Crowdsourcing Research Articles

Future actions for the ocean acidification research community to support marine industries and coastal communities of Aotearoa New Zealand

ABSTRACT Increasing atmospheric CO2 emissions are altering the carbonate chemistry of seawater in a process known as ocean acidification (OA). This is a growing issue for marine industries and communities. During the 2023 New Zealand Ocean Acidification Community (NZOAC) Conference, the community undertook a horizon scanning exercise to determine potential future activities and opportunities. Conference participants were sent questions that focussed on topics of importance to the Aotearoa New Zealand and global OA community. Sixteen potential actions were identified. During the conference, participants voted for actions they perceived to be most important to give each an overall priority score. In order, the five top priority actions were to (i) re-engage with policymakers to ensure OA is included in policies around climate change, oceans, fisheries, and education; (ii) focus on solutions during engagement actions; (iii) maintain funding for current observation platforms; (iv) engage more with the public through community/public participatory science; and (v) obtain funding for new OA focused research. We summarise the activities identified to address these actions and discuss potential ways forward for the NZOAC and wider research community to undertake the required research and provide much needed guidance to underpin OA mitigation and adaptation efforts.

Developing a Quality Improvement Framework to Enhance the Health System User Experience for Individuals Living With Type 1 Diabetes: The Reshape T1D Study.

User experience design aims to create products and services that are accessible, usable, and enjoyable. The Reshape T1D study aims to apply these principles to understand how individuals living with T1D interact with and experience healthcare to inform T1D clinical quality improvement. Using a community-based participatory research design, we involved four patients and four clinicians as co-researchers throughout the research. A questionnaire and virtual semi-structured interview were applied across a purposeful sample of 41 adults living with T1D across Alberta, Canada, between September 2021 and May 2022. Audio recordings were transcribed verbatim and de-identified before coding. Thematic analysis was conducted on coded participant discourse through multiple coders. Participants indicated the need for a centralized hub that provides consistent, reliable, and up-to-date T1D education and resources and an emphasis on access to mental health resources within T1D care settings. Providing greater flexibility for appointment types (ie. in-person, virtual, etc.) and after-hours access contributed to better self-management and prevented emergency room visits. Participants desired a choice as to who comprises their T1D care team and for teams to address patient needs specific to their reality. We identified that medical trauma had long-term impacts on perceptions of healthcare and contributed to a reluctance to seek future care. Women expressed challenges in discussing reproductive health with their clinicians. Diabetes online communities provide an adjunct to clinical care through peer support. Cost and access to the latest technology are ongoing barriers for many participants, especially concerning publicly funded programmes that use advanced insulin pump therapy, continuous glucose monitoring, and automated insulin delivery systems. A quality improvement framework emerged through data analysis, and findings were synthesized into actionable recommendations for ongoing clinical quality improvement. Our findings highlight how important health system user suggestions are for more equitable, accessible, and empathetic healthcare for individuals living with T1D. Further work is needed to explore health system user experiences with clinicians and healthcare administrators to effectively carry out T1D clinical quality improvement.

Engaging the Community in Interventions Designed to Promote Physical Activity in Preschool-Age Children

Community-based study designs have been utilized in several settings, including preschool settings, to improve health outcomes such as physical activity in preschool-age children. This essay describes my perspective on how I (first author) engage and maintain community partners (i.e., preschool centers) in designing and implementing physical activity interventions set in the preschool center. I will also highlight the importance of interdisciplinary research teams and the key elements of establishing a long-term partnership with community partners.

Exploring the Latent Roles of Indigenous Chickens among Rural Households in Kericho County, Kenya: A Grounded Theory Approach

Chickens are the most popular poultry worldwide. About 23.7 billion chickens globally in 2018 were reared mainly for their eggs and meat products. Indigenous chickens in Kenya constitute about 70% of the poultry population. Their role in rural livelihoods is widely understood in terms of provisioning for nutrition and household income. This study aimed to investigate, through a community-based participatory process, the latent roles of indigenous chicken (IC) in the livelihoods of smallholder farmers in rural areas of Kericho County, Kenya. This study adopted a Grounded Theory Approach and a Community-based Participatory action research design. Six sites in three out of six sub-counties were selected for the study based on their agroecological zones and administrative locations. Data were collected through focus group discussions and interviews. Community-based participatory action research tools; focus groups, resource mapping, role plays, and community workshops, were used to encourage participation and knowledge sharing. Data were collected through note-taking and group presentations. The data were analyzed using the grounded theory constant comparative method. Analysis revealed that the higher order concepts and theories that could explain the latent roles of indigenous chickens were1insurance against shocks, 2marketness; sales for income, 3instrumentalism; as an instrument for personal motivations, 4ecological functions and5immanent roles; to utilize existing resources and capabilities. It has roles as a socio-economic 6ladder-of-change, contributes to 7household functionalism by engaging youth and women and household 8dietary needs, and social roles in 9interpersonal connectedness. In conclusion, indigenous chickens had roles in the economy, ecology, socio-culture and food supplies. This understanding has implications in formulating strategies by development agents, for sustainable IC production. Further research in different contexts to build on the in-depth understanding of the IC roles is recommended.

