Every day you use products and services in a competitive market place. Taking part in research gives you the personal opportunity to feed back to and have influence over these companies, so that what’s on offer in the future will suit your needs better. Badly designed products or websites don't benefit anyone.

When you take part in a discussion group you might be chosen from hundreds of applicants, and effectively you represent the views of potentially hundreds of thousands of people... This gives you a genuinely powerful and important role in new developments. We can't guarantee that the brands paying to know what you think are going to do things exactly in the way you suggest... but it's a bit like not registering to vote, then complaining about the government you get. If you don't step up and have your say, there is no way you can make a difference.

In the past many groups in society have been drastically under-represented in this area, for example minority-ethnic and disabled people are regarded as 'hard to recruit' and rarely involved in research groups. Saros challenges this, and aims to give every part of our diverse community a voice in market research fieldwork. Of course, there is a sound business case for this - our clients need to know the views of all their potential customers, not just the obvious majority.

Most of our research is commissioned by commercial brands, and if we ask people to take time to participate in a discussion group they are financially rewarded for their time and contribution (even social and academic research usually pays something for your input). This is a one-off cash payment, typically of £30 - £50 for a two hour discussion, but it could be far higher for specialist or business groups, and longer studies are often available too. Questionnaires and surveys are obviously much quicker and easier to participate in, and may be rewarded by entry into a draw of some sort - we'll always make it clear what the deal is, whether a survey is for its own sake and rewarded as such, or if it's just part of a screening process for a more qualitative phase. Sometimes when manufacturers are testing a new product, participants receive samples/supplies, in return for evaluating the performance.

The idea of talking in a roomful of strangers in a typical 'focus group' might seem intimidating, but most people find they really enjoy participating in groups – discussions are lead by a skilled moderator, everybody gets their say, and it can be lively and interesting, whatever the subject matter. Remember everyone’s in the same boat, and the researchers are well aware of this and go to great lengths to make everyone feel relaxed and welcome. And whilst helping to influence the activity of a company or service, you get paid and offered refreshments just for talking! You will have been selected for the group for a reason and as such you are likely to have many things in common with the other participants, indeed sometimes people find the more business-oriented projects can often represent good networking and contacting opportuntiies.

Take the first step today and register with Saros, you have nothing to lose and potentially quite a bit to gain.