scholarly journals A three-pronged strategy to improve trust in biodiversity data produced by citizen science programs

2018 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
pp. e25838
Author(s):  
Robert Stevenson
Keyword(s):  
Best Practices ◽  
Data Quality ◽  
Citizen Science ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Data Quality Control ◽  
Biodiversity Data ◽  
New Approach ◽  
Report Data ◽  
Instrument Measurement ◽  
First Time

The quality of data produced by citizen science (CS) programs has been called into question by academic scientists, governments, and corporations. Their doubts arise because they perceive CS groups as intruding on the rightful opportunities of standard science and industry organizations, because of a normal skepticism of novel approaches, and because of a lack of understanding of how CS produces data. I propose a three-pronged strategy to overcome these objections and improve trust in CS data. Develop methods for CS programs to advertise their efforts in data quality control and quality assurance (QCQA). As a first step the PPSR core could incorporate a field that would allow programs to point to webpages that document the QAQC practices of each program. It is my experience that many programs think carefully about data quality, but the CS community currently lacks an established protocol to share this information. Define and implement best practices for generating biodiversity data using different methods. Wiggins et al. 2011 published a list of approaches that can be used for QCQA in CS projects but how these approaches should be implemented has not been systematically investigated. Measure and report data quality. If one takes the point of view that citizen science is akin to a new category of scientific instruments, then the ideas of instrument measurement and calibration can be applied CS. Scientists are well aware that any instrument needs to be calibrated before its efficacy can be established. However, because CS is new approach, the specific procedures needed for different kinds of programs are just now being worked out for the first time. Develop methods for CS programs to advertise their efforts in data quality control and quality assurance (QCQA). As a first step the PPSR core could incorporate a field that would allow programs to point to webpages that document the QAQC practices of each program. It is my experience that many programs think carefully about data quality, but the CS community currently lacks an established protocol to share this information. Define and implement best practices for generating biodiversity data using different methods. Wiggins et al. 2011 published a list of approaches that can be used for QCQA in CS projects but how these approaches should be implemented has not been systematically investigated. Measure and report data quality. If one takes the point of view that citizen science is akin to a new category of scientific instruments, then the ideas of instrument measurement and calibration can be applied CS. Scientists are well aware that any instrument needs to be calibrated before its efficacy can be established. However, because CS is new approach, the specific procedures needed for different kinds of programs are just now being worked out for the first time. The strategy outlined above faces some specific challenges. Citizen science biodiversity programs must address two important problems that standard scientific entities encounter when sampling and monitoring biodiversity. The first is correctly identifying species. For citizens this can be a problem because they often do not have the training and background of scientist teams. Likewise, it may be difficult for CS projects to manage updating and maintaining the taxonomies of the species being investigated. A second set of challenges is the diverse kinds of biodiversity data collected by CS programs. For instances, Notes from Nature decodes that labels of museum specimens, Snapshot Serengeti identifies species of large mammals from camera trap photographs, iNaturalist collections images of species and then has a crowdsource identification processs, while eBird collects observations of birds that are immediately filtered with computer algorithms for review by the observer and if, subsequently flagged, reviewed by a local expert. Each of these programs likely requires a different set of best practices and methods to measure data quality.

scholarly journals Practical Application of a Data Stewardship Maturity Matrix for the NOAA OneStop Project

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ge Peng ◽  
Anna Milan ◽  
Nancy A. Ritchey ◽  
Robert P. Partee ◽  
Sonny Zinn ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
North Carolina ◽  
Best Practices ◽  
Data Quality ◽  
User Needs ◽  
Data Quality Control ◽  
Practical Application ◽  
Data Discovery ◽  
Data Quality Assessment ◽  
Data Stewardship ◽  
Do So

Assessing the stewardship maturity of individual datasets is an essential part of ensuring and improving the way datasets are documented, preserved, and disseminated to users. It is a critical step towards meeting U.S. federal regulations, organizational requirements, and user needs. However, it is challenging to do so consistently and quantifiably. The Data Stewardship Maturity Matrix (DSMM), developed jointly by NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) and the Cooperative Institute for Climate and Satellites–North Carolina (CICS-NC), provides a uniform framework for consistently rating stewardship maturity of individual datasets in nine key components: preservability, accessibility, usability, production sustainability, data quality assurance, data quality control/monitoring, data quality assessment, transparency/traceability, and data integrity. So far, the DSMM has been applied to over 900 individual datasets that are archived and/or managed by NCEI, in support of the NOAA’s OneStop Data Discovery and Access Framework Project. As a part of the OneStop-ready process, tools, implementation guidance, workflows, and best practices are developed to assist the application of the DSMM and described in this paper. The DSMM ratings are also consistently captured in the ISO standard-based dataset-level quality metadata and citable quality descriptive information documents, which serve as interoperable quality information to both machine and human end-users. These DSMM implementation and integration workflows and best practices could be adopted by other data management and stewardship projects or adapted for applications of other maturity assessment models.