A Model for Success: How SciStarter's Partnerships with Eclipse Soundscapes and SunSketcher Engaged Communities and Amplified Impact in Participatory Science

A Model for Success: How SciStarter's Partnerships with Eclipse Soundscapes and SunSketcher Engaged Communities and Amplified Impact in Participatory Science

Beliefs and perceptions towards congenital anomalies in Dilla town, Gedeo Zone, Southern Ethiopia; a qualitative study

IntroductionMorbidity and mortality associated with congenital anomalies are higher in low-income countries. People’s knowledge, beliefs, and attitudes towards congenital anomalies vary from community to community. In some communities, it is believed to be untreatable and the burden remains devastating. Studies addressing the societal perspectives were scarce, therefore this study aimed to explore beliefs and perceptions in the community about congenital anomalies.MethodologyThis study was conducted in Southern Ethiopia, Dilla town from September to November 2023. A qualitative study with a community-based exploratory study design was implemented. A total of 33 participants who were selected conveniently among permanent residents of Dilla town were included. Data were collected using face-to-face in-depth interviews and focus group discussions. The collected data were transcribed verbatim and translated into the English language. Data analysis was implemented thematically using Open Code 4.03 software. Finally, the result was presented descriptively based on the themes that emerged. Trustworthiness was ensured throughout the data analysis.ResultIn this study, most participants poorly understood congenital anomalies. God’s punishment, curse, parents’ sin, magical practices and evil spirits, illness, lack of pregnancy care and contraceptive pills were the believed causes of congenital anomalies. The burden of congenital anomalies dismantles the social, economic, and psychological dimensions of the life of parents. In addition, the study identified attitudinal variations and doubts about treatment outcomes and prevention strategies of congenital anomalies.ConclusionThis study highlights that people’s perceived knowledge, beliefs, and awareness of congenital malformations were limited to socio-cultural and religious roots. Understanding beliefs and perceived knowledge would be significant in planning risk-reduction strategies. Hence health education, behavioral change communications, and information dissemination strategies should be strengthened at each community level.

Shark Tooth Forensics: A Participatory Science Initiative to Unravel Ancient Shark Ecology

AbstractStudying the ecology of ancient organisms requires a tremendous amount of data, as in the case of prehistoric sharks where our knowledge is based mostly on teeth. Shark Tooth Forensics is a participatory science project tackling the problem of deciphering the ecology of ancient sharks with assistance from public school students. Traditionally, paleontological data collection protocols use research staff or a cadre of trained volunteers to collect paleontological data, whereas participatory science provides a means to increase the number of people involved in paleontological research. Students contributing to our project search for fossil shark teeth in sediments from various geologic time periods, and measure and record the teeth they discover for accessioning in natural history museums. Statistical analyses reveal that middle school students provide measurements of shark teeth that are indistinguishable from those same measurements taken by research staff. However, it is necessary to collect data from large student populations, ~10–30 students, before obtaining a statistically reliable sample. In addition, we find students are able to recognize shark teeth from a variety of species, not just stereotypical triangular teeth of species like the Great White (Carcharodon carcharias). Teachers can utilize Shark Tooth Forensics curricular activities that use student data in curriculum as a way to gain more personal investment. We estimate over 2,000 students have already participated, and with the potential for this project to last for decades, many thousands more will have the opportunity to discover fossil sharks and reconstruct the lives of these ancient fish.

