Exploring Citizen Psych-Science and the Motivations of Errordiary Volunteers

Abstract

Although virtual citizen science projects have the potential to engage large networks of people in science research, seeding and maintaining such networks can be difficult. A feature of successful projects is that they have well-motivated volunteers. What makes volunteers motivated rather than apathetic? In this paper we focus on projects that contribute to psychology research, which we term 'citizen psych-science'. This differs from typical citizen science because volunteers are asked to contribute themselves as data. We describe research studies that we conducted with Errordiary -a citizen psych-science project where volunteers tweet about their everyday experiences of human error. These studies were: (1) an interview study, to explore the motivations of eight Errordiary volunteers; and (2) three focus groups, to explore the potential of attracting new communities to Errordiary. We found that the personal nature of the data can influence participation in positive and negative ways. We suggest several factors that scientists need to consider when encouraging citizen psych-science volunteers to contribute their personal experiences towards research.

Public Participation in Science: The Future and Value of Citizen Science in the Drinking Water Research

“…An important question that relates to the desired structure of citizen science projects is why participants choose to volunteer and devote their time and energy to, in this case, research into the 'freshness' of their own drinking water. Knowledge on the motivations of participants is important as, obviously, having motivated participants is essential for the project's success [39]. Although there is much literature on motivations for volunteering [15,28,40], questions about what motivates citizens to volunteer in science projects, let alone citizen science projects in the water domain, remain subject for further research [41,42].…”

“…Although there is much literature on motivations for volunteering [15,28,40], questions about what motivates citizens to volunteer in science projects, let alone citizen science projects in the water domain, remain subject for further research [41,42]. Therefore, and in addition to housing and demographic characteristics, the online registration survey assessed participants' views regarding several motivational factors based on Raddick et al [15] and Jennet et al [39]. Respondents were asked to rank the three most important motivations to participate among the following seven options: (i) special interest in drinking water; (ii) special interest in microbes; (iii) acquiring new knowledge; (iv) contributing to innovative scientific research; (v) fun/interest to carry out tests/measurements at home; (vi) being part of a team; and, (vii) other (see Table 1).…”

Motivations, learning and creativity in online citizen science

“…-Interest in the research topic [Raddick et al, 2010;Causer and Wallace, 2012;Crowston and Prestopnik, 2013;Iacovides et al, 2013;Curtis, 2015;Eveleigh et al, 2014;Jennett et al, 2014;Reed et al, 2013] -Learning new information [Raddick et al, 2010;Crowston and Prestopnik, 2013;Nov, Arazy and Anderson, 2010;Reed et al, 2013] -Contributing to original research [Raddick et al, 2010;Raddick et al, 2013;Nov, Arazy and Anderson, 2010;Curtis, 2015;Jennett et al, 2014;Reed et al, 2013] -Enjoying the research task [Raddick et al, 2010;Crowston and Prestopnik, 2013;Nov, Arazy and Anderson, 2010;Nov, Arazy and Anderson, 2011;Curtis, 2015;Eveleigh et al, 2014;Jennett et al, 2014;Reed et al, 2013] -Sharing the same goals and values as the project [Nov, Arazy and Anderson, 2010;Nov, Arazy and Anderson, 2011;Rotman et al, 2014] -Helping others and feeling part of a team [Raddick et al, 2010;Nov, Arazy and Anderson, 2010;Nov, Arazy and Anderson, 2011;Iacovides et al, 2013;Curtis, 2015;Jennett et al, 2014;Bowser et al, 2013;Rotman et al, 2014;Reed et al, 2013] JCOM 15(03)...…”

Developing Mobile Applications for Environmental and Biodiversity Citizen Science: Considerations and Recommendations

“…Many modern day citizen science projects are powered by mobile and web technologies, which enable the general public to take part in research and contribute to scientific knowledge around the globe [1,2,3,5]. The nature of these apps and web platforms vary almost as greatly as the underlying science [6,7,8,9], and so do the ways in which participants interact with their mobile devices and with other participants.…”