Crowdsourced Research

Crowdsourced research is an innovative form of journalism in which the editorial team conducts research together with its community, also known as the crowd. The editorial team sets a research question and the crowd then collects facts or opinions on this question and makes them available to the editorial team. This allows exciting, investigative research to be carried out without much effort on the part of the editorial team. In addition, the content is ultimately based on a wider range of information. Due to their proximity to the community, crowdsourced research is particularly suitable for community-centered editorial teams.

The CrowdNewsroom from beabee as a tool for crowdsourced research

beabee is a software solution developed by CORRECTIV for community-centered media companies. beabee combines a CRM tool, payment processing, and the CrowdNewsroom. The CrowdNewsroom is beabee's survey tool, which can be used to easily compile even complex questionnaires.

This allows the CrowdNewsroom to serve as a tech tool for crowdsourced research. You can find out more in our beabee help center.

In principle, the CrowdNewsroom can be used by large and small media outlets, community-based as well as public or for-profit media, associations, initiatives, and citizens' initiatives. Since the CrowdNewsroom can be used in any language, this also applies to international organisations or those based abroad. The only requirement is that the organiations pursue democratic goals and do not engage in party politics.

The CrowdNewsroom shows that relevant, sustainable research does not take place in the editorial office or the office, but in the midst of society. Those who listen know the issues that move their readers—and can tell their stories better. Those who involve people gain trust. And those who expose abuses can bring about change.

The following pages explain exactly what crowdsourced research is and how you can best plan and carry it out. Everything is illustrated with examples from CORRECTIV.Schweiz, which has been working successfully with this method for a long time.