Differences in Perspectives between Facility Managers and Crowd Workers in Accessibility Mapping

Differences in Perspectives between Facility Managers and Crowd Workers in Accessibility Mapping

PREVALENCE AND THE ASSOCIATED FACTORS OF MULTIMORBIDITY AMONG OLDER NEPALIS IN WESTERN NEPAL

Abstract Multimorbidity, the concurrent presence of multiple chronic diseases, is a global public health issue, with higher prevalence rates observed among older age groups and individuals of lower socioeconomic status. This study aims to determine the prevalence of morbidity levels and the associated factors across all three ecological regions of Western Nepal. Utilizing a community-based cross-sectional design, 612 participants were interviewed face-to-face. Levels of morbidity were grouped as “no morbidity,” “single disease,” and “multiple diseases.” Ordinal logistic regression examined the association between levels of morbidities and various sociodemographic, economic, and health behavior factors. Probabilities models were cumulated over the higher-ordered levels of morbidity. Among sociodemographic variables, participants of urban residents (OR=1.68, CI: 1.16—2.44), of age 70 years and above (OR=1.55, CI: 1.10—2.17), females (OR=2.43, CI:1.61—3.66) and with disability (OR=1.58, CI:1.14—2.18) were associated with increased odds of being in a higher category (increasing morbidity) rather than lower category than their respective counterparts after adjusting for the covariates. Economic factors did not establish significant relationships with morbidity levels. Among health behavior factors, those who consumed alcohol had 41% decreased odds of higher morbidity compared to non-consumers (OR=0.59 CI:0.37—0.92). This study identified significant associations between multimorbidity and specific demographic groups in urban areas, notably older females and individuals with disabilities. It highlights the necessity of providing tailored behavior change information and implementing screening programs to reduce the prevalence of health issues in these populations.

Plastics in the city: spatial and temporal variation of urban litter in a coastal town of France.

Plastics are ubiquitous in the environment, causing pollution recognized as a marker of the Anthropocene era. All environments are affected, including coastal and river ecosystems, where studies have shown that plastic waste contamination is proportional to the level of urbanization. This study, to our knowledge, is the first in France to investigate the spatial and temporal distribution of litter across the Land-Sea continuum, using debris classifications based on OSPAR (Oslo-Paris Convention 1992) and EPR (Extended Producer Responsibility). Two samplings, involving the local population and various non-governmental organizations, were conducted in 2022 and 2023 in the coastal town of Banyuls-sur-Mer, France, located near the Spanish border, with the Baillaury River running through it. The entire town, as well as the port and Central Beach, were sampled. A total of 30,899 debris (1357kg) were collected over 47.7km of streets, riverbanks, port, and beach. Most of the debris collected in the port consisted of tires. The amount of waste collected in the town was lower than that observed on the riverbanks or at Central Beach, suggesting that coastal areas serve as the final repository for mismanaged waste. Plastics represent approximately 70% of the collected debris and exceed the precautionary threshold for ecological and socio-economic nuisances defined for European Union (EU) beaches (i.e., 20 debris per 100m), by the Technical Group on Marine Litter of the Framework Directive "Strategy for the Marine Environment" (FD SMM). The data collection and standardization methods used in this study facilitated direct comparison across the continuum land-sea between cities, riverbanks, ports, and beaches, and with other studies, highlighting the value of participatory science in informing decision-making.

From spectators to stewards: Transforming public involvement in natural history collections

A comprehensive overview of volunteer-driven public programs focused on activities to enhance natural history collections (NHCs) is provided. The initiative revolves around the WeDigBio events and the Collections Club at the Field Museum, aiming to deepen the public’s connection with scientific collections, enhance participatory science, and improve data associated with natural history specimens. The implementation and journey of these programs are outlined, including surveys conducted from 2015 through 2021 to gauge participant motivation, satisfaction, and the impact of these events on public engagement with NHCs. Results show trends in on-site and virtual volunteer participation over the years, especially during the peak period of the COVID-19 pandemic. The majority of participants expressed high satisfaction, indicating a willingness to continue participating in similar activities. The surveys revealed a shift towards more altruistic motivations for participation over time, with increased emphasis on supporting the Field Museum and contributing to the scientific community. The success of participatory science events demonstrates the potential of volunteer-driven programs to contribute meaningfully to the preservation, digitisation, and understanding of biodiversity collections, ultimately transforming spectators into stewards of natural history. From 2015 to present participants celebrate a significant milestone, with over a thousand community scientists contributing to the inventorying, collection care, curation, databasing, or transcription of 286,071 specimens, objects or records. We also discuss accuracy and quality control as well as a checklist and recommendations for similar activities.

