While some problems can be solved by a small team or even one person, many challenges are more effectively met by larger groups. In today's information age, we can use online connectivity to work together as groups of thousands or even millions of people. Let's explore how crowdsourcing and citizen science may help solve some problems more effectively than smaller teams.
Crowdsourcing
Traditional Projects
Traditionally, an organization like a school, government, corporation, or research institute may work on a problem with a small team of experts. That team can define the problem, suggest a plan, gather data, build the solution, and analyze the results. There are certainly advantages to using small teams of experts to solve problems.
Experts may be able to quickly discard unworkable ideas
Small teams are less likely to be overwhelmed by different ideas
Some data can only be gathered with expensive equipment
Some expertise may be required to design and build a solution
Some expertise may be required to analyze and verify the results
However, the ideas, data, construction, and analysis performed by traditional teams are limited to the resources and efforts of relatively few people. In some cases, engaging more people can more effectively solve problems. That's where crowdsourcing or citizen science come in handy!
Crowdsourcing
The Minecraft computer game launched in 2009 and quickly became a great success. While the core game itself was certainly popular, the overall impact of the game was extended by "mods". "mods" are altered versions of the game contributed by an enthusiastic gaming community. Minecraft fans supplied new ideas and game features, levels, and challenges well beyond those envisioned by the original game developers. The resulting game experience, with mods, arguably makes the original game more fun.
This is a great example of crowdsourcing, where an online community collaborates to contribute data or ideas to advance a cause or solve a problem. By leveraging our ability to communicate online, the efforts of a small group can be greatly enhanced with contributions from many others.
Crowdsourcing involves a large number of people making small contributions to the overall project.
While Minecraft "mods" are often the product of skilled software developers, crowdsourcing does not always require expert input. Hobbyists and everyday people can make valuable contributions to a project. Consider the following crowdsourcing ideas. What degree of expertise is required to contribute data, ideas, new features, or changes?
Topic Crowdsourcing Description
Open Source Software development An open-source software project has publicly available source code that anyone can download, inspect, and change. While the initial code may have been written by one person or a small team, it quickly becomes a community effort to maintain and expand the program. Some open-source projects may receive contributions from large numbers of software developers.
3D Printing Several companies sell 3D printers, and these companies may provide an initial set of designs for common projects. However, software packages are available that let anyone design their own 3D templates, and those 3D templates can be shared with others online. The 3D printing community can contribute a much higher variety of creative ideas than a 3D printer company could publish with its own engineers.
Analyzing Web Surfing Habits The "surfing" habits of web users are of intense interest to the makers of web browsers, the owners of websites, and others involved in the World Wide Web. Data such as the specific link or URL clicked and the amount of time spent on each page can be automatically gathered by a web browser and sent to one or more recipients for analysis. Web users must (hopefully) agree to share their surfing history for any purpose. While many will decline for privacy reasons, millions more may agree to participate in data gathering for research or commercial purposes.
Traffic Patterns and Accidents GPS mapping services can calculate the best route to your destination. Much of the data - like street connections, distances, and speed limits are known. However, real-time information about traffic jams, accidents, construction, and other factors can be used to improve GPS routes. This real-time information can be contributed by other users of the services. A GPS service might monitor speeds along a stretch of highway and, if many people are slower than normal, direct other traffic on alternate routes. End users can also report accidents and other hazards they find along the road.
There are, naturally, many more crowdsourcing examples. Notice that most crowdsourced projects require at least some initial expertise to set up and maintain the overall project and do something useful with the data collected. However, the "crowd" is responsible for contributing much of the raw data or creative ideas.
Crowdfunding
Online collaboration is not limited to contributing data or ideas. Consider the decision-making process of a traditional company when thinking about creating a new product. Before spending money to develop a product, a company must normally be convinced that the product will eventually sell well enough to make a profit. If a potential project is risky or does not seem likely to provide good financial results, it may be skipped.
However, some products or projects may be worthwhile to some segment of the population or to society at large, even if a company wouldn't normally launch the project based on a profit analysis. An individual with a creative but risky idea or an organization that wants to do something for the public good can consider crowdfunding.
A crowdfunded project receives financial backing directly from individual donors or investors. The owner of a project or idea can post a description online and ask for financial support. Individuals who believe in the idea can donate or invest their own funds to help launch the project. Typically, a large number of people will each contribute small amounts. There are several kinds of crowdfunding, including these three options:
Donations - A project can ask for donations, which means the individual sending money will never get any money back in return.
Investments - A project can ask for investors, which means each contributor will receive a small share of the company in return. If the idea or product does well and makes money, the contributors will receive a financial return based on their project shares.
Loans - A project can ask for loans, which means each contributor loans money with specific terms for getting repaid (whether or not the product is completed or a financial success).
