Build the estimate
Enter your estimates, then calculate.
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Worked example: three visits and a month of home tasks
Hypothetical example. Assume two visits last three hours each and one lasts six hours. That is 12 hours on site; enter three visits and an average of four hours per visit. Enter round-trip travel separately.
| Activity | Calculation | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Visits and travel | 3 × (4 hours on site + 1 hour travel) | 15 hours |
| Remote calls | 2 × 30 minutes | 1 hour |
| Home tasks | 10 minutes × 30 days ÷ 60 | 5 hours |
| Preparation and recovery | 4 additional hours | 4 hours |
| Total | 15 + 1 + 5 + 4 | 25 hours |
With $600 in expected compensation and $90 in unreimbursed costs, the net is $510. Divide by 25 hours to obtain $20.40 per hour for logistics. These invented amounts illustrate the arithmetic; they are not a typical payment or a participation recommendation.
For unequal visit lengths, add the hours and divide by the number of visits. Count each hour once: do not add recovery time already included in a monitored stay. Record overlapping restrictions on a calendar so that two restrictions on one day do not become two lost days.
Read the result as a feasibility check
Total active time combines visits, round-trip travel, remote sessions, home tasks, and preparation or recovery. Net cash subtracts estimated unreimbursed expenses from compensation. The calculator can divide net cash by active hours to create a logistics figure.
Do not interpret the figure as the value of your health, risk, privacy, discomfort, or contribution to science. Use it to identify missing travel reimbursement, underestimated home tasks, and schedule conflicts.
Add constraint time in words
Write restrictions the calculator cannot represent well: fasting, medication timing, contraception, avoiding other studies, staying near the site, inability to drive, sleep disruption, limited travel, or waiting for cohort confirmation. Mark the start and end date for each.
A ten-minute diary can control an entire evening when its window is narrow. Record both active minutes and the constraint.
Run three scenarios
- Expected: use the schedule the site describes.
- Delayed: add one rescheduled visit, extra support call, and late payment.
- Early exit: include completed activities, return travel, safety follow-up, and accrued payment.
Ask the site about the variables that move the result most.
Sources for this guide
References for the definitions, rules, and findings discussed above. The dates below record source checks; they are separate from the article’s edit date.
- Office for Human Research Protections. Questions to Ask About Volunteering for a Research Study (opens in a new tab). Checked September 5, 2026.
- National Institute on Aging. Clinical Research: Benefits, Risks, and Safety (opens in a new tab). Checked September 5, 2026.
- Secretary’s Advisory Committee on Human Research Protections (SACHRP), HHS. Addressing Ethical Concerns: Offers of Payment to Research Participants (opens in a new tab). Checked September 5, 2026.
- National Institutes of Health IRB Office. Compensation for Research Participation (opens in a new tab). Checked September 5, 2026.