KNOWLEDGE VS PRACTICE IN COMMUNITY MENTAL HEALTH NURSING: INSIGHTS FROM NURSING OFFICERS & CHOS IN ODISHA

Mental health care is a greatly underserved aspect of the general well-being, especially in resource-lacking settings. In India, mental healthcare has faced challenges of vast untreated mental disorders within populations. Community mental health care nursing has proven to be a very promising strategy. The objective of the study is to analyze the community mental health services about the curriculum for community mental health nursing. A quantitative research approach has been adapted to accomplish this by using a community-based survey research design. A total of 200 nursing service workers including Nursing Officers & CHO have been selected by following a multistage sampling strategy from four selected districts of Odisha. Demonstrating gradual improvements with experience, practice scores had a mean ± SD and median (IQR) each with a significant p-value of 0.015. It was found that most of the cases (56%) had a good or very good level of knowledge of mental health nursing, but 45.5% had good or very good practice in mental health nursing. The study revealed that the knowledge and the practice of the service gap of mental health were minimal. The majority of participants displayed good knowledge and sound practice. Recommendations by the nursing personnel included in-service education and training programmes to improve their knowledge along with the provision of adequate numbers of staff to manage the cases efficiently.

Green Financing for SMEs in Bangladesh by developing an Integrative Islamic Crowd Funding Framework

In several Muslim nations, such as Pakistan, Malaysia, and Indonesia, Islamic crowd funding is a relatively new phenomena. It gives business owners a Shariah-compliant way to raise capital for their ventures. There are a few crowd sourcing sites in Bangladesh, however they don't do much. Bangladesh, a country with a large Muslim population, has not yet developed a sizable crowd funding platform. According to the World Bank Productivity and Investment Climate Survey, access to finance is among the key challenges faced by SMEs in Bangladesh. Loans from banks are the predominant source of finance for small and medium enterprises and it can satisfy up to 80 per cent of SME capital needs. However, past studies have discussed the struggle of SMEs with access to finance from the banking sector. Lack of access to finance acts as a driver for other key challenges faced by an SME and diminishes its growth opportunities.

Where is Delftia? Implementing citizen science into the biotechnology and environmental science curriculum.

The Delftia acidovorans citizen science project integrates participatory science and community engagement into three courses (ES100-Introduction to Environmental Science, BIOL2700-Environmental Problems, and BIT479/579-High-Throughput Discovery course). Undergraduate students enrolled in ES100 and BIOL2700 collected samples from various locations as part of a class assignment. Students in the BIT479/579 course analyzed the samples using automation and high-throughput molecular biology approaches to reveal the genetic diversity in a portion of a key gene ("gold gene") needed to produce the peptide delftibactin with gold detoxification properties. The project emphasizes the abundance of microbes such as Delftia acidovorans with potentially useful genes. The ES100 and BIOL2700 students were assessed using a pre- and post-survey and Delftia assignment. This study describes an approach to actively engage undergraduate students in interdisciplinary explorations of public science, further explores the presence and genetic diversity of a key delftibactin gene of Delftia acidovorans, and seeks to understand the environments in which Delftia acidovorans reside while contributing to the discovery of new knowledge.

Nursing care plan for the clinical management of children with pneumonia in Otavalo

Pneumonia is one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality in children under five years of age, especially in contexts with limitations in the quality and consistency of nursing care. The objective of this study was to develop a specific Nursing Care Plan for children under five years of age with pneumonia, aimed at optimizing the quality of care and the effectiveness of interventions performed by nursing staff at the San Luis De Otavalo Hospital, Ecuador. A mixed-methods approach was adopted, with a community-based design and an observational, prospective, cross-sectional, and descriptive focus, including as a population the nursing staff attending children with pneumonia in the hospital. Data were collected through structured surveys and document analysis, with a representative sample of 50 professionals selected via stratified probabilistic sampling. Results showed that 70% of the staff have undergraduate-level training, and 49% have less than five years of work experience, which limits the systematic implementation of the Nursing Care Plan. Additionally, 38% rarely use the plan in practice, and 28% have not received continuous training on the subject. The designed Plan addresses these gaps by incorporating strategies to enhance training, standardize practices, and empower caregivers in managing the disease. This study concludes that the designed Plan represents a key tool for strengthening the quality of pediatric care in the hospital setting

Knowledge, practice, and attitudes regarding breast cancer self-examination among women of reproductive age in Saudi Arabia: a community-based study.

Breast cancer is the second most common cancer among females worldwide and can often be detected at an early stage through breast self-examination (BSE). However, in many developing countries, most cases are diagnosed at advanced stages. This study aimed to assess the knowledge and practice of BSE among women of reproductive age in Saudi Arabia. This study adopted a community-based descriptive-analytical cross-sectional design. A stratified simple random sampling technique was used, with 50 participants from each region. Almost 500 Saudi women who fulfilled the inclusion criteria were enrolled in this study, and of these, 32.8% were within the age group of 20-29, 30.4% were within the age group of 30-39, and 32.8% were within the age group of more than 40 years. The overall knowledge score regarding BSE items among participants was 38%. Significant associations were found between breast cancer knowledge scores and demographic factors such as age group, educational level, marital status, region, and residence area (P < 0.05). Regarding knowledge of breast cancer risk factors, 48% of participants demonstrated poor knowledge, 43% had moderate knowledge, and only 9% had good knowledge. Effective prevention of breast cancer requires awareness and understanding of its risk factors. It is important for young women, starting from puberty, to be educated about potential changes in breast tissue and to receive proper training in BSE techniques from healthcare professionals.

