RTI International Announces Winners of 'Crowdsourced' Research Challenge

RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C. — RTI International recently selected nine winners from among 74 entries in a "crowdsourced" survey research challenge.

The contest, which was held from Jan. 5 to Jan. 30, allowed researchers the opportunity to have 10 questions included in an upcoming in-person survey in the Chicago area.

Winners chosen by RTI survey research experts were those that addressed the most creative, cutting edge, and pressing social, economic or policy topics submitted.

"The success of this challenge exceeded our expectations, and we hope to launch more crowdsourced competitions in the future," said Michael Keating, a survey manager at RTI who led the effort. "The winning submissions reflect the diversity of the entrants, who have backgrounds in academia, government and the private sector."

Some of the winning topics include:

• Avoiding information on undesired health outcomes
• The relationship between income inequality, health and societal trust
• The impact of fictional crime dramas on perceptions of the police and use of force
• Political identity among independent voters

A full list of winning topics and researchers can be found on RTI's SurveyPost blog.

The winning submissions will be included in a survey that will sample approximately 1,600 households in the Chicago area, scheduled to take place in summer 2012.

The researchers or teams will receive the response data to their questions along with demographic data, and the first rights to publish results of their findings.

The challenge was designed to help researchers better understand the potential for crowdsourcing in survey design and whether the model might result in insights that would be missed under a more traditional research model.