Research and design
Research and design
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Perigean recruiting process for unmoderated research

Last updated: May 2, 2025

OCTO has a contract with Perigean Technologies to help recruit, screen, gather consent forms, and schedule research sessions with study participants, which includes Veterans, Caregivers, Transitioning Service Members, and Reservists. To start recruiting participants for your study, refer to the research checklist. This page will walk you through Perigean’s recruitment process for remote unmoderated studies.

Flow chart of the research recruitment process
Overview of Perigean’s research recruitment process. 

Learn more about how Perigean's database recruitment and post-study process works.

Remote unmoderated study recruitment 

Perigean recruits for studies like card sorts, tree tests, chalk marks, and surveys.

Flow chart of the remote unmoderated research process
The recruitment process for remote unmoderated studies.

Study request 

After you complete the Research Review touchpoint and your study is approved, a study request will be sent to Perigean to kick the process off.

Knack database 

The recruitment request is then matched against Perigean’s database to find matching candidates - i.e., Filter #1.

Invitation and screener questions

Once Perigean has candidates that match the criteria requested, invitations are sent using Calendly. Up to 7 screener questions can be included in a short survey to help narrow the request – i.e., Filter #2. 

If a candidate accepts the invitation and passes the screener questions, Perigean will send them the VA-provided consent form for digital signature. Reminders to complete the form will be sent if not completed.

Participant code

All participants in remote unmoderated studies are assigned a participant code by Perigean. All research tasks must include a text entry capability as the first and last task for participants to enter this code – this essential step enables completion tracking and participant compensation.

Completion tracking 

Perigean does not have access to participant data. Thus, research study leads must provide ongoing updates by providing the participant codes entered by participants and the researcher's evaluation of the data (see criteria below), preferably daily through Slack.

Research leads are responsible for determining how participant data should be counted and, thus, which participants should be compensated. Research leads can learn more about planning unmoderated studies, which detail the use of the following criteria:

Complete, participated 

  • Participants entered a code at the beginning and end of the activity and participated in >0% of the test (i.e., provided at least 1 piece of data) 

  • The team determines if data is usable or unusable in results (use data scrubbing guidance, the team will document the reason for exclusion) 

  • For additional recruits needed to reach goal numbers, requests can be made to Shane Strassberg near the end of the study for the number needed. Be sure to account for the time needed to gain approvals and recruit within your timelines. 

  • Participants will be compensated regardless of whether their data is used in the results. 

Complete, non-participatory 

  • Participants entered a code at the beginning and end of the activity but skipped 100% of tasks/questions or provided no feedback or data 

  • Perigean will encourage participants to try again and will be given 1 business day to complete 

  • A participant is not compensated unless they repeat the test and move to complete, participated status. 

  • Perigean will determine if this should be noted in their database entry, but won’t impact future recruiting at this time.

Incomplete/abandoned, not usable 

  • Participants entered a code at the beginning but not at the end of the activity due to abandoning before completion. Data is deemed unusable by the team because of a lack of data or invalid data provided (use data scrubbing guidance, the team will document the reason for exclusion). 

  • Perigean will encourage participants to try again, and they'll be given 1 business day to complete 

  • You can request more recruits to reach your goal numbers.

  • Participants will be compensated regardless if they try again 

Incomplete/abandoned, usable 

  • Participants entered the code at the beginning but not at the end of the activity due to abandoning before completion. Data is deemed usable by the team because enough partial/valid data was collected (use data scrubbing guidance, the team will document the reason for exclusion) 

  • No replacement recruits 

  • Participant is compensated 

Note: Optimal Workshop automatically excludes participants who abandon from results. These individuals will need to be manually added back into the results. 

Invalid codes 

  • Participants entered codes that did not match each other or match the list of valid codes. Perigean will research to determine if they can match it to a specific recruit. 

  • If the code cannot be matched to a recruit by the latter half of the test (allowing for time for the participant to potentially contact Perigean). The team will remove the data from the test since the source is unknown.

  • Perigean will replace the recruit 

  • No compensation is issued 

  • If the code is matched to the recruit, Perigean will notify the team 

  • The team will validate the data received and classify it as one of the above

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