Author: SRI International

Researchers are looking at crowdsourcing to gain a better view into future significant scientific and technological developments, particularly in areas such as information systems and energy where corporations may want to focus development efforts and investments. Crowdsourcing often provides more accurate forecasts by aggregating the collective opinions of an informed, diverse group rather than relying…

In a recent report, “Recruiting Participants for Large-Scale Random Assignment Experiments in School Settings,” a team of SRI Education researchers share practical advice on how to recruit schools for educational studies. There is an art to successful recruitment, but there are few occasions for experienced researchers to share lessons learned about recruitment with colleagues. The report synthesizes the SRI…

Virtual personal assistants like Siri are becoming widespread. They understand user intents expressed in natural language and respond by connecting users with services that hopefully fulfill those intents. But for many consumer needs such as banking, retail, and healthcare, just getting to the service isn’t enough. Consumers have difficulty getting things done in the service, especially when…