Researchers use Mechanical Turk for a wide range of research projects. A recent paper details how researchers used Mechanical Turk to gather information about malaria symptoms from Mechanical Turk Workers in India.
The study concludes:
"With careful study design, micro-monetary incentives and online reporting are a rapid way to
solicit malaria, and potentially other public health information. This methodology provides a
cost-effective way of executing a field study that can act as a complement to traditional
public health surveillance methods, offering an opportunity to obtain information about
malaria activity, temporal progression, demographics affected or Plasmodium-specific
diagnosis at a finer resolution than official reports can provide. The recent adoption of
technologies, such as the Internet supports self-reporting mediums, and self-reporting should
continue to be studied as it can foster preventative health behaviours."
Comments