Demographics?of?Mechanical?Turk?
 Panos?Ipeirotis?
 Department?of?Information,?Operation,?and?Management?Sciences?
 Leonard?N.?Stern?School?of?Business?
 New?York?University?
 ?
 Abstract?
 We?present?the?results?of?a?survey?that?collected?information?about?the?demographics?of?participants?on?
 Amazon?Mechanical?Turk,?together?with?information?about?their?level?of?activity?and?motivation?for?
 working?on?Amazon?Mechanical?Turk.?We?find?that?approximately?50%?of?the?workers?come?from?the?
 United?States?and?40%?come?from?India.?Country?of?origin?tends?to?change?the?motivating?reasons?for?
 workers?to?participate?in?the?marketplace.?Significantly?more?workers?from?India?participate?on?
 Mechanical?Turk?because?the?online?marketplace?is?a?primary?source?of?income,?while?in?the?US?most?
 workers?consider?Mechanical?Turk?a?secondary?source?of?income.?While?money?is?a?primary?motivating?
 reason?for?workers?to?participate?in?the?marketplace,?workers?also?cite?a?variety?of?other?motivating?
 reasons,?including?entertainment?and?education.??
 ?
 ?
 ? ?
Prior?Findings?
 Amazon.com,?until?recently,?was?paying?in?cash?only?workers?that?had?a?bank?account?in?the?US.?All?other?
 workers?could?still?participate?on?Amazon?Mechanical?Turk?but?the?only?way?to?be?compensated?was?to?
 get?paid?using?an?Amazon.com?gift?card.?This?policy?discouraged?workers?from?other?countries,?and?the?
 majority?of?the?workers?were?from?the?United?States?(typically?70%?80%?of?the?participants???see?
 http://behind?the?enemy?lines.blogspot.com/2008/03/mechanical?turk?demographics.html).?Extensive?
 surveys,?conducted?by?multiple?parties,?confirmed?that?finding.?The?main?findings?of?earlier?surveys?
 indicated?that?Mechanical?Turk?workers?are?relatively?representative?of?the?population?of?US?Internet?
 users?(http://behind?the?enemy?lines.blogspot.com/2009/03/turker?demographics?vs?internet.html),?
 but?with?the?following?biases:?
 ? Turkers?are?younger.?54%?of?Turkers?are?between?21?35?years?old,?compared?to?22%?of?the?
 general?population.?
 ? Turkers?are?mainly?female.?70%?of?the?Turkers?are?female,?compared?to?50%?of?the?general?
 population.?
 ? Turkers?have?lower?income.?65%?of?Turkers?have?household?income?less?than?60K,?compared?to?
 45%?of?the?general?population.?
 ? Turkers?have?smaller?families.?55%?of?Turkers?do?not?have?children,?compared?to?the?40%?of?the?
 general?population.?
 ? Geographical?distribution?of?Turkers?and?Internet?users?is?similar.?
 ? Race?composition?of?Turkers?and?Internet?users?is?similar,?although?there?are?slightly?more?
 Asians?on?Mechanical?Turk.?
 Changes?since?Last?Survey?
 Recently,?however,?Amazon.com?allowed?workers?in?India?to?receive?their?payment?in?Indian?rupees?
 (https://www.mturk.com/mturk/help?helpPage=worker#how_recv_rupees).?This?changed?significantly?
 the?population?dynamics?on?Mechanical?Turk,?guaranteeing?the?need?for?a?fresh?survey?of?the?workers.?
 For?this?reason,?we?conducted?a?new?survey,?collecting?demographics?of?1,000?Mechanical?Turk?users.?
 The?survey?was?conducted?over?a?period?of?three?weeks,?in?February?2010?and?the?questions?that?we?
 asked?are?given?in?the?Appendix.?Each?participant?was?paid?$0.10?for?participating?in?the?survey,?and?the?
 average?time?to?complete?the?survey?was?3?minutes,?for?an?effective?hourly?rate?payment?of?$1.66/hr.?
 The?participants?self?selected?themselves,?so?there?is?the?question?on?whether?the?demographics?of?the?
 participants?are?biased?by?the?amount?of?payment.?
 In?total,?we?got?participants?from?66?countries.?The?results?indicated?that?still?the?majority?of?users?are?
 from?the?United?States,?but?a?significant?majority?is?now?coming?from?India.?Specifically,?we?have?the?
 following?breakdown?across?countries:?
 United?States? 46.80%
 India? 34.00%
 Miscellaneous? 19.20%
?
