Research Projects

Creative or Corrupt? How Wikipedians Decide If a New Contribution Is "good" or "bad"

Creativity is the introduction of a novel and appropriate idea or product into a community that transforms the community in some way. Corruption is the decay or redirection of community resources away from a community's purpose toward a self-interested end. Both creativity and corruption alter the possibilities available to later community contributors. In an empirical study of seven contentious Wikipedia pages, Fellow Seana Moran explores: How does the editing community decide, at the time a novel contribution is made, whether it is creative and should be kept, or corrupt and should be removed or blocked? How long does this evaluation take? What evaluative criteria are used?... Read more about Creative or Corrupt? How Wikipedians Decide If a New Contribution Is "good" or "bad"

Obstruction to Truth: Institutional Corruption in Academia

Academic researchers operate within a unique economy where the goal is to seek and teach the truth about our universe, not to generate profit; indeed, ideas (not money) are the currency of exchange. As such, corruption in this context can be thought of as anything that prevents researchers from discovering the truth or anything that takes away from the public's opinion of the veracity of research findings. Alek Chakroff and Brandi Newell are collaborating to investigate the subtle and often unintentional cognitive biases that can lead researchers away from the truth and, more specifically, towards confirming their own ideas or "pet theories."... Read more about Obstruction to Truth: Institutional Corruption in Academia