Community-based Data Validation Practices in Citizen Science

In a study of the dynamics of citizen science data curation, researchers Andrea Wiggins and Yurong He identified several interesting trends impacting the perceived quality of observational data shared on the iNaturalist social network. The paper was nominated for an Honorable Mention and appears in the proceedings of the ACM CSCW 2016 conference. The study was motivated by the huge volumes of data now being produced in citizen science, which often requires some form of validation prior to its use. Since professional researchers are unable to keep up with quality management, Wiggins and He evaluated how well the citizen science participants are able to curate the data they contribute. The researchers based their findings on observations from an educator workshop and publicly accessible data from iNaturalist, using mixed methods to ground statistical analyses in actual practice. They extended a theoretical framework that focuses on information assessability, linking information provenance with reliability, or ability to evaluate changes to the record, and connecting information stewardship with informativity, or amount of detail in the record. While the researchers were not surprised to find that data about birds drew more attention than content about species, other findings were more unexpected. For example, observations for which the contributors asked for help with species identification were actually less likely to receive assistance. A more substantial concern was that observations uploaded from mobile phones were also less likely to be reviewed, suggesting that mobile devices may have some drawbacks for supporting this type of participation. Read the preprint of the article...

Privacy policy gaps in citizen science and participatory research projects

Researchers Anne Bowser and Andrea Wiggins surveyed 30 North American participatory research projects–volunteer-driven citizen science and participatory sensing efforts–to understand how well the projects handle privacy design and implementation. The paper appears in the August 2015 issue of the Human Computation Journal. The study used publicly available policies from the project websites and found that while most projects consider policies and technical designs to protect users, the levels of completeness varied, as did where and how the information was presented. Assessing project policies in greater depth uncovered gaps and discrepancies between intent and implementation. These observations resulted in a set of Ethical Guidelines for policy and technology design for the projects.  Data sharing is considered essential to the operation of these projects, but ensuring users are presented with clear statements and prompts at appropriate points in the participation process is important. The researchers recommended designing policies and tools to support protections of those involved in the research at any level, as well as compliance with legal requirements for protections.  The paper contributes a new framework for ethical engagement of volunteers in participatory research, synthesized from the principles of the Belmont Report and guidelines for privacy protections in participatory sensing, with recommendations around Ethical Engagement, Ongoing Assessment, Informed Participation, Evolving Consent, Participant Benefit, Meaningful Choice, and Evolving Choice.  ...