“Crowd science” has entered the realms of physics, biology,
classical studies, and the applied social research we do here in Saint Paul.
Crowd science? The term refers to the increasingly common practice
in which people pool information which they have gathered independently, and
then have access to all of the information which they and others have supplied.
As a group, they can develop new understanding and produce products that they
never could have produced by working in isolation. In astronomy, for example,
far too many galaxies and stars exist for any one individual to observe and
analyze. So, the field has shifted dramatically from individual astronomers
sitting at their telescopes writing up their discoveries, to networks of
astronomers who share their information in a common database which all can use.
Crowd science can involve networks comprised solely of
professional scientists. It can also involve mixtures of scientists and the
general public, or even just the public alone. A November 20 article in the
Pioneer Press described how papyrologists (a new word for me), who had
struggled for years to unlock the secrets contained in ancient papyrus
documents, moved rapidly forward after devising a clever and innovative way to
obtain the assistance of the public – who did not need to know classical
languages – in the identification of images on the ancient texts.
Minnesota Compass illustrates these principles. No single
entity can possibly gather all the data necessary for understanding communities’
quality of life with respect to health, housing, education, workforce, and
other critical dimensions. However, after organizations specializing in these
topics have independently gathered information, Compass can compile it and make
it accessible in one common location. Moreover, Compass can and does not only
summarize trends and report them in summary graphs; it also enables access to
raw data, so that everyone from an academic researcher to an amateur
neighborhood social scientist can play with those data from all angles and make
their own discoveries.
The Minnesota Department of Health, with its Statewide
Health Improvement Program (SHIP) initiative, created a version of crowd
science, in which Wilder Research energetically participated. SHIP involved the
funding and development of programs throughout the state, intended to help
Minnesotans live longer, healthier lives by reducing the burden of chronic
disease. The effort included creation of a system for evaluation of those
programs. Information on results from each site can therefore accrete in a
common data base, so that we can learn more from collaborative data sharing
than we could learn from solely independent review of each site’s results.
Wilder Research staff worked with a variety of sites in the metro area and in
greater Minnesota, and we look forward to seeing how this crowd science
endeavor can produce tangible outcomes in improving everyone’s health!
A good example of moving crowd science from information-gathering
to action occurred in our recently completed planning year for the Saint Paul Promise
Neighborhood. In that effort, we had six “solution action groups” who worked in
parallel over a period of six months. Each group focused on the developmental
needs of young people, in a different segment of life from birth to post
secondary education. They requested and reviewed information; they brought into
discussion their observations and insights based on their experience and the
events in their own segments of the community. At the end of the process, we
blended the independent work of the six task forces to create a cohesive whole,
a community-based plan that addresses the life span of the neighborhood’s
residents, from prenatal to young adulthood.
In this Information Age, knowledge constitutes power.
Harnessing information to create knowledge requires bold, innovative,
cost-effective approaches (just like harnessing the power of the sun to create
solar power). Crowd science offers one new tool for harnessing information –
enabling humans, individually and collectively, to do their part, supported by
modern information technology.
In addition, crowd science offers the opportunity to reduce
one type of disparity that has existed throughout history. As the Pioneer Press
commentator noted, crowd science “may accomplish something else: breaking down
some of the old divisions between the highly educated mandarins of the academy
and the curious amateurs out in the world.” (Will the committed staff of Wilder
Research – inhabitants of the arcane world of social science – lose our jobs if
anyone can now draw “scientific” conclusions? Not at all. Our roles will evolve
in an exhilarating way. More than ever, people who want to use information will
require reliable sources of trustable information; they will need a system that
makes that information easily and cheaply available (so that equal access
exists and multiple perspectives can figure into interpretation of
information); they will need coaching and advice on how to interpret that
information; and to obtain responses to certain types of questions, they will
always require help from experienced professionals.)
Crowd science: It’s modern, democratic, practical, and
effective. We’re excited to play our part in many such efforts, present and
future, because crowd science, coupled with collaborative action, will enable
us to move our communities forward.
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