- Unlike microtasks, which support workers such that they would not require much expertise or context, macrotask crowdsourcing depends on workers with expert knowledge in one or more domains.
- While simple tasks can be easily decomposed and accomplished through microtasks, macrotask crowdsourcing can benefit complex tasks that involve open-ended and innovation-oriented work. 

Davidson College

New York University

Complex tasks are characterized in two ways: 
- (1) intellectually, they require reasoning and non-repetitive creativity and 
- (2) organizationally, they require multiple people working in multiple roles with interdependencies among the microtasks they perform


Complex Tasks in Crowd Work

Macrotasking refers to complex jobs that cannot be effectively broken down into simpler tasks. These may take a significant amount of time to complete.

Macrotasking

Lykourentzou, I., Khan, V. J., Papangelis, K., & Markopoulos, P. (2019). Macrotask crowdsourcing: An integrated definition. In Macrotask Crowdsourcing (pp. 1-13). Springer, Cham.


Macrotask Crowdsourcing: An Integrated Definition

The use of microtasks to break down large-scale collaborative projects into small chunks that can be conducted individually and with little need for coordination between individual workers. 

Microtasks in Crowd Work

Approach to support communication of task context between requester and crowd workers using short, structured tasks. The goal is to reduce the effort of communication and maximize guidance. 

Structured Communication for Complex tasks 

The most common participants in behavioral/psychological studies tend to be American college students, but with the rise of the internet, other forms of sampling have become more common, like using Amazon MTurk.

Separate but equal? A comparison of participants and data gathered viaAmazon’s MTurk, social media, and face-to-face behavioral testing

Macrotasks in Crowd Work

- Complex tasks require situated action: constant reflection, revision, and adaptation toward one’s goals. The more complex the task, the more necessary adaptation becomes.
- Workflows streamline the work process, reducing the margin of error. 
- However, workflows are static, limiting situated action. As such, complex tasks have traditionally been difficult to achieve using workflows.  

Tradeoffs of Using Workflows to Complete Complex Tasks

Differences have been noted in terms of performance between microtasks and macrotasks. These are related to the time taken to complete them, their quality/accuracy, and the workers' preferences. There are also differences in the effects of interruption on micro- and macrotasks.


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