 Given?the?significant?fraction?of?Indian?workers,?we?will?be?presenting?the?demographics?analysis?
 separately?for?American?and?Indian?workers.?
 Gender?Breakdown?
 The?first?analysis?will?focus?on?the?gender?breakdown.?Across?US?based?workers,?there?are?significantly?
 more?females?than?males,?while?the?situation?is?reversed?for?Indian?workers.?
 ?
 The?main?reason?for?the?overrepresentation?of?females? in?the?US?based?workforce? is?the?nature?of?the?
 tasks? and? work? on? Mechanical? Turk.? Most? participants? in? the? US? use? Mechanical? Turk? as? a?
 supplementary? source? of? income,? and? often? Mechanical? Turk? is? used? by? stay?at?home? parents,?
 unemployed? and?underemployed?workers,? and? so?on.? Since? females? are?more? likely? to? fit? into? these?
 categories,? there? is?a?corresponding? increase? in?representation.?On? the?contrary,?more? Indian?workers?
 treat?Mechanical?Turk?as?a?primary? (or?at? least?significant)?source?of? income,?and?we?see?more?males?
 working?on?Mechanical?Turk.?
 ?
 Age?Distribution?
 In?terms?of?age?distribution,?there?is?definitely?an?overrepresentation?of?younger?workers,?compared?to?
 the?general?population?of?Internet?users.?While?this?holds?both?for?the?US?and?for?India,?we?see?an?even?
 higher?skew?towards?younger?workers?among?Indians.??
 0.00%
 10.00%
 20.00%
 30.00%
 40.00%
 50.00%
 60.00%
 70.00%
 80.00%
 Female Male
 Gender?Breakdown
 India
 United?States
?
 ?
 Educational?Level?
 We? also? asked? the?Mechanical? Turk?workers? to? declare? their? educational? level.? In? general,? the? (self?
 declared)?educational? level?of?the?workers? is?higher?than?the?general?US?and? Indian?population.?There?
 are? two? factors? that?may? contribute? to? this.? First,?many?of? the?workers?are? younger? than? the?overall?
 population? and,? ceteris? paribus,? this? leads? to? higher? educational? level.? Finally,? while? we? may? not?
 necessarily?discount?the?possibility?of?false?disclosure,?there?are?no? incentives?that?would?bias?workers?
 towards?lying?in?this?survey.?
 0.00%
 5.00%
 10.00%
 15.00%
 20.00%
 25.00%
 Year?of?Birth?for?US?workers
 0.00%
 5.00%
 10.00%
 15.00%
 20.00%
 25.00%
 30.00%
 35.00%
 40.00%
 45.00%
 Year?of?Birth?for?Indian?workers
?
 ?
 Income?Level?
 We?were?also?interested?to?examine?the?income?level?of?the?workers?on?Mechanical?Turk.?In?the?US,?the?
 shape?of?the?distribution?roughly?matches?the?income?distribution?in?the?general?US?population.?
 However,?it?is?noticeable?that?the?income?level?of?US?workers?on?Mechanical?Turk?is?shifted?towards?
 lower?income?levels.?For?example,?while?45%?of?the?US?Internet?population?has?income?below?$60K/yr,?
 the?corresponding?percentage?across?US?based?Mechanical?Turk?workers?is?66.7%.?(This?finding?is?
 consistent?with?the?earlier?surveys?that?compared?income?levels?on?MTurk?workers?with?income?level?of?
 the?general?US?population?of?Internet?users.)?The?picture?is?drastically?different?across?US?based?and?
 Indian?workers.?Workers?based?in?India?have?significantly?lower?incomes,?as?expected,?and?more?than?
 55%?of?the?workers?declared?an?income?of?less?than?$10,000/year.?
 0.00%
 10.00%
 20.00%
 30.00%
 40.00%
 50.00%
 60.00%
 Some?High?
 School
 High?
 School?
 Graduate
 Some?
 college,?no?
 degree
 Associates?
 degree
 Bachelors?
 degree
 Graduate?
 degree,?
 Masters
 Graduate?
 degree,?
 Doctorate
 Education?Level?
 India
 United?States
?
 ?
 ?
 Marital?Status,?Children,?and?Household?Size?
 In?terms?of?marital?status?and?household?size,?the?answers?tend?to?match?the?age?demographic?of?the?
 workers?reported?earlier.?The?majority?of?the?workers,?both?in?India?and?in?the?US,?do?not?have?children,?
 and?a?significant?fraction?of?them?are?single.?An?interesting?contrast?is?the?household?size,?which?seems?
 more?to?reflect?cultural?norms?than?anything?specific?to?Mechanical?Turk:?While?more?Indian?workers?are?
 single?and?without?children,?they?seem?to?stay?in?houses?with?larger?number?of?household?members,?
 compared?to?US?workers:?Indian?workers?either?stay?with?their?family,?or?they?tend?to?have?a?
 comparatively?larger?number?of?roommates,?compared?to?US?workers.?
