Tom's Survey Notes

Sources and references

This page lists the sources used to compile the content on Tom's Survey Notes. The site is a research-based comparison and review compilation, not first-hand experiential testimony, and every factual claim on the site is intended to be traceable to one of the sources below. Where the site discusses pay rates, payout processes, panel features, eligibility criteria, or community sentiment patterns, those claims are sourced from the materials listed here.

If you spot a discrepancy between this site and a source, the source is authoritative — trust the source over this site and assume the site is due for an update.

Panel primary sources

Octopus Group

PureProfile

Prolific

Toluna

YouGov

OpinionWorld AU

Swagbucks

Pinecone Research and Branded Surveys

Review aggregators

Review aggregator sources are used to identify sentiment patterns and recurring complaints, not as proof of any individual claim. See the publication bias note at the bottom of this page for caveats.

Community discussions

Reddit

Whirlpool Forums

OzBargain

Other Australian forums

Independent editorial coverage

The following are third-party Australian or AU-relevant editorial sources covering paid survey panels. These are referenced for context and cross-verification of factual claims, not as authoritative sources in themselves.

Government and regulatory sources

Methodology note

The site does not aggregate every source listed above into every page. Different pages draw on different subsets of these sources depending on the topic being discussed. The general approach used to compile content for this site is:

  1. For factual claims about a panel (pay rates, cashout thresholds, eligibility criteria, payout methods, terms of service): start with the panel's own published documentation, then cross-reference against community reports for accuracy and currency.
  2. For sentiment patterns and recurring complaints: draw from volume-rated review aggregators (Trustpilot Australia, ProductReview.com.au) and recurring discussion patterns in community sources (Reddit, Whirlpool, OzBargain).
  3. For practical advice and tips on optimisation: compile from community best practices in Reddit and forum threads, plus panel support documentation.
  4. For tax, legal, or regulatory questions: defer to ATO guidance or recommend consulting a qualified professional. Nothing on this site constitutes financial, legal, or tax advice.
  5. For company verification and legitimacy: ABN Lookup for Australian-registered companies; basic checks of corporate identity, physical presence, and history of operation.

A note on publication bias

Several of the sources used here have known limitations and biases. This is acknowledged because pretending sources are perfect would be its own form of misinformation:

The site attempts to triangulate across multiple source types to reduce these biases, but no single source on this list should be taken as definitive.

Update policy

Sources are reviewed periodically to ensure they remain current. If a panel's pay rate, eligibility, payout methods, or terms of service change, the affected pages on this site are updated to reflect the new information. The "Last reviewed" date at the bottom of each page indicates when that page was most recently checked against its sources.

This site does not accept unsolicited contact, but factual errors identified through community channels (Reddit, forum mentions) will be corrected when noticed.