What’s in it for citizen scientists?: An analysis of participant’s gains from a democratisation perspective

Autores
Unterfrauner, Elisabeth; Fabian, Claudia Magdalena; Hemming, Gary; Garcia, Beatriz Elena
Año de publicación
2024
Idioma
inglés
Tipo de recurso
artículo
Estado
versión publicada
Descripción
Citizen science projects optimise the democratisation of the production of scientific knowledge. In these initiatives, research processes do not rely solely on scientists’ but on citizens’ engagement likewise with benefits on both sides. As previous work shows, the democratisation perspective of citizen science projects might be viewed critically as some groups of citizens tend to be overrepresented in these initiatives while other are left out. This paper explores the claim of democratisation and the citizens’ benefits based on four citizen science projects in the fields of astrophysics and particle physics on the citizen science platform Zooniverse. Besides a general engagement strategy, the citizen science projects addressed two groups specifically, the elderly and people with visual impairments. The claim for democratisation is reflected in the analysis of citizens’ demographic variables as an indicator for accessibility of the research projects. We used a pre-post design with questionnaires on science attitudes, motivations, skills, self-efficacy, and knowledge to assess what citizen scientists gained from participating in the project. The demographic analysis of the data reveals that participants were quite heterogeneous and that people who feel that they belong to a group that is discriminated against are particularly motivated to participate in citizen science projects. In terms of benefits, the results indicate knowledge and scientific skills gains, but no changes on other evaluative dimensions. Their attitude towards science was, in general, already rather positive when joining the projects, thus not leaving much room for change. These results confirm the importance of and call for a diversified citizen science engagement strategy and show that even in citizen science projects where the citizens’ task is limited to classifying data lead to scientific knowledge and skills gains.
Fil: Unterfrauner, Elisabeth. Zentrum Fur Soziale Innovation; Austria
Fil: Fabian, Claudia Magdalena. Zentrum Fur Soziale Innovation; Austria
Fil: Hemming, Gary. European Gravitational Wave Observatory; Italia
Fil: Garcia, Beatriz Elena. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Instituto de Tecnología en Detección y Astropartículas. Comisión Nacional de Energía Atómica. Instituto de Tecnología en Detección y Astropartículas. Universidad Nacional de San Martín. Instituto de Tecnología en Detección y Astropartículas; Argentina. Universidad Tecnológica Nacional. Facultad Regional de Mendoza; Argentina
Materia
CITIZEN SCIENCES
DEMOCRATIZATION OF SCIENCE
REINFORCE PROJECT
SOCIAL INNOVATION
Nivel de accesibilidad
acceso abierto
Condiciones de uso
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5/ar/
Repositorio
CONICET Digital (CONICET)
Institución
Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas
OAI Identificador
oai:ri.conicet.gov.ar:11336/259019
Acceder
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spelling What’s in it for citizen scientists?: An analysis of participant’s gains from a democratisation perspectiveUnterfrauner, ElisabethFabian, Claudia MagdalenaHemming, GaryGarcia, Beatriz ElenaCITIZEN SCIENCESDEMOCRATIZATION OF SCIENCEREINFORCE PROJECTSOCIAL INNOVATIONhttps://purl.org/becyt/ford/1.3https://purl.org/becyt/ford/1Citizen science projects optimise the democratisation of the production of scientific knowledge. In these initiatives, research processes do not rely solely on scientists’ but on citizens’ engagement likewise with benefits on both sides. As previous work shows, the democratisation perspective of citizen science projects might be viewed critically as some groups of citizens tend to be overrepresented in these initiatives while other are left out. This paper explores the claim of democratisation and the citizens’ benefits based on four citizen science projects in the fields of astrophysics and particle physics on the citizen science platform Zooniverse. Besides a general engagement strategy, the citizen science projects addressed two groups specifically, the elderly and people with visual impairments. The claim for democratisation is reflected in the analysis of citizens’ demographic variables as an indicator for accessibility of the research projects. We used a pre-post design with questionnaires on science attitudes, motivations, skills, self-efficacy, and knowledge to assess what citizen scientists gained from participating in the project. The demographic analysis of the data reveals that participants were quite heterogeneous and that people who feel that they belong to a group that is discriminated against are particularly motivated to participate in citizen science projects. In terms of benefits, the results indicate knowledge and scientific skills gains, but no changes on other evaluative dimensions. Their attitude towards science was, in general, already rather positive when joining the projects, thus not leaving much room for change. These results confirm the importance of and call for a diversified citizen science engagement strategy and show that even in citizen science projects where the citizens’ task is limited to classifying data lead to scientific knowledge and skills gains.Fil: Unterfrauner, Elisabeth. Zentrum Fur Soziale Innovation; AustriaFil: Fabian, Claudia Magdalena. Zentrum Fur Soziale Innovation; AustriaFil: Hemming, Gary. European Gravitational Wave Observatory; ItaliaFil: Garcia, Beatriz Elena. