  Online research platforms, such as Prolific, offer rapid access to diverse
participant pools but also pose unique challenges in participant qualification
and skill verification. Previous studies reported mixed outcomes and challenges
in leveraging online platforms for the recruitment of qualified software
engineers. Drawing from our experience in conducting three different studies
using Prolific, we propose best practices for recruiting and screening
participants to enhance the quality and relevance of both qualitative and
quantitative software engineering (SE) research samples. We propose refined
best practices for recruitment in SE research on Prolific. (1) Iterative and
controlled prescreening, enabling focused and manageable assessment of
submissions (2) task-oriented and targeted questions that assess technical
skills, knowledge of basic SE concepts, and professional engagement. (3) AI
detection to verify the authenticity of free-text responses. (4) Qualitative
and manual assessment of responses, ensuring authenticity and relevance in
participant answers (5) Additional layers of prescreening are necessary when
necessary to collect data relevant to the topic of the study. (6) Fair or
generous compensation post-qualification to incentivize genuine participation.
By sharing our experiences and lessons learned, we contribute to the
development of effective and rigorous methods for SE empirical research.
particularly the ongoing effort to establish guidelines to ensure reliable data
collection. These practices have the potential to transferability to other
participant recruitment platforms.
