Cethos Language & Research Panel
Paid online research sessions with native speakers and patients around the world — helping make healthcare information clearer in every language.
What we do
When a health questionnaire is translated, someone has to check that patients actually understand it — that every question is clear, natural, and means the same thing in every language. That process is called linguistic validation, and the interviews at its heart are called cognitive debriefing.
Cethos runs these sessions for clinical outcome assessments used in medical research worldwide. Our research panel is the community of native speakers and patients who make that possible — and who are paid an honorarium for every session they complete.
Interviews & focus groups
One-to-one interviews and small group sessions, held online by video call or by phone. Most sessions take 30–90 minutes and are led by an experienced interviewer in your language.
Real-world clarity testing
You read translated health questions and tell us what they mean in your own words. There are no right or wrong answers — your understanding as a native speaker is exactly what we are measuring.
Paid for your time
Every completed session pays an honorarium, agreed before you book and paid in your local currency by PayPal or bank transfer, normally within 30 days.
How it works
Join the panel
Sign up once, in your own language. It takes about 5 minutes — tell us your native language, where you live, and when you are available.
Get invited
When a study matches your language and country, we email you a personal invitation with the honorarium and session length up front.
Book a time
Pick a time slot that suits you — times are shown in your own timezone. Confirmation, meeting link, and reminders all arrive automatically.
Take part & get paid
Join the session, share your perspective, and receive your honorarium. No preparation and no special knowledge needed.
Taking part is always voluntary — you can decline any invitation or cancel a booking, and it never affects future invitations.
Who we are looking for
The panel is open worldwide and grows every week. Three kinds of members make our studies work:
Native speakers
Adults of all backgrounds who speak one of our study languages natively. No medical or language-industry experience required — everyday perspective is the point.
Patients
Many studies focus on people living with a specific health condition, because the questionnaires being tested are about their experience. Sharing health details is always optional and consent-based.
Interviewers & community recruiters
Experienced cognitive-debriefing interviewers, and people with strong community networks who can introduce participants for a per-participant honorarium.
Where the program is headed
Our linguistic validation studies run in 150+ languages, and we are building the panel to match — as a long-term research community:
- More languages and countries — including regional variants like Spanish for Spain vs. Latin America
- More patient studies across condition areas, from diabetes and oncology to rare diseases
- Focus groups alongside one-to-one interviews, with sessions scheduled across timezones
- Faster, fairer honorarium payments and a smoother booking experience in your own language
Your data, your choice
We store the details you share only to match you with suitable studies and to contact you about them. We never sell your data.
Health information is optional, stored with your explicit consent, and can be deleted at any time on request.
Questions about the program or your data? Write to us at lv@cethos.com.
Ready to take part?
Signing up takes about 5 minutes, and you will only hear from us when a study genuinely matches you.
Join the research panelRunning a linguistic validation study?
Sponsors and CROs: we recruit, schedule, and interview across 150+ languages, with experienced cognitive-debriefing interviewers and end-to-end coordination.
Talk to our team