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Instituto de Tecnología en Detección y Astropartículas. Comisión Nacional de Energía Atómica. Instituto de Tecnología en Detección y Astropartículas. Universidad Nacional de San Martín. Instituto de Tecnología en Detección y Astropartículas; Argentina. Universidad Tecnológica Nacional. Facultad Regional de Mendoza; ArgentinaF1000 Research2024-06info:eu-repo/semantics/articleinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersionhttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6501info:ar-repo/semantics/articuloapplication/pdfapplication/pdfhttp://hdl.handle.net/11336/259019Unterfrauner, Elisabeth; Fabian, Claudia Magdalena; Hemming, Gary; Garcia, Beatriz Elena; What’s in it for citizen scientists?: An analysis of participant’s gains from a democratisation perspective; F1000 Research; Open Research Europe; 4; 6-2024; 1-182732-5121CONICET DigitalCONICETenginfo:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/url/https://open-research-europe.ec.europa.eu/articles/4-124/v1info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.12688/openreseurope.17436.1info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccesshttps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5/ar/reponame:CONICET Digital (CONICET)instname:Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas2025-10-22T11:12:17Zoai:ri.conicet.gov.ar:11336/259019instacron:CONICETInstitucionalhttp://ri.conicet.gov.ar/Organismo científico-tecnológicoNo correspondehttp://ri.conicet.gov.ar/oai/requestdasensio@conicet.gov.ar; lcarlino@conicet.gov.arArgentinaNo correspondeNo correspondeNo correspondeopendoar:34982025-10-22 11:12:18.237CONICET Digital (CONICET) - Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicasfalse
dc.title.none.fl_str_mv What’s in it for citizen scientists?: An analysis of participant’s gains from a democratisation perspective
title What’s in it for citizen scientists?: An analysis of participant’s gains from a democratisation perspective
spellingShingle What’s in it for citizen scientists?: An analysis of participant’s gains from a democratisation perspective
Unterfrauner, Elisabeth
CITIZEN SCIENCES
DEMOCRATIZATION OF SCIENCE
REINFORCE PROJECT
SOCIAL INNOVATION
title_short What’s in it for citizen scientists?: An analysis of participant’s gains from a democratisation perspective
title_full What’s in it for citizen scientists?: An analysis of participant’s gains from a democratisation perspective
title_fullStr What’s in it for citizen scientists?: An analysis of participant’s gains from a democratisation perspective
title_full_unstemmed What’s in it for citizen scientists?: An analysis of participant’s gains from a democratisation perspective
title_sort What’s in it for citizen scientists?: An analysis of participant’s gains from a democratisation perspective
dc.creator.none.fl_str_mv Unterfrauner, Elisabeth
Fabian, Claudia Magdalena
Hemming, Gary
Garcia, Beatriz Elena
author Unterfrauner, Elisabeth
author_facet Unterfrauner, Elisabeth
Fabian, Claudia Magdalena
Hemming, Gary
Garcia, Beatriz Elena
author_role author
author2 Fabian, Claudia Magdalena
Hemming, Gary
Garcia, Beatriz Elena
author2_role author
author
author
dc.subject.none.fl_str_mv CITIZEN SCIENCES
DEMOCRATIZATION OF SCIENCE
REINFORCE PROJECT
SOCIAL INNOVATION
topic CITIZEN SCIENCES
DEMOCRATIZATION OF SCIENCE
REINFORCE PROJECT
SOCIAL INNOVATION
purl_subject.fl_str_mv https://purl.org/becyt/ford/1.3
https://purl.org/becyt/ford/1
dc.description.none.fl_txt_mv Citizen science projects optimise the democratisation of the production of scientific knowledge. In these initiatives, research processes do not rely solely on scientists’ but on citizens’ engagement likewise with benefits on both sides. As previous work shows, the democratisation perspective of citizen science projects might be viewed critically as some groups of citizens tend to be overrepresented in these initiatives while other are left out. This paper explores the claim of democratisation and the citizens’ benefits based on four citizen science projects in the fields of astrophysics and particle physics on the citizen science platform Zooniverse. Besides a general engagement strategy, the citizen science projects addressed two groups specifically, the elderly and people with visual impairments. The claim for democratisation is reflected in the analysis of citizens’ demographic variables as an indicator for accessibility of the research projects. We used a pre-post design with questionnaires on science attitudes, motivations, skills, self-efficacy, and knowledge to assess what citizen scientists gained from participating in the project. The demographic analysis of the data reveals that participants were quite heterogeneous and that people who feel that they belong to a group that is discriminated against are particularly motivated to participate in citizen science projects. In terms of benefits, the results indicate knowledge and scientific skills gains, but no changes on other evaluative dimensions. Their attitude towards science was, in general, already rather positive when joining the projects, thus not leaving much room for change. These results confirm the importance of and call for a diversified citizen science engagement strategy and show that even in citizen science projects where the citizens’ task is limited to classifying data lead to scientific knowledge and skills gains.