scholarly journals Training citizen scientists through an online game developed for data quality control

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Barbara Strobl ◽  
Simon Etter ◽  
H. J. Ilja van Meerveld ◽  
Jan Seibert
Keyword(s):  
Quality Control ◽  
Data Quality ◽  
Citizen Science ◽  
Training Methods ◽  
Online Game ◽  
Data Quality Control ◽  
Training Requirements ◽  
Science Projects ◽  
Other Information ◽  
Before And After

Abstract. Some form of training is often necessary in citizen science projects. While in many citizen science projects it is possible to keep tasks simple so that training requirements are minimal, some projects include more challenging tasks and, thus, require more extensive training. Training can hinder joining a project, and therefore most citizen science projects prefer to keep training requirements low. However, training may be needed to ensure good data quality. In this study, we evaluated if an online game that was originally developed for data quality control in a citizen science project, can be used for training for that project. More specifically, we investigated whether the CrowdWater game can be used to train new participants on how to use the virtual staff gauge in the CrowdWater smartphone app for the collection of water level class data. Within this app, the task of placing a virtual staff gauge to start measurements at a new location has proven to be challenging; however this is a crucial task for all subsequent measurements at this location. We analysed the performance of 52 participants in the placement of the virtual staff gauge before and after playing the online CrowdWater game as a form of training. After playing the game, the performance improved for most participants. This suggests that players learned project related tasks intuitively by observing actual gauge placements by other citizen scientists and thus acquired knowledge about how to best use the app instinctively. Interestingly, self-assessment was not a good proxy for the participants’ performance or performance increase. These results demonstrate the value of an online game for training, particularly when compared to other information materials, which are often not used extensively by citizen scientist. These findings are useful for the development of training strategies for other citizen science projects because they indicate that gamified approaches might provide valuable alternative training methods.

scholarly journals Training citizen scientists through an online game developed for data quality control

2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 109-126 ◽  
Author(s):  
Barbara Strobl ◽  
Simon Etter ◽  
H. J. Ilja van Meerveld ◽  
Jan Seibert
Keyword(s):  
Quality Control ◽  
Data Quality ◽  
Citizen Science ◽  
Training Methods ◽  
Online Game ◽  
Data Quality Control ◽  
Training Requirements ◽  
Science Projects ◽  
Other Information ◽  
Before And After

Abstract. Some form of training is often necessary for citizen science projects. While in some citizen science projects, it is possible to keep tasks simple so that training requirements are minimal, other projects include more challenging tasks and, thus, require more extensive training. Training can be a hurdle to joining a project, and therefore most citizen science projects prefer to keep training requirements low. However, training may be needed to ensure good data quality. In this study, we evaluated whether an online game that was originally developed for data quality control in a citizen science project can be used for training for that project. More specifically, we investigated whether the CrowdWater game can be used to train new participants on how to place the virtual staff gauge in the CrowdWater smartphone app for the collection of water level class data. Within this app, the task of placing a virtual staff gauge to start measurements at a new location has proven to be challenging; however, this is a crucial task for all subsequent measurements at this location. We analysed the performance of 52 participants in the placement of the virtual staff gauge before and after playing the online CrowdWater game as a form of training. After playing the game, the performance improved for most participants. This suggests that players learned project-related tasks intuitively by observing actual gauge placements by other citizen scientists in the game and thus acquired knowledge about how to best use the app instinctively. Interestingly, self-assessment was not a good proxy for the participants' performance or the performance increase through the training. These results demonstrate the value of an online game for training. These findings are useful for the development of training strategies for other citizen science projects because they indicate that gamified approaches might provide valuable alternative training methods, particularly when other information materials are not used extensively by citizen scientists.

The Quality Control and Evaluation of Road Traffic Flow Data

2013 ◽  
Vol 838-841 ◽  
pp. 2092-2097 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuan Li Gu ◽  
Yun Nan Ma ◽  
Ju Wei Li
Keyword(s):  
Quality Control ◽  
Data Quality ◽  
Traffic Flow ◽  
Traffic Management ◽  
Road Traffic ◽  
Flow Data ◽  
Data Quality Control ◽  
Failure Data ◽  
Traffic Management System ◽  
First Time

Dynamic traffic data quality evaluation can provide reliable data support for the traffic management system. This paper aim at three kinds of common failure data, put forward the traffic flow data quality control methods and process. First time evaluate the data quality in three stages, and each stage respectively for all kinds of ITS detector, and builds the six index system. Finally take Beijing as an example to analyze and verify the method of this paper.

