| 1. |
- Fischer, Anke
(författare)
-
Exploring the Potential of Citizen Social Science for Environmental and Sustainability Research: Experiences of and with Community-Based Researchers
- 2021
-
Ingår i: Citizen science. - : Ubiquity Press, Ltd.. - 2057-4991. ; 6
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Citizen social science has been developing in meaning and prevalence over the past few years, building on experiences with both citizen (natural) science and established social science methods such as participatory action research. However, most of the debate is still at the conceptual level, with strong calls for more empirical insight. Here, we critically examine the promises and challenges of citizen social science, based on two small-scale, co-created and locally embedded projects on people’s relationships with urban greenspaces and community food growing, conducted as a collaboration between professional and citizen social scientists. Our findings illustrate the complexity of such research in practice and identify five dilemmas that arise from tensions between the aspirations and hopes associated with co-created citizen social science, and the pragmatic and procedural realities of citizen research in practice. We argue that citizen social science projects will have to actively engage with these in order to be successful.
|
|
| 2. |
- Frögren, Joakim, et al.
(författare)
-
Characteristics and Attitudinal Changes of Senior Citizens and Persons with Functional Impairments Involved in a Citizen Science Project on Housing Accessibility
- 2023
-
Ingår i: Citizen Science: Theory and Practice. - 2057-4991. ; 8:1
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Citizen Science (CS) projects targeting senior citizens and persons with functional impairments are rare, and interest among citizens to become involved in such remains uncertain. There is a lack of systematic analyses as to what distinguishes citizens’ willingness to contribute, and what such involvement could lead to in terms of acquired skills or changed attitudes. Based on a Swedish CS project on housing accessibility – the Housing Experiment (HX) – this study aimed to investigate: 1) the characteristics of senior citizens and persons with functional impairments involved in the HX; and 2) changes in attitudes and mobile digital literacy after completing the HX. Data were collected via online questionnaires before and after the HX (N = 147), and were analyzed statistically. The response rates were lower than anticipated. Study participants completing the HX reported high levels of mobile digital literacy and functional ability, and a higher education level than the general Swedish population. The only attitudinal change was that significantly more participants rated the importance of housing accessibility lower after their involvement in the HX compared with those rating it higher. This study confirms indications from previous studies that limitations in mobile digital literacy and functional ability affect the willingness and ability to get involved in research. Further research is warranted to investigate how similar CS projects could be designed to attract more participants and to create the conditions for greater gains for citizen scientists.
|
|
| 3. |
- Granbom, Marianne, et al.
(författare)
-
Involving Members of the Public to Develop a Data Collection App for a Citizen Science Project on Housing Accessibility Targeting Older Adults
- 2023
-
Ingår i: Citizen Science - Theory and Practise. - 2057-4991. ; 8:1, s. 1-12
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: While citizen science approaches are emerging within both social and health sciences, projects aimed at improving the living conditions of older adults remain rare. To enable forward-looking housing provision for the ageing population, valid and detailed information is needed on environmental barriers in the housing stock. Moreover, to promote active ageing and avoid involuntary moves to residential care facilities, there is a need for both increased public knowledge and raised awareness about accessible housing among older adults. Thus, Swedish senior citizens were engaged in a citizen science project—the Housing Experiment 2021—using a smartphone application to report environmental barriers in dwellings. Aim: This paper describes in detail the process by which varied members of the public participated to develop an application that assured reliable data collection of environmental barriers by older adults. Methods and Results: The scientific foundation for the app was the Housing Enabler. The development process comprised six iterative phases including participatory activities, namely, developing a citizen science version of the Housing Enabler; developing a print mock-up; developing an app prototype; testing and improving usability; beta version testing for reliability; final tests; and finishing touches. Discussion: Through an iterative development process involving researchers, professionals, and members of the public, a reliable app suitable for senior citizens was created. The results can serve as an inspiration for development protocols increasing the involvement of older adults in app development as well as for citizen science projects targeting older adults.
|
|
| 4. |
- Hecker, Susanne, et al.
(författare)
-
Innovation in Citizen Science – Perspectives on Science-Policy Advances
- 2018
-
Ingår i: Citizen Science: Theory and Practice. - : Ubiquity Press, Ltd.. - 2057-4991. ; 3:1
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Citizen science is growing as a field of research with contributions from diverse disciplines, promoting innovation in science, society, and policy. Inter- and transdisciplinary discussions and critical analyses are needed to use the current momentum to evaluate, demonstrate, and build on the advances that have been made in the past few years. This paper synthesizes results of discussions at the first international citizen science conference of the European Citizen Science Association (ECSA) in 2016 in Berlin, Germany, and distills major points of the discourse into key recommendations. To enhance innovation in science, citizen science needs to clearly demonstrate its scientific benefit, branch out across disciplines, and foster active networking and new formats of collaboration, including true co-design with participants. For fostering policy advances, it is important to embrace opportunities for policy-relevant monitoring and policy development and to work with science funders to find adequate avenues and evaluation tools to support citizen science. From a society angle it is crucial to engage with societal actors in various formats that suit participants and to evaluate two-way learning outcomes as well as to develop the transformative role of science communication. We hope that these key perspectives will promote citizen science progress at the science-society-policy interface.
|
|
| 5. |
- Kasperowski, Dick, 1959, et al.