Fil: Unterfrauner, Elisabeth. Zentrum Fur Soziale Innovation; Austria
Fil: Fabian, Claudia Magdalena. Zentrum Fur Soziale Innovation; Austria
Fil: Hemming, Gary. European Gravitational Wave Observatory; Italia
Fil: Garcia, Beatriz Elena. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Instituto de Tecnología en Detección y Astropartículas. Comisión Nacional de Energía Atómica. Instituto de Tecnología en Detección y Astropartículas. Universidad Nacional de San Martín. Instituto de Tecnología en Detección y Astropartículas; Argentina. Universidad Tecnológica Nacional. Facultad Regional de Mendoza; Argentina
description Citizen science projects optimise the democratisation of the production of scientific knowledge. In these initiatives, research processes do not rely solely on scientists’ but on citizens’ engagement likewise with benefits on both sides. As previous work shows, the democratisation perspective of citizen science projects might be viewed critically as some groups of citizens tend to be overrepresented in these initiatives while other are left out. This paper explores the claim of democratisation and the citizens’ benefits based on four citizen science projects in the fields of astrophysics and particle physics on the citizen science platform Zooniverse. Besides a general engagement strategy, the citizen science projects addressed two groups specifically, the elderly and people with visual impairments. The claim for democratisation is reflected in the analysis of citizens’ demographic variables as an indicator for accessibility of the research projects. We used a pre-post design with questionnaires on science attitudes, motivations, skills, self-efficacy, and knowledge to assess what citizen scientists gained from participating in the project. The demographic analysis of the data reveals that participants were quite heterogeneous and that people who feel that they belong to a group that is discriminated against are particularly motivated to participate in citizen science projects. In terms of benefits, the results indicate knowledge and scientific skills gains, but no changes on other evaluative dimensions. Their attitude towards science was, in general, already rather positive when joining the projects, thus not leaving much room for change. These results confirm the importance of and call for a diversified citizen science engagement strategy and show that even in citizen science projects where the citizens’ task is limited to classifying data lead to scientific knowledge and skills gains.
publishDate 2024
dc.date.none.fl_str_mv 2024-06
dc.type.none.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/article
info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion
http://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6501
info:ar-repo/semantics/articulo
format article
status_str publishedVersion
dc.identifier.none.fl_str_mv http://hdl.handle.net/11336/259019
Unterfrauner, Elisabeth; Fabian, Claudia Magdalena; Hemming, Gary; Garcia, Beatriz Elena; What’s in it for citizen scientists?: An analysis of participant’s gains from a democratisation perspective; F1000 Research; Open Research Europe; 4; 6-2024; 1-18
2732-5121
CONICET Digital
CONICET
url http://hdl.handle.net/11336/259019
identifier_str_mv Unterfrauner, Elisabeth; Fabian, Claudia Magdalena; Hemming, Gary; Garcia, Beatriz Elena; What’s in it for citizen scientists?: An analysis of participant’s gains from a democratisation perspective; F1000 Research; Open Research Europe; 4; 6-2024; 1-18
2732-5121
CONICET Digital
CONICET
dc.language.none.fl_str_mv eng
language eng
dc.relation.none.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/url/https://open-research-europe.ec.europa.eu/articles/4-124/v1
info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.12688/openreseurope.17436.1
dc.rights.none.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5/ar/
eu_rights_str_mv openAccess
rights_invalid_str_mv https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5/ar/
dc.format.none.fl_str_mv application/pdf
application/pdf
dc.publisher.none.fl_str_mv F1000 Research
publisher.none.fl_str_mv F1000 Research
dc.source.none.fl_str_mv reponame:CONICET Digital (CONICET)
instname:Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas
reponame_str CONICET Digital (CONICET)
collection CONICET Digital (CONICET)
instname_str Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas
repository.name.fl_str_mv CONICET Digital (CONICET) - Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas
repository.mail.fl_str_mv dasensio@conicet.gov.ar; lcarlino@conicet.gov.ar
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score 12.982451

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