Playing Catch Up
Although crowdsourcing may seem new to some researchers, Dr. Chang said medicine is behind the curve when it comes to using this resource and that crowdsourcing is the bread and butter research of other areas, such as the social sciences. “It’s such a low risk and high reward thing to try,” she said, “I invite health services researchers to look into it and see if it might decrease their burden. It doesn’t cost very much but could be really useful.”
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January 2019She also advises physicians who generally avoid using technology to try to keep an open mind and let their patients be their guides. “Your patients are using a lot of different technology. Be open to how they’re using it and why they’re using it. Most of the time it’s because it’s enhancing their lives in some way. We have to ask ourselves how we can leverage that to help us understand their lives better.”
Renée Bacher is a freelance medical writer based in Louisiana.
Popular Crowdsourcing Platforms
Facebook and Twitter aside, check out these less-than-obvious platforms medical researchers are using to crowdsource (and see which may suit your next project):
Crowdsource Tips
Facebook and Twitter aside, check out these less-than-obvious platforms medical researchers are using to crowdsource (and see which may suit your next project):
Ready to jump in and crowdsource your next research project? Keep these tips in mind:
Get Informed: Before getting started, get informed about the basics of crowdsourcing and the risks. The Journal of Medical Internet Research has a large database of studies on crowdsourcing for background information. Visit www.JMIR.org to access free abstracts.
Choose Questions Wisely: Choose the questions you will ask of the crowd very carefully. “If you ask patients a bunch of medical questions, they’re not going to be qualified to answer that for the most part, and you’re going to get answers and not know what to do with them,” said Dr. Balakrishnan.
Carefully Choose Participants: Choose your crowd in such a way that the wisdom of the crowd applies to the question you’re trying to ask. Dr. Balakrishnan said once you do that successfully, you can think about what information you’re collecting and how to protect and analyze it.
Be Honest: If you’re sending out a survey, ask fewer questions that take less time and be honest up front about how long it will take. Dr. Sidell said he’s more likely to complete a survey that takes five minutes rather than one that takes 30 minutes. And he’s more likely to design a survey that way as well. He also doesn’t mind getting another short survey from the same researchers at a later date.