Abstract
Crowdsourcing, an open call for the public to collaborate and participate in problem solving, has been increasingly employed as a method in health-related research studies. Various reviews of the literature across different disciplines found crowdsourcing being used for data collection, processing, and analysis as well as tasks such as problem solving, data processing, surveillance/monitoring, and surveying. Studies on crowdsourcing tend to focus on its use of software, technology and online platforms, or its application for the purposes previously noted. There is need for further exploration to understand how best to use crowdsourcing for research, as there is limited guidance for researchers who are undertaking crowdsourcing for the purposes of scientific study. Numerous authors have identified gaps in research related to crowdsourcing, including a lack of decision aids to assist researchers using crowdsourcing, and best-practice guidelines. This exploratory study looks at crowdsourcing as a research method by understanding how and why it is being used, through application of a modified Delphi technique. It begins to articulate how crowdsourcing is applied in practice by researchers, and its alignment with existing research methods. The result is a conceptual framework for crowdsourcing, developed within traditional and existing research approaches as a first step toward its use in research.
Highlights
Public and patient engagement, alongside activities such as knowledge translation and mobilization, are becoming standard requirements for health sciences and services research funding (Domecq et al, 2014; Frank et al, 2015; Tetroe et al, 2008)
There is need for further exploration to understand how best to use crowdsourcing for research, as there is limited guidance for researchers who undertake crowdsourcing for the purpose of research studies (Buettner, 2015; Law et al, 2017)
Numerous authors have identified gaps in the research related to crowdsourcing, including a lack of decision aids to assist researchers using crowdsourcing, and best practice guidelines (Buettner, 2015; Law et al, 2017; Sheehan, 2018)
Summary
Alongside activities such as knowledge translation and mobilization, are becoming standard requirements for health sciences and services research funding (Domecq et al, 2014; Frank et al, 2015; Tetroe et al, 2008). Various reviews of the literature across different disciplines found crowdsourcing being used for data collection, processing, and analysis as well as tasks such as problem solving, data processing, surveillance/monitoring, and surveying (Crequit et al, 2018; Hossain & Kauranen, 2015; Ranard et al, 2014) Websites such as TurkPrime, Profilic.co, and Crowdcrafting.org engage the crowd for the purposes of recruitment, data collection, or data analysis for their studies (Bassi et al, 2020; Crequit et al, 2018; Litman et al, 2017; Peer et al, 2017). We aimed to develop a conceptual framework for crowdsourcing within traditional and existing research approaches, as a first step toward supporting researchers using this method
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
