Crowdsourced science: sociotechnical epistemology in the e-research paradigm

TL;DR

This paper examines how online crowdsourcing platforms like Zooniverse enhance scientific research through sociotechnical means, offering epistemic advantages over traditional methods by leveraging digital collaboration and communication technologies.

Contribution

It provides a sociotechnical epistemological analysis of citizen science platforms, demonstrating their effectiveness and impact on scientific discovery using empirical and Bayesian methods.

Findings

Crowdsourced projects produce large volumes of data and high-impact discoveries.

Digital platforms improve reliability, scalability, and connectivity in research.

Sociotechnical approaches offer epistemic benefits over traditional science methods.

Abstract

Recent years have seen a surge in online collaboration between experts and amateurs on scientific research. In this article, we analyse the epistemological implications of these crowdsourced projects, with a focus on Zooniverse, the world's largest citizen science web portal. We use quantitative methods to evaluate the platform's success in producing large volumes of observation statements and high impact scientific discoveries relative to more conventional means of data processing. Through empirical evidence, Bayesian reasoning, and conceptual analysis, we show how information and communication technologies enhance the reliability, scalability, and connectivity of crowdsourced e-research, giving online citizen science projects powerful epistemic advantages over more traditional modes of scientific investigation. These results highlight the essential role played by technologically mediated social interaction in contemporary knowledge production. We conclude by calling for an explicitly sociotechnical turn in the philosophy of science that combines insights from statistics and logic to analyse the latest developments in scientific research.