Crowdsourcing and Digital Workforce in the Gig Economy

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    Tragedy of the Commons - A Critical Study of Data Quality and Validity Issues in Crowd Work-Based Research
    ( 2022-01-04) Xia, Huichuan
    Crowd work platforms such as MTurk have been leveraged by academic scholars to conduct research and collect data. Though prior studies have discussed data quality and validity issues in crowd work via surveys and experiments, they kind of neglected to explore the scholars’ and particularly the IRB’s ethical concerns in these respects. In this study, we interviewed 17 scholars in six different disciplines and 15 IRB directors/analysts in the U.S. to fill this research gap. We identified common themes among our respondents but also discovered distinctive and even opposing views regarding the approval rate, rejection, internal and external research validity. Based on the findings, we discussed a potential Tragedy of the Commons regarding the data quality deterioration and the disciplinary differences regarding validity in crowd work-based research. Finally, we advocated that the IRB’s ethical concerns should be heard and respected.
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    The Food App is Watching You: The Relationship between Daily Algorithmic Control and Meaningful Work and the Role of Job Crafting
    ( 2022-01-04) Verelst, Lorenz ; De Cooman, Rein ; Verbruggen, Marijke
    App work disrupted our traditional understanding of work as it introduced new technologies, such as algorithmic control. Based on the job characteristics theory, we put forward an important drawback of algorithmic control and a practice that might mitigate it. We test whether algorithmic control obstructs experiences of meaningful work through a lack of motivating job characteristics and the buffering role of bottom-up work design (i.e. job crafting). We conduct a daily diary study among 51 Belgian food app workers and test within-person relationships. Results show that on days that app workers experience high algorithmic control, they perceive their work as less meaningful than on days with little algorithmic control. Although daily motivating job characteristics could not explain this negative relationship, we found job crafting to enable app workers in attaining motivating job characteristics and meaningful work. Thereby we emphasize the importance of both top-down and bottom-up work design in a strive for meaningful work.
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    Significance of Task Significance in Online Marketplaces for Work
    ( 2022-01-04) Ren, Yuqing ; Curley, Shawn
    Online marketplaces for work like Amazon Mechanical Turk facilitate the sourcing of low expertise tasks in a fast and cost effective way. In this study, we explore the impact of task significance on work quality by informing workers of the purpose of the task and who benefits from it. Results from a laboratory experiment and a field experiment showed that perceived task significance improved work quality, but only for participants who recalled the purpose statement. In contrast, increasing monetary payment by 50% had no impact on work quality. A majority of participants who received the purpose statement were not able to recall it. Further analysis showed worker attributes such as English ability and personality traits influenced the likelihood of recall whereas rich media format had no effects. Overall, our work highlights the promise of task significance as a way to motivate online workers and the challenge of promoting task significance online.
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    “No Matter I’ll Be Selected; in the Next Challenge I Will Be Better!” – Understanding Non-Technical Skill Development in the Gig Economy
    ( 2022-01-04) Frenzel-Piasentin, Adeline ; Glaser, Karoline ; Toutaoui, Jonas ; Veit, Daniel J.
    While prior research on gig work environments studied necessary technical skills for information systems development (ISD) professionals and how they can be developed, the improvement of non-technical skills (NTS) has been rarely explored. However, to successfully engage in the gig work economy, the need for strong NTS is increasing. Based on an experiential learning theory (ELT) perspective, we explore how ISD professionals engaging in the gig economy develop NTS by following grounded theory methodology. Our results are threefold: first, we identify crucial NTS for gig workers. Second, we uncover how these NTS are developed in different phases of adapting to working on gig economy platforms. Third, we reveal several strategies for thriving in the gig economy. Based on our findings we develop a process model of non-technical skill development and discuss this model in relation to implications for gig economy literature and practice.
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    Introduction to the Minitrack on Crowdsourcing and Digital Workforce in the Gig Economy
    ( 2022-01-04) Deng, Xuefei ; Taylor, Joseph ; Moussawi, Sara