Abstract
Amazon's Mechanical Turk (MTurk) platform has become a data source for peer-reviewed academic research publications, with over 24,000 Google Scholar search results. Although well-developed and supportive in other disciplines, the literature in health and medicine comparing results from samples generated on MTurk to gold standard, nationally representative health and medical surveys is beginning to emerge. To compare the demographic, socioeconomic, and self-reported health status variables in an MTurk sample to those from 2 prominent national probability surveys, including the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS) and the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS). We analyze weighted and unweighted tabulations of the MTurk, MEPS, and BRFSS. Wald tests identify statistical significance. Demographic, socioeconomic, and health status variables in an adult MTurk sample collected in 2016 (n=1916), the 2015 MEPS household survey component (n=21,210), and the 2015 BRFSS (n=283,502). Our findings indicate statistically significant differences in the demographic, socioeconomic, and self-perceived health status tabulations in the MTurk sample relative to the unweighted and weighted MEPS and BRFSS. The MTurk sample is more likely to be female (65.8% in MTurk, 50.9% in MEPS, 50.2% in BRFSS), white (80.1% in MTurk, 76.9% in MEPS, and 73.9% in BRFSS), non-Hispanic (91.1%, 82.4%, and 81.4%, respectively), younger, and less likely to report excellent health status (6.8% in MTurk, 28.3% in MEPS, and 20.2% in BRFSS). We find significant differences across variables that warrant hesitation in using MTurk data as a replacement for the gold standard datasets in health services research.
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.