 0.00%
 5.00%
 10.00%
 15.00%
 20.00%
 25.00%
 Household?Income?for?US?workers
 0.00%
 10.00%
 20.00%
 30.00%
 40.00%
 50.00%
 60.00%
 Less?than?
 $10,000
 $10,000??
 $14,999
 $15,000??
 $24,999
 $25,000??
 $39,499
 $40,500??
 $59,999
 $60,000??
 $74,999
 $75,000??
 $99,999
 $100,000??
 $149,999
 Household?Income?for?Indian?workers?
?
 ?
 ?
 0.00%5.00%
 10.00%15.00%
 20.00%25.00%
 30.00%35.00%
 40.00%
 Marital?Status?and?Household?Size?for?US?workers
 No?children
 Yes,?1?child
 Yes,?2?children
 Yes,?3?children
 Yes,?4?or?more?children
 0.00%5.00%
 10.00%15.00%
 20.00%25.00%
 30.00%35.00%
 40.00%45.00%
 50.00%55.00%
 60.00%
 divorced engaged married single
 Marital?Status?and?Household?Size?for?Indian?workers
 No?children
 Yes,?1?child
 Yes,?2?children
 Yes,?3?children
 (blank)
 0.00%
 5.00%
 10.00%
 15.00%
 20.00%
 25.00%
 30.00%
 35.00%
 40.00%
 45.00%
 1 2 3 4 5+
 Household?Size?for?Workers?on?Mechanical?Turk
 United?States
 India
Level?of?Engagement ?on?Mechanical?Turk?
 We?also?asked?a?set?of?questions?for?evaluating?the?level?of?engagement?of?Mechanical?Turk?workers?on?
 the?marketplace.?Since?we?did?not?detect?significant?deviations?across?countries,?we?will?be?reporting?the?
 results?in?aggregate?form,?without?separating?by?country?of?origin?of?the?worker.?In?general?most?
 workers?spend?a?day?or?less?per?week?working?on?Mechanical?Turk,?and?tend?to?complete?20?100?HITs?
 per?week.?Correspondingly,?this?generates?a?relatively?low?income?stream?for?Mechanical?Turk?work,?
 which?is?often?less?than?$20?per?week.?Of?course,?there?are?a?few?workers?that?devote?a?significant?
 amount?of?time?and?effort,?completing?thousands?of?HITs,?and?generating?a?respectable?income?of?more?
 than?$1000/month.?For?these?workers,?Mechanical?Turk?tends?to?be?the?primary?source?of?income,?of?
 course.?For?Indian?based?workers,?such?salary?levels?are?typically?satisfactory?for?the?type?of?work?that?is?
 available?on?Mechanical?Turk?(i.e.,?tedious?tasks?that?do?not?require?significant?specialized?skills)?
 ?
 0.00%
 5.00%
 10.00%
 15.00%
 20.00%
 25.00%
 30.00%
 Less?than?1?
 hour?per?
 week
 1?2?hours?per?
 week
 2?4?hours?per?
 week
 4?8?hours?per?
 week
 8?20?hours?
 per?week
 20?40?hours?
 per?week
 More?than?40?
 hours?per?
 week
 Time?spent?on?Mechanical?Turk?per?week
?
 ?
 ?
 ? ?
 0.00%
 5.00%
 10.00%
 15.00%
 20.00%
 25.00%
 Number?of?HITs?completed?per?week
 0.00%
 5.00%
 10.00%
 15.00%
 20.00%
 25.00%
 30.00%
 35.00%
 40.00%
 Weekly?Income?from?Mechanical?Turk
Motivation ?for?Participating?on?Mechanical?Turk?
 ?
 To?understand?better?why?people?participate?on?Mechanical?Turk,?we?asked?for?both?qualitative?(i.e.,?
 free?text)?and?a?set?of?structured?questions.?The?main?structured?question?that?we?asked?was?the?
 following:?
 Why?do?you?complete?tasks?in?Mechanical?Turk??Please?check?any?of?the?following?that?applies:?
 ? Fruitful?way?to?spend?free?time?and?get?some?cash?(e.g.,?instead?of?watching?TV)?