There are several popular crowdfunding websites, including GoFundMe (mostly for personal donations) and Kickstarter (for start-up companies).
Be sure to carefully read the terms and conditions of any online investment and donation. Crowdfunded investments or loans tend to be high-risk.
Citizen Science
In some cases, scientists can use crowdsourcing to help conduct research or provide data for experiments. Citizen science incorporates ideas, data, and analysis from large groups of people to help arrive at a scientific conclusion. The individuals involved do not need to be experts; often, anyone can contribute!
Radio TelescopesThe SETI@Home project is one early example of a popular citizen science effort. SETI stands for "Search for ExtraTerrestrial Intelligence" and refers to an effort by scientists to identify life outside our solar system. The search for alien life includes digital analysis of electromagnetic signals captured by radio telescopes. Scientists can record huge amounts of data over many frequencies, but an intelligent signal is hard to find.
Early SETI researchers were limited by the amount of computing power they could use to analyze the recorded signals. The SETI@Home project, starting in 1999, allowed anyone with a computer to download a small application that would help analyze part of a recorded signal. The application ran in the background, not interfering with a user's main tasks, using spare CPU cycles to process part of a recorded signal. The app sent the resulting analysis back to SETI scientists.
The SETI@Home project was halted in 2020, but for over 20 years was able to use enormous amounts of distributing computing power that was not available to the smaller science team. To read more about SETI@Home, you can visit the project page below.
Another example of citizen science can be found when scientists use public help to tag and track animal populations. Bird watchers could report the number and type of birds they spot in a certain area over time. Large numbers of recreational bird watchers could cover a larger area and provide more data than a small team of scientists.
Similarly, if scientists wanted to track the population and growth of sharks or other fish, they might have a limited ability to personally catch those fish, tag and release them, and then find tagged fish again later. However, many fishermen might be willing to take tags along on a fishing trip.
If a fish of a certain type is caught, the fishermen could apply a tag, record the fish's size, weight, and location, and then release the fish. if that fish is then caught again by another fisherman later, the second fisherman could follow the instructions on the tag to provide an update on the fish's new size, weight, and location. All of this information can be sent back to the research team through an online process.
For more information on Citizen Science efforts in the United States, you can visit the websites below.
Public Data
Scientists can make discoveries by studying data. Certain kinds of public data are widely available online, so citizens can take advantage of that data to make their own discoveries. The US government publishes a variety of public data at data.gov. The data.gov website contains information on agriculture, climate, energy, oceans, health, and other topics.
Other public and private sources of information also exist. For example, with a little online searching, you can find many sources of high-quality satellite images for any location on Earth, including the sites below.
What kind of discoveries could you make with satellite images? You could monitor the growth or shrinkage of forests over time, study beach erosion, or even find new archaeological sites!
Satellite Images
1. How are traditional projects carried out by small teams?
2. What kind of advantages might small teams have on traditional projects?
3. How can small teams be limited in what they accomplish?
4. How does crowdsourcing expand the capabilities of a team?
5. What are some examples of how crowdsourcing can contribute to projects?
6. What is crowdfunding and when might it be needed?
7. What are the main types of crowdfunding?
8. How does citizen science help conduct research?
9. What are some examples of citizen science?
10. Where can you go online to read more about citizen science?
11. How does publicly available data support research and discovery? Who can use publicly available data?
12. Where can you go online to find the US Government's publicly published data?
13. How can satellite imagery and other sources of information also contribute to citizen science?
1. Traditional projects are carried out by small teams of experts who define the problem, suggest a plan, gather data, build the solution, and analyze the results.
2. Small teams may be able to quickly discard unworkable ideas and may be less overwhelmed by different ideas.
3. Small teams may be limited in what they can accomplish due to the resources and efforts of relatively few people.
4. Crowdsourcing expands the capabilities of a team by allowing a large number of people to make small contributions to a project.
5. Examples of how crowdsourcing can contribute to projects include open-source software development, 3D printing, analyzing web surfing habits, and traffic patterns and accidents.
6. Crowdfunding is a way to receive financial backing directly from individual donors or investors for a project or idea.
7. The main types of crowdfunding are donations, investments, and loans.
8. Citizen science helps conduct research by incorporating ideas, data, and analysis from large groups of people to help arrive at a scientific conclusion.
9. Examples of citizen science include the SETI@Home project and tagging and tracking animal populations.
10. You can read more about citizen science on websites dedicated to citizen science efforts in the United States.
11. Publicly available data supports research and discovery by providing information that can be used by anyone interested in analyzing it.
12. The US Government's publicly published data can be found on the data.gov website.
13. Satellite imagery and other sources of information can also contribute to citizen science by providing valuable data for research and analysis.