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Data quality

Data quality is very important in Citizen Science - a range of features are helping with the quality of user submissions & data management.

The outcomes and impact of a Citizen Science and Pubic Engagement project rely on the data quality. On SPOTTEORN, various tools are built into all apps on the platform to support that user submissions are correct and that mechanisms are in place for correcting data, receiving feedback, and leading by example.

With the Data Quality Pack for all Apps on the platform, we bundle a range of features that aim to increase the quality level throughout the project. Besides the implemented functionalities for fostering Data Quality, a well-designed input dialog for the users is a must for any Citizen Science App to reduce the chance of mistakes in submissions and to guide the Citizen Scientists well through the input options when entering data.

 

Data Quality & Validation Features

Check & Lock Data Tool

Admins and Moderator Users can validate and check in data points for a stable project data-set

Community Data Validation

Activating the help of the community for data validation & data quality

Moderator Users

Multi-level user rights for in-App data administration and support

Two-level Validation Data Export

Community-based validation scores and Admin/Moderator Check-ins are separately represented in the Data Export.

Spot Edit Mode

Users can edit their spots to correct data, change the classification, or correct errors.

Data Flagging

Users can flag data points to highlight Spots for the project's administration team.

User Roles

Flexible system for having different input options based on project User Roles and the possibility for Moderator users

Location Correctness Support

Integrated UI Elements for supporting correct GEO coordinates when making contributions

 

A Citizen Science App displaying the Data Validation Options and Interface

Working with Data Checks & Live Validation

Check & Lock: keeping user-submitted data reliable

Projects on SPOTTERON can directly manage a reliable and steady data set in the Data Administration Interface. With a click on a button, user contributions can be checked in and validated by the admin team. To keep data stable, those checked-in Spots are locked in the App, so users can not alter the information. Using the "Check & Lock" functionality on SPOTTERON results in an unchanging data set that can be reliably used in research and allows citation in publications and papers.

Community Data Validation

Projects on SPOTTERON can also utilize the integrated digital social community's power to validate data with the community's help and save time in data management. The integrated Community Data Validation toolkit enables working with large amounts of data and reduces the efforts needed for the team to check ongoing data quality and data correctness. For every Spot in the App, each user can vote on the correctness in an easy-to-use interface. When reaching a project-specific score, the data point becomes "Community confirmed" and, in a second level, "Community validated." Community validation states integrate smoothly with the administrator- and data moderator-driven "Check & Lock" functionality for a complete data validation package.

Checked-in and community-validated spots show a colored checkmark icon in the App to everyone to communicate the state change transparently to the participants. In the data export, an option to just export checked and locked spots or spots reaching a community validation score is available.

 

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User Roles for Data Input for reflecting experience

Custom User Roles enable the configuration of data input options based on a user group level. Different input options can be set up in a way that they appear only for a particular user expertise level in the Citizen Science App. A user from a "Beginner" level can, for example, only see easy-to-use data options. At the same time, an "Expert" can add additional values, measurements, and data fields to a single spot. Users can select a role at the first login, with the additional option for the project to protect particular roles with a PIN code.

User Roles Diagram for Citizen Science Apps for custom user contribution options and pin code role protection

An extended option for all projects on the SPOTTERON platform is the ability for project administrators to promote experienced users to moderators in the Data Administration Interface. Moderator users can help by editing spots of other users to correct data or validate Spots directly in the App with a press of a button to help maintain a validated and unchanging project data set for research and publications.

 All Data Quality features are included in all SPOTTERON packages without additional costs.

See packages


Data quality pack app screens

Short News

  • A new paper titled "Citizen Science Approaches for Water Quality Measurements" has been published by the scientists behind CrowdWater. Find it in the papers section!

    in Shortnews
  • A new paper from the Horizon 2020 project IPM titled "Genetic variability of Metarhizium isolates from the Ticino Valley Natural Park (Northern Italy) as a possible microbiological resource for the management of Popillia japonica" has been added to our page. Find this and other Citizen Science related publications on the SPOTTERON Papers & Publications section.

    in Shortnews