Mechanical Turk data collection in addiction research: utility, concerns and best practices.

Aims: Amazon Mechanical Turk (MTurk) provides a crowdsourcing platform for the engagement of potential research participants with data collection instruments. This review (1) provides an introduction to the mechanics and validity of MTurk research; (2) gives examples of MTurk research; and (3) discu...

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Publicado en:Addiction Vol. 115; no. 10; pp. 1960 - 1969
Autores principales: Mellis, Alexandra M., Bickel, Warren K.
Formato: research tables/charts Journal Article
Publicado: Wiley-Blackwell Oct2020
Acceso en línea:Ver este registro en EBSCOhost
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      pub: Wiley-Blackwell
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        10.1111/add.15032
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        atl: Mechanical Turk data collection in addiction research: utility, concerns and best practices.
      aug:
        au:
          Mellis, Alexandra M.
          Bickel, Warren K.
        affil: Addiction Recovery Research Center, Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC, VA, , USA
      sug:
        subj:
          Research, Medical
          Analgesics Therapeutic Use
          Substance Dependence
          Data Collection
          Crowdsourcing
          Instrument Validation
          Human
          Surveys
          Convenience Sample
          Behavioral Research
          Funding Source
      ab: Aims: Amazon Mechanical Turk (MTurk) provides a crowdsourcing platform for the engagement of potential research participants with data collection instruments. This review (1) provides an introduction to the mechanics and validity of MTurk research; (2) gives examples of MTurk research; and (3) discusses current limitations and best practices in MTurk research. Methods: We review four use cases of MTurk for research relevant to addictions: (1) the development of novel measures, (2) testing interventions, (3) the collection of longitudinal use data to determine the feasibility of longer‐term studies of substance use and (4) the completion of large batteries of assessments to characterize the relationships between measured constructs. We review concerns with the platform, ways of mitigating these and important information to include when presenting findings. Results: MTurk has proved to be a useful source of data for behavioral science more broadly, with specific applications to addiction science. However, it is still not appropriate for all use cases, such as population‐level inference. To live up to the potential of highly transparent, reproducible science from MTurk, researchers should clearly report inclusion/exclusion criteria, data quality checks and reasons for excluding collected data, how and when data were collected and both targeted and actual participant compensation. Conclusions: Although on‐line survey research is not a substitute for random sampling or clinical recruitment, the Mechanical Turk community of both participants and researchers has developed multiple tools to promote data quality, fairness and rigor. Overall, Mechanical Turk has provided a useful source of convenience samples despite its limitations and has demonstrated utility in the engagement of relevant groups for addiction science.
      pubtype: Academic Journal
      doctype:
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      ougenre: Article
    language: English
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