Like a lot of us in MR I belong to a panel or two. Just professional curiosity. My day job pays me enough so I can get by. I have found two invitations in my inbox on a Saturday afternoon and since they are B2B I have clicked through to the first one. I am welcomed with an expression of appreciation, accented with an exclamation point at the end. I don't get the the point of the punctuation, but at least it's not all in caps. I make a note to suggest to the person who runs our telephone centers that maybe if she trained interviewers to shout their appreciation at people when they answer the phone that cooperation would improve. But alas, the appreciation is short lived because before I so much as click the Next button I am sternly warned: "Should our quality checks determine that you have not provided thoughtful attention to this survey, you may be disqualified and forfeit the associated rewards." Whoa! (Yes, I raised my voice.) They don't tell me what those quality checks are or how they will determine whether I deserve the $9 they've offered me but I am chastened and click a button pledging to be "thoughtful and honest." I am asked my gender and my age in a series of categories. But apparently that's not enough because I am then asked my "exact age." It seems odd to me that they would use two screens to get to my age but, hey, it's their money and I'm being compensated for my time. I worry about use of the word "exact" but thankfully they only want it in years. My birthday is in March but I round down. Apparently this is not one of their quality checks because they let me go forward. Next they want to know if I work in the marketing research industry. Now the panel company knows I work in MR because I'm sure I answered their profile questionnaire thoughtfully and honestly. So this might be one of the "quality checks" I've been warned about. I decide to test them and click "No." I get to the next question. It may take the full 30 minutes to answer. But I'm feeling guilty and want a second chance to answer thoughtfully and honestly on that MR question. They're not interested in letting me make amends. There is no button to take me back. In desperation I use the Back button my browser and change the answer to "Yes." I breathe a sigh of relief and click the Next button. Nothing happens. I am found out. I promise to do better next time. As far as I can tell, no one is listening.