Correlating Personality and Actual Phone Usage

2014 ◽  
Vol 35 (3) ◽  
pp. 158-165 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christian Montag ◽  
Konrad Błaszkiewicz ◽  
Bernd Lachmann ◽  
Ionut Andone ◽  
Rayna Sariyska ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Big Data ◽  
Social Network ◽  
Mobile Phone ◽  
Mobile Phones ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Psychological Variables ◽  
New Approach ◽  
Report Data ◽  
Self Report Data ◽  
Voice Calls

In the present study we link self-report-data on personality to behavior recorded on the mobile phone. This new approach from Psychoinformatics collects data from humans in everyday life. It demonstrates the fruitful collaboration between psychology and computer science, combining Big Data with psychological variables. Given the large number of variables, which can be tracked on a smartphone, the present study focuses on the traditional features of mobile phones – namely incoming and outgoing calls and SMS. We observed N = 49 participants with respect to the telephone/SMS usage via our custom developed mobile phone app for 5 weeks. Extraversion was positively associated with nearly all related telephone call variables. In particular, Extraverts directly reach out to their social network via voice calls.

Thanato-Laboratorien. Theorien von Tod und Sterben und Elias Canettis Buch gegen den Tod

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 67-86
Author(s):  
Elisabeth Heyne
Keyword(s):  
Human Life ◽  
Death And Dying ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Visual Images ◽  
Elias Canetti ◽  
History Of ◽  
Series Of Experiments ◽  
First Time ◽  
Textual Form ◽  
Or History

AbstractAlthough visual culture of the 21th century increasingly focuses on representation of death and dying, contemporary discourses still lack a language of death adequate to the event shown by pictures and visual images from an outside point of view. Following this observation, this article suggests a re-reading of 20th century author Elias Canetti. His lifelong notes have been edited and published posthumously for the first time in 2014. Thanks to this edition Canetti's short texts and aphorisms can be focused as a textual laboratory in which he tries to model a language of death on experimental practices of natural sciences. The miniature series of experiments address the problem of death, not representable in discourses of cultural studies, system theory or history of knowledge, and in doing so, Canetti creates liminal texts at the margins of western concepts of (human) life, science and established textual form.

A Nabatean port on the Red Sea: note on the pottery finds from al-Qusayr (al-Wajh, Saudi Arabia)

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Caroline Durand
Keyword(s):  
Saudi Arabia ◽  
19Th Century ◽  
Red Sea ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
The Other ◽  
Trade Routes ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
Roman Egypt ◽  
Pottery Sherds ◽  
First Time

Al-Qusayr is located 40 km south of modern al-Wajh, roughly 7 km from the eastern Red Sea shore. This site is known since the mid-19th century, when the explorer R. Burton described it for the first time, in particular the remains of a monumental building so-called al-Qasr. In March 2016, a new survey of the site was undertaken by the al-‘Ula–al-Wajh Survey Project. This survey focused not only on al-Qasr but also on the surrounding site corresponding to the ancient settlement. A surface collection of pottery sherds revealed a striking combination of Mediterranean and Egyptian imports on one hand, and of Nabataean productions on the other hand. This material is particularly homogeneous on the chronological point of view, suggesting a rather limited occupation period for the site. Attesting contacts between Mediterranean merchants, Roman Egypt and the Nabataean kingdom, these new data allow a complete reassessment of the importance of this locality in the Red Sea trade routes during antiquity.

Ground state molecular parameters of phosphine, PH3, from the simultaneous analysis of the high-resolution infrared, microwave and submillimeterwave spectra

1985 ◽  
Vol 50 (11) ◽  
pp. 2480-2492 ◽  
Author(s):  
Soňa Přádná ◽  
Dušan Papoušek ◽  
Jyrki Kauppinen ◽  
Sergei P. Belov ◽  
Andrei F. Krupnov ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Fourier Transform ◽  
High Resolution ◽  
Ground State ◽  
Unitary Transformation ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Acoustic Detection ◽  
Molecular Parameters ◽  
Microwave Spectrometer ◽  
Fourier Transform Spectra ◽  
First Time

Fourier transform spectra of the ν2 band of PH3 have been remeasured with 0.0045 cm-1 resolution. Ground state combination differences from these data have been fitted simultaneously with the microwave and submillimeterwave data to determine the ground state spectroscopical parameters of PH3 including the parameters of the Δk = ± 3n interactions. The correlation between the latter parameters has been discussed from the point of view of the existence of two equivalent effective rotational operators which are related by a unitary transformation. The ΔJ = 0, +1, ΔK = 0 (A1 ↔ A2, E ↔ E) rotational transitions in the ν2 and ν4 states have been measured for the first time by using a microwave spectrometer and a radiofrequency spectrometer with acoustic detection.

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