Finding a Comparison Group: Is Online Crowdsourcing a Viable Option?

This article explores the viability of online crowdsourcing for creating matched-comparison groups. This exploratory study compares survey results from a randomized control group to survey results from a matched-comparison group created from Amazon.com's MTurk crowdsourcing service to determine their comparability. Study findings indicate that online crowdsourcing, a process that allows access to many participants to complete specific tasks, is a potentially viable resource for evaluation designs where access to comparison groups, large budgets, and/or time are limited. The article highlights the strengths and limitations of the online crowdsourcing approach and describes ways that it could potentially be used in evaluation practice.