Veni grant to Dr. Gabriele Paolacci for improving quality of online research

Crowdsourcing is revolutionising how social scientists conduct their research, but there are pitfalls in collecting data from online marketplaces. A research project at Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University (RSM) to investigate the quality of data collected from the public via crowdsourcing has just been awarded a € 250,000 Veni grant from the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO). The researcher in charge is <link people gabriele-paolacci>Dr Gabriele Paolacci, an assistant professor of marketing at RSM.

Veni grants are awarded to promising researchers up to three years after completing their doctoral thesis, and can fund up to three years of work to develop ideas and gather data. The maximum grant is €250,000 per researcher.

The internet is making the social sciences faster and more open, explained Dr Paolacci. “I’m a fan and an early adopter of crowdsourcing as a data collection tool. But my previous research has also identified some unique threats to data validity, such as the presence of “professional participants”. While most crowdsourced participants are generally attentive and honest, the lack of control over the data collection process brings new and serious concerns. I’m thrilled that NWO recognised the importance of these challenges and decided to fund my future investigations into them,” he said. “It’s a great honour to receive this award.”