Research
beyond the West

Access thousands of vetted research participants across Africa, Asia, Latin America, and Eastern Europe

Have a study in mind? We’re here to help

Available countries

Besample provides access to samples of vetted research participants in Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Egypt, Ghana, India, Indonesia, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Philippines, South Africa, Turkey, Ukraine, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

Argentina
Australia
Brazil
Canada
Egypt
Ghana
India
Indonesia
Japan
Kazakhstan
Kenya
Mexico
Nigeria
Pakistan
Philippines
South Africa
Turkey
Ukraine
UK
USA
Learn more

Services

Beyond primary data collection, Besample provides end-to-end support and research services to help researchers conduct their studies, including survey translation, cultural adaptation, participant targeting, gamification, and other research support services.

Demographic filters

We prescreen respondents across multiple demographic parameters, allowing you to target beyond age and gender.

Language services

Add translation during setup to improve data quality and ensure respondents understand your study.

Cultural fit review

We offer expert cultural fit reviews to ensure your study is appropriate, clear, and easy to understand for local respondents.

Multi-part study design

If your study is split into multiple parts, we can help set it up and track respondents consistently across multiple waves.

Bonuses to respondents

Reward respondents with bonus payments for completing follow-ups, providing outstanding answers, or taking part in additional study activities.

Adding demographic data

Enrich your dataset with demographic variables pre-collected by Besample.

Have a study in mind? We’re here to help

Plan your study with our team

Target countries

Choose from our immediately available countries below, or search more countries.

Publications powered by Besample

Research data collected with Besample has been used in studies published in leading academic journals, including Nature Communications, PNAS Nexus, Psychological Science, and others.

What researchers say

Besample is trusted by researchers and research labs at the world’s top universities, including Harvard, Stanford, Oxford, MIT, LSE, Duke, and more.

Joe Henrich

Ruth Moore Professor of Biological Anthropology, Professor of Human Evolutionary Biology

My lab has been using Besample to collect data from round the world. Sampling multiple ethnolinguistic groups in many countries, great experience. No more excuses for psychologists drawing 95% of their participants from WEIRD people.

Michael Muthukrishna

Professor of Psychology, Professor of Economic Psychology

If you're looking for the ease of MTurk for diverse countries beyond WEIRD psychology, you're looking for Besample. It's also cost effective, paying market rates in low to middle income countries.

Walter Sinnott-Armstrong

Chancellor Stillman Distinguished Professor of Practical Ethics

Behavioral science is built on shifting sands if it restricts itself to WEIRD populations. But most researchers do not know how to reach non-WEIRD participants. When they try, the endeavor becomes complex, time-consuming, and exceedingly frustrating. Fortunately, Besample solves this problem. They make it easy and quick to gather reliable data in dozens of countries at once. Now no researcher has any excuse for not testing their hypotheses around the world. Thank you, Besample.

Alannah Shelby Rivers

Assistant Professor of Psychology

Previously, data on attachment and internalizing had been drawn from American samples. With Besample, we were able to recruit emerging adults from Nigeria, Brazil, and India, substantially expanding our ability to draw conclusions about this important relationship.

Alphonsa Jose

Assistant Professor of Psychology

Thanks to Besample for all the support in generating the reliable, representative sample for our study. Publishing in JVEP is truly a dream come true moment for us (myself and Aishwarya Iyer). Thanks for the kind words and a truly amazing data collection platform, and a grant support!

Dissertation Grant

Besample created the Dissertation Grant program to support early-career researchers who are pushing behavioral science beyond the WEIRD bubble. We fund projects that challenge Western-centric assumptions, bring new perspectives, and build a globally representative evidence base.

Apply
A globe resting on a stack of books

About Besample

Elena Brandt

96% of human research data comes from WEIRD populations, so most of what we claim to know about human nature is based on a narrow slice of humanity. To me as a researcher and an immigrant, this has always felt wrong. Besample's mission is to make cross-cultural data collection accessible, reliable, and affordable for academic researchers worldwide.

Elena Brandt, Ph.D., founder of Besample

Google Scholar
World map highlighting the concentration of research samples in Western populations
96%of research
samples
90%of world
population

Besample is an online data collection platform for researchers in psychology, behavioral science, economics, political science, computer science, and related fields. It helps scientists recruit diverse research participants beyond predominantly WEIRD (Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, and Democratic) samples, with access to participants from countries across Africa, Asia, Latin America, and Eastern Europe, as well as the US, UK, and Canada when Western comparison groups are needed.

Why Besample

Global diversity

Besample gives voices to underrepresented cultures in research

High data quality

All respondents are pre-screened for attentiveness and fidelity

Science at heart

Besample is created for researchers by researchers

Ethical approach

Payouts are transparent and linked to local GNI per capita

Responsive support

Quick help from a team that understands research

New to researching beyond WEIRD?

Among researchers publishing in top-tier journals with Besample data, 74% have worked with our team on study design, cultural fit, quality control, feasibility checks, and setup — because running research beyond the West is complex. We're here to help you make it a success.

Our academic advisors

Besample is advised by leading researchers in psychology, behavioral science, economics, and related fields, helping us build better tools and standards for global, cross-cultural research.

Joseph Henrich
Joseph Henrich 

Creator of the WEIRD concept. Professor of Biological Anthropology and Human Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University

Michael Muthukrishna
Michael Muthukrishna 

Author of the book A Theory of Everyone. Professor of Economic Psychology, LSE, Professor of Psychology, NYU

Eyal Peer
Eyal Peer 

Associate Professor of Decision Making, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem

Media about us

Besample team gathered together

Besample Raises $1.1M to Take Behavioral Science Beyond the West

With this new funding, Besample plans to grow its engineering and data science teams, deepen quality control features, and expand its respondent reach across underserved regions.

finance.yahoo.com
Researchers gathered outdoors

Helping Scientists Take Their Research Global: 7 Lessons

Elena Brandt shares what we’ve learned from supporting researchers in their studies across the world — from study localization and demographics to data quality and technical infrastructure.

behavioralscientist.org
Two people discussing research over a laptop

Tamila Feldman: "Success is never an overnight process"

Co-founder of Besample shares her story of starting a company that is now used by researchers from top US universities, providing access to research participants outside of the Western world.

techtimes.com