Crowdsourced data platforms are a form of ‘citizen science’ whereby members of the public can join large-scale scientific efforts by contributing to smaller tasks. They have enabled citizen science and accelerated academic research all over the world and in many different areas. In the past, such efforts have taken many forms such as detecting extra-terrestrial signals, analysing the climate impact of air traffic, or exploring protein folding for medical purposes.

This project wants to examine the factors that make crowdsourcing possible and identify the obstacles to further adoption. Using the example of the OpenSky Network and surveying other crowdsourced projects, the analysis would examine the common (e.g., cultural, economic, demographic) predictors for geographic participation around the globe.

Further exploration could include quantitative and qualitative analysis of the motivations of existing participants in crowdsourcing projects. In this project, you will have access to the OpenSky Network and Electrosense Networks to conduct time series analysis of historical data and surveys/interviews within their user base.