 ? For?"primary"?income?purposes?(e.g.,?gas,?bills,?groceries,?credit?cards)?
 ? For?"secondary"?income?purposes,?pocket?change?(for?hobbies,?gadgets,?going?out)?
 ? To?kill?time?
 ? I?find?the?tasks?to?be?fun?
 ? I?am?currently?unemployed,?or?have?only?a?part?time?job?
 The?answers?were?quite?different?across?Indian?and?US?workers.?Very?few?Indian?workers?participate?on?
 MTurk?for?"killing?time",?and?significantly?more?Indians?treat?MTurk?as?a?primary?source?of?income.?(Not?
 surprising?given?the?average?income?level?of?an?Indian?worker?vs?the?income?level?of?the?US?workers.)?
 ?
 ?
 ?
 0.00%
 10.00%
 20.00%
 30.00%
 40.00%
 50.00%
 60.00%
 70.00%
 80.00%
 FALSE TRUE
 Mechanical?Turk?is?a?fruitful?way?to?spend?free?time?and?get?
 some?cash?(e.g.,?instead?of?watching?TV)
 India United?States
?
 ? ?
 0.00%
 10.00%
 20.00%
 30.00%
 40.00%
 50.00%
 60.00%
 70.00%
 80.00%
 90.00%
 FALSE TRUE
 I?participate?on?Mechanical?Turk?because?the?tasks?are?fun
 India United?States
?
 ?
 ?
 0.00%
 10.00%
 20.00%
 30.00%
 40.00%
 50.00%
 60.00%
 70.00%
 80.00%
 90.00%
 100.00%
 FALSE TRUE
 I?participate?on?Mechanical?Turk??to?kill?time
 India United?States
 0.00%
 10.00%
 20.00%
 30.00%
 40.00%
 50.00%
 60.00%
 70.00%
 80.00%
 90.00%
 100.00%
 FALSE TRUE
 Mechanical?Turk?is?my?primary?source?of?income
 (paying?bills,?gas,?groceries,?etc)
 India United?States
?
 ?
 ?
 ?
 ? ?
 0.00%
 10.00%
 20.00%
 30.00%
 40.00%
 50.00%
 60.00%
 70.00%
 FALSE TRUE
 Mechanical?Turk?is?my?secondary?source?of?income,?
 pocket?change?(for?hobbies,?gadgets,?going?out)
 India United?States
 0.00%
 10.00%
 20.00%
 30.00%
 40.00%
 50.00%
 60.00%
 70.00%
 80.00%
 FALSE TRUE
 I?am?currently?unemployed?or?only?have?a?part?time?job
 India United?States
Appendix:?Demographics?Survey?Structure??
 Title:?Answer?a?short?survey?about?your?MTurk?participation?
 1.?Why?do?you?complete?tasks?in?Mechanical?Turk??Please?check?any?of?the?following?that?applies:?
 ? Fruitful?way?to?spend?free?time?and?get?some?cash?(e.g.,?instead?of?watching?TV)?
 ? For?"primary"?income?purposes?(e.g.,?gas,?bills,?groceries,?credit?cards)?
 ? For?"secondary"?income?purposes,?pocket?change?(for?hobbies,?gadgets,?going?out)?
 ? To?kill?time?
 ? I?find?the?tasks?to?be?fun?
 ? I?am?currently?unemployed,?or?have?only?a?part?time?job?
 If?you?would?like?to?give?a?more?elaborate?description?on?why?you?participate?on?Mechanical?Turk,?please?
 describe?below:?
 2.?Has?the?recession?affected?your?decision?to?participate?on?MTurk??
 3.?Has?the?recession?affected?your?level?of?participation?on?MTurk??
 4.?For?how?long?have?you?been?working?on?Amazon?Mechanical?Turk??
 5.?How?much?do?you?earn?per?week?on?Mechanical?Turk??
 6.?How?much?time?do?you?spend?per?week?on?Mechanical?Turk??
 7.?How?many?HITs?do?you?complete?per?week?on?Mechanical?Turk??
 Please?also?provide?some?demographic?information?
 ?1.?What?is?your?gender??
 ?2.?Year?of?birth??
 ?3.?Which?of?the?following?best?describes?your?highest?achieved?education?level??
 ?4.?What?is?the?total?income?of?your?household??
 ?5.?Your?marital?status??
 ?6.?Do?you?have?children??
 ?7.?How?many?members?in?your?household??
 ?8.?In?which?country?you?live?in??
 ?9.?In?which?state?do?you?live?in??(For?US?residents.)?
 ?10.?Please?indicate?your?race?