Decentralized Research
Nothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be understood. Now is the time to understand more, so that we may fear less.
Marie Curie
Understand more, a phrase that goes deep into the nature of our own existence as a species, since reasoning and understanding is what allowed us to travel the millennia of human history until today, reducing uncertainty and expanding knowledge.
Taking what was previously said as a bastion, at OSN we are developing a prototype of decentralized research following guidelines of the scientific method. In short, these investigations may receive funds through donations in cryptocurrencies, which is expected to expand the spectrum of funding sources considerably.
Researchers will be able to participate in many research topics as they wish, either by providing encyclopedic scientific knowledge, innovative ideas or funds to finance the topic. In this way, the progress of each topic is given by a community effort, where a group of people with different profiles, capacities and contributions push the boundaries of science as we know it.
Before continuing, let’s briefly review the steps in the development of the scientific method:
Research Steps at OSN
The steps to develop the equivalent of a “research project” in OSN will be the following:
Hypothesis
Participants in the research topic (eg, Parkinson’s disease) can propose and choose which hypothesis they want to use as a trigger for the research. The hypothesis is a scientific conjecture that requires a contrast with the experimental practice to be confirmed or rejected (ex: the consumption of avocado diminishes the effects of Parkinson’s Disease). In this way, researchers specialized in the subject, as well as private investors and members of the OSN community in general, will be able to propose concerns that through the discussion can be transformed into hypotheses that can be chosen to be investigated within the platform.
Background
Once the hypothesis has been chosen within the framework of a research topic, the chapter on the background or “state of the art” and the theoretical considerations of the research topic will be constructed. The background is the review of previous research that directly or indirectly address the topic of research and in particular the proposed hypothesis.
eg: “there are n cases of studies linking avocado consumption with benefits in diseases similar to Parkinson’s disease”
In the same sense, the compilation of theoretical and experimental background in the subject should highlight the originality (local or global) of the proposed hypothesis. Here, the importance of the innovative nature of the scientific research carried out within OSN is highlighted.
eg: “There are no or no significant previous studies on the beneficial effects of avocado consumption in patients with Parkinson’s Disease”
Methods and Experiment Proposals
After completing the stage of compiling the background or state of the art of the discipline and of the hypothesis in particular, the community will concentrate its efforts on making experimental practical proposals to answer the research question enunciated in the hypothesis.
eg: “Design of a clinical study to correctly evaluate the effect of avocado consumption in patients with Parkinson’s Disease”.
Once we have decided which experimental proposals will be chosen depending on the funds available for the research topic , we will proceed with these practices, either through the specific action of researchers and technicians who participate in the research topic on the platform or contracting the services of third parties laboratories, institutes, universities through our Marketplace.
Results
The whole community dedicated to the investigation of the hypothesis in question will analyze the results thrown by the experimental practices proposed, financed, and carried out within the platform.
eg: “In certain amounts of daily consumption, a particular beneficial effect of avocado consumption could be corroborated in patients with Parkinson’s Disease”
Conclusions
It is expected that a set of experimental results do not have a single way of being interpreted. This step is when the researchers who are part of the community analyzing this hypothesis in particular should make their proposals for conclusions (which are nothing more than interpretations of the whole journey from the search of antecedents to the obtaining of results) and contrast them with others. In this way, the community will have the last word , choosing which are the most complete, best-founded conclusions, and which explain the results best.
eg: “In certain amounts of daily consumption, a particular beneficial effect of avocado consumption in patients with Parkinson’s Disease could be corroborated because it inhibits certain protein that worsens the quality of life of the patient.”
This is a brief description of our MVP, in our next article we will be seeing more details of it , and hopefully through discussion, we can discover new ways to collaborate in a decentralized manner.
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