Crowdsourced Data Collection Opens New Avenues for the Behavioral Sciences to Impact Real-World Applications

Bibliographic Data

ID22124580
AuthorsDwight J Kravitz (0000-0002-8108-1329, U.S. National Science Foundation, corresponding author), Stephen R Mitroff (0000-0003-3524-6396, George Washington University), Chloe Callahan-Flintoft (0000-0002-1874-2032, DEVCOM Army Research Laboratory), Kelvin S Oie (DEVCOM Army Research Laboratory)
Year2024
Volume11
Issue2
Pages123-131
Publication date2024-10-01
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenuePolicy Insights from the Behavioral and Brain Sciences (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2372-7322 • E-ISSN: 2372-7330
PublisherSAGE Publications (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/23727322241274745
OpenAlexW4402411130
LanguageEN
References cited51

The behavioral sciences have had great success in their study of the mechanisms that drive behavior. However, they have had less impact on applied settings or policy. This gap results from the very adaptability that makes human behavior useful. Adaptability implies that behavior will be highly specific to the context in which it occurs. Thus, building a bridge between the lab and application requires testing in the specific applied setting, which runs afoul of the high cost of data collection. This cost has also led to a focus on simple paradigms that poorly match applied settings. However, crowdsourcing enables data collection at vastly reduced budgets and schedules. This new cost regime also enables paradigms better suited to applied settings. Behavioral science should now be used throughout applied- and policy-focused projects

Behavioural sciences · Crowdsourcing · Data collection · Data science · Social science · Sociology · World Wide Web · Behavioral Health and Interventions · Computer Science · Digital Mental Health Interventions · Mental Health Research Topics · Psychology

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