recruitment requirements for each study. The CFPB will use the Contractor's platform to select recruiting and screening criteria for high-qualityparticipants for the study. When the study is run, the platform will recruit, screen, and connect participants to CFPB's study link. The platform will then pay participants after studycompletion. It might also be possibel for the platform to provide CFPB with deidentified administrative data it already contains to match to the study data that CFPB collects. Note:The Contractor and platform will NOT have access to the CFPB data collected via the study link. The platform is merely a tool to connect volunteering participants to the study andto pay them afterwards. Online research platform will be used to carry out online surveys and experimental studies by CFPB researchers. The platform functions required include recruitment and screening of study participants, directing participants to a CFPB study, and payment of participants after completion of a study. For each of these required platform features, the platform must be able to meet additional requirements. This includes, though is not limited to:Recruitment: The platform must be able to recruit high-quality participants, both of convenience samples and based on targeted demographics or participant characteristics.Screening: In addition to screening participants based on qualifications for a study, the platform must be able to screen out non-human respondents (e.g., bots) and low-quality participants (e.g., un-attentive or dishonest in answering online surveys).Payment: The platform must be able to pay participants quickly after completion of a study and offer both fixed and variable payment options. The platform must be able to pay participants amounts according to the needs of each study. For example, participants may be paid a fixed amount, or they may be paid an amount that depends on their choices and/or the choices of other participants in the study (variable/flexible amount). The following minimum requirements must be met: Off-the-Shelf - The Contractor's online research platform shall be an existing platform that is currently availabe for use after purchase ("off-the-shelf"). The platform shall meet all other minimum requirements listed below. Implementation - The Contractor's online research platform shall enable CFPB to implement online studies in a timely manner. Forecasting Prices - The Contractor's platform shall provide detailed information to enable the CFPB to accurately forecast the price of a study before CFPB launches the study. The platform shall provide the pricing for participants of different demographic groups that the platform can target for recruitment. Forecasting Feasibility - The Contractor's platform shall provide information for the CFPB to forecast feasibility of a study's recruitment criteria before the CFPB runs the study. Technical Support for CFPB - The Contractor shall provide information and assistance to CFPB with technical issues or other questions that occur when using the online platform. Technical Support for Participants - The Contractor shall provide technical assistance to participants as needed, such as helping them successfully navigate issues they may encounter when accessing a study or with receiving payment. Participation - The Contractor's platform shall recruit high-quality participants. The platform shall have the ability to recruit and screen high-quality individuals who are human beings (i.e., not robots or - bots) with demographics accurately reported, and who answer questions attentively and honestly. Online Panels - The Contractor's platform shall access to one or more online panels from which it can recruit and screen for participants. The platform shall use these online panels to: Recruit based on demographics. Obtain large sample sizes. Payments - The Contractor's platform shall deliver participant payments following participant completion of a study. Payment Time - The platform shall deliver participant payments in a timely manner. Flexible Payments - The platform shall demonstrate the ability for CFPB to pay participants amounts according to the needs of each study. Matched Data - The Contractor's solution shall demonstrate ability to quickly provide accurate matched data, including, at least, whatever data is used to recruit and screen for participants, after each round of data collection. Required Capabilities Online Panels - The online research platform shall recruit participants from one or more online panels Recruitment - All participants recruited by the Contractor's platform for CFPB studies shall meet the criteria specified by the Bureau They are accustomed to participating in studies that take up to 30 minutes to complete. They are over the age of 18 and reside within the United States. Screening - The Contractor's platform shall recruit and screen individuals from online panel(s) for participation in CFPB studies. Participant Payment - CFPB researchers will specify how participants payments will be determined for each study. Although some studies may specify fixed payments for all participants who complete a study, other studies will determine payments as a function of participants choices in the study. The Contractor's platform must therefore be able to provide variable payments from the CFPB after a participant completes a study and pay participants individualized amounts in accordance with CFPB's instructions. Firms who are able to fulfill the above requirements and are interested in receiving a Request for Proposal shall submit a capability statement to crystal.mckay@cfpb.gov no later than December 21, 2023 at 3:00 p.m. EST.