Mapping the Crowdsourcing Workforce in Latin America and the Caribbean

Research has primarily focused on understanding the perspectives and experiences of US based crowdworkers, leaving a notable gap to those within the Global South. To bridge this, we conducted a survey with 100 crowdworkers across 16 Latin American and Caribbean countries. To understand the tensions between the crowdworking economy abroad. In our study we found crowd work being the stepping stone to financial and professional independence among those we surveyed along with the tensions within data extraction among crowdworkers.

The Dual Nature of Trust in Participatory Sciences: An Investigation into Data Quality and Household Privacy Preferences

There is a duality of trust in participatory science (citizen science) projects in which the data produced by volunteers must be trusted by the scientific community and participants must trust the scientists who lead projects. Facilitator organizations are third-party organizations that engage their members in participatory science to enrich their members’ experience at their organization. In Crowd the Tap, we engaged participants through facilitator organizations including high schools, faith communities, universities, and a corporate volunteer program. We used Kruskal Wallis tests and chi-square tests with Bonferroni post hoc tests to assess how data quality and privacy preferences differed across facilitator groups and amongst those who participated in the project independently (unfacilitated). Faith communities provided higher data quality while students provided lower data quality. Data quality in education settings differed based on the level of investment of the project in terms of both time and money as well as student age. We also found that demographic and household characteristics seemed more important in predicting privacy preferences than facilitation. Our results suggest that project leaders can support diverse participation by extending protection of participant privacy and investing in needed resources to support facilitators. They also suggest that education-oriented facilitators may need to prioritize data quality to ensure authentic learning opportunities. Ultimately our results reveal several tradeoffs that project leaders can weigh when deciding to work with facilitators.

A Positionality Tool to Support Ethical Research and Inclusion in the Participatory Sciences

Scientific research is not value-neutral but builds on the stated and unstated values of those leading the research, influencing the choice of study topics; decisions about methods, judgments, or inferences with data; and considerations of the consequences of errors. In some fields, researchers create a positionality statement to disclose bias as a way to manage or neutralize the influence of values. Positionality refers to the way in which an individual’s worldview, and thus perceptions and research activities, is shaped by the frameworks, social identities, lived experiences, and sociopolitical context within which they live. Thinking about positionality is a valuable, yet missing, element for practitioners of participatory sciences. In this essay, we suggest that those leading participatory science projects explore their positionality, irrespective of whether or not they choose to disclose it, in order to manage values for several goals: research integrity, ethical data practices, and equity and inclusion. By reviewing and synthesizing literature, we created a tool to help leaders of participatory science projects think reflectively (for awareness of their identities and characteristics) and reflexively (from an external position for critical observation of themselves) to recognize their influence on project design and implementation. We view examining positionality as a precursor to anticipating and taking actions to minimize epistemic injustices and ultimately enhance the unique capacity of each project to advance equity, inclusion, and scientific productivity.

Seasonal macro‐demography of North American bird populations revealed through participatory science

Avian population sizes fluctuate and change over vast spatial scales, but the mechanistic underpinnings remain poorly understood. A key question is whether spatial and annual variation in avian population dynamics is driven primarily by variation in breeding season recruitment or by variation in overwinter survival. We present a method using large‐scale volunteer‐collected data from project eBird to develop species‐specific indices of net population change as proxies for survival and recruitment, based on twice‐annual, rangewide snapshots of relative abundance in spring and fall. We demonstrate the use of these indices by examining spatially explicit annual variation in survival and recruitment in two well‐surveyed nonmigratory North American species, Carolina wren Thryothorus ludovicianus and northern cardinal Cardinalis cardinalis. We show that, while interannual variation in both survival and recruitment is slight for northern cardinal, eBird abundance data reveal strong and geographically coherent signals of interannual variation in the overwinter survival of Carolina wren. As predicted, variation in wintertime survival dominates overall interannual population fluctuations of wrens and is correlated with winter temperature and snowfall in the northeastern United States, but not the southern United States. This study demonstrates the potential of participatory science (also known as citizen science) datasets like eBird for inferring variation in demographic rates and introduces a new complementary approach towards illuminating the macrodemography of North American birds at comprehensive continental extents.