(författare)
-
Where Environmental Citizen Science Meets the Law
- 2023
-
Ingår i: Citizen Science: Theory & Practice. - : Ubiquity Press, Ltd.. - 2057-4991. ; 8:1, s. 1-4
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Citizen science often intersects with the legal realm. Communities in different places in the world are demanding environmental justice through civic monitoring (Haklay and Francis 2018) and are pushing for new regulatory standards (Ottinger 2010). Community-based monitoring has been explored in the literature from both the (global and relative) North and South as a creative and constructive response to citizens’ aspiration for justice (Berti Suman 2022; Ahmed et al. 2019; Haklay and Francis 2018). Citizen science broadens the new horizon of environmental justice and flanks traditional environmental (and climate) protest movements (Berti Suman, Schade and Abe 2020). We can identify also a claim to epistemological justice in the systematizing of local knowledge and observations into data that can be used by appointed agencies, in opposition to anecdotal and sporadic evidence (Balazs and Morello-Frosch 2013). Citizen science communities are getting their evidence accepted in court (as the US Formosa case illustrated in Berti Suman and Schade 2021 demonstrates) and are advocating for legitimizing the practice under the Aarhus framework (Berti Suman et al. 2023, in this special issue; Berti Suman 2020). In spite of this, research on the connections between the law, case law, and citizen science is scarce.
|
|
| 6. |
- Liebenberg, L., et al.
(författare)
-
Tracking science : An alternative for those excluded by citizen science
- 2021
-
Ingår i: Citizen Science: Theory and Practice. - : Ubiquity Press. - 2057-4991. ; 6:1, s. 1-16
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In response to recent discussion about terminology, we propose "tracking science" as a term that is more inclusive than citizen science. Our suggestion is set against a post-colonial political background and large-scale migrations, in which "citizen" is becoming an increasingly contentious term. As a diverse group of authors from several continents, our priority is to deliberate a term that is all-inclusive, so that it could be adopted by everyone who participates in science or contributes to scientific knowledge, regardless of socio-cultural background. For example, current citizen science terms used for Indigenous knowledge imply that such practitioners belong to a sub-group that is other, and therefore marginalized. Our definition for "tracking science" does not exclude Indigenous peoples and their knowledge contributions and may provide a space for those who currently participate in citizen science, but want to contribute, explore, and/or operate beyond its confinements. Our suggestion is not that of an immediate or complete replacement of terminology, but that the notion of tracking science can be used to complement the practice and discussion of citizen science where it is contextually appropriate or needed. This may provide a breathing space, not only to explore alternative terms, but also to engage in robust, inclusive discussion on what it means to do science or create scientific knowledge. In our view, tracking science serves as a metaphor that applies broadly to the scientific community-from modern theoretical physics to ancient Indigenous knowledge.
|
|
| 7. |
- Miller, Josh Aaron, et al.
(författare)
-
A Survey of Citizen Science Gaming Experiences
- 2022
-
Ingår i: Citizen Science: Theory and Practice. - : Ubiquity Press. - 2057-4991. ; 7:1, s. 1-12
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Citizen science games (CSGs) are a valuable means for motivating citizen science participation. However, many CSGs still suffer from the recruitment and retention issues of traditional citizen science projects, despite much prior literature on what motivates CSG players. In this study, we take a Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) perspective to explore in what ways CSGs are still failing to provide motivating play experiences for players. Using Qualitative Content Analysis, we conducted and analyzed an online survey of 185 players from 9 citizen science games. This survey contributes insights to the current state of CSG experiences and next steps for developers to address these issues. We found that major concerns included scientific communication, instructional design, user interface and controls, task quality, and software issues. © 2022 Ubiquity Press. All rights reserved.
|
|
| 8. |
- Ponti, Marisa, 1959, et al.
(författare)
-
Getting it Right or Being Top Rank: Games in Citizen Science
- 2018
-
Ingår i: Citizen Science - Theory and Practice. - : Ubiquity Press, Ltd.. - 2057-4991. ; 3:1, s. 1-10
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The use of games in citizen science is growing, but can create tension as gaming and science can be seen as incompatible areas of activity. For example, the motivations for winning a game and scientific pursuit of knowledge may be seen as contrary. Over a one-year period, we conducted a virtual ethnographic study of the public forums of two online citizen science projects, Foldit and Galazy Zoo, the first a project in which gaming is an explicit design feature and the second in which it is not. The aim was to provide a nuanced view of how participants topicalize and respond to tensions between gaming and science. Thematic analysis of discussion forum posts suggests that participants in the two projects respond differently to the tension. By unpacking participant responses to the tension between games and science, our study highlights that citizen science projects using games are not just about fun. To enroll and retain volunteers, these projects also must recognize and manage the implicit normative scientific ideals that participants bring with them to a project. We further conclude that ideals of science embraced by citizen scientists appear to influence the reasons why they participate, either emphasizing equality, like in Galazy Zoo, or meritocracy, like in Foldit.
|
|
| 9. |
- Rohden, Frauke, 1991, et al.
(författare)
-
Tagging, Pinging and Linking – User Roles in Virtual Citizen Science Forums.
- 2019
-
Ingår i: Citizen Science: Theory and Practice. - : Ubiquity Press, Ltd.. - 2057-4991. ; 4:1, s. 1-13
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This article investigates user roles in virtual citizen science projects through a case study of the Talk-forum of Shakespeare’s World, a humanities project on the Zooniverse platform. To address collective knowledge production, we study the use of hashtags, pinging, and linking as a way of differentiating how researchers, moderators, and different user groups use the forum according to their roles. We show how both volunteers and researchers have a much deeper interest in the texts that they transcribe and actively seek contextual information, shape new lines of inquiry, and discover new phenomena. We conclude that the use of online forums in citizen science can play a crucial role for extending the knowledge production from academic research to a wider public interest, and also provide new knowledges beyond the assigned task of transcribing documents.
|
|
