Understanding volunteer motivations to participate in citizen science projects: a deeper look at water quality monitoring

Alender, Bethany

doi:10.22323/2.15030204

Cited by 112 publications

(124 citation statements)

References 17 publications

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“…What many studies show additionally is that participants have a high interest in science or the more specific project topic, as well as very positive attitudes towards science (Dean, Church, Loder, Fielding, & Wilson, 2018;Lynch et al, 2018). When it comes to people's age, results are more varied, ranging from samples mainly consisting of retired people (Alender, 2016) to more balanced examples (Dean et al, 2018).…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Who wants to be a citizen scientist? Identifying the potential of citizen science and target segments in Switzerland

Füchslin¹,

Schäfer

Metag

2019

Public Underst Sci

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Driven by the proliferation of digital media, citizen science -the involvement of non-scientists in scientific research -represents one of the most important recent developments in science communication as it brings science and the public closer together. So far, however, citizen science projects have mostly attracted people that are highly educated, mostly male and already have very positive attitudes towards science. Based on nationally representative survey data (N = 1051), our study explores the potential of citizen science in Switzerland. Using regression analysis, we show that attitudes towards science are significant antecedents of respondents' interest in participating in citizen science -but that gender and education are not. In addition, latent class analysis identifies five segments, representing over onethird of the Swiss population, who are interested in citizen science and could potentially be engaged: 'Free-Timers', 'Senior Sciencephiles', 'Young Sciencephiles', 'Intrigued Adolescents' and 'Fully Employed Parents'. Additional description suggests that previously overlooked segments are best addressed online via YouTube or offline in zoos or botanical gardens. Overall, our analysis suggests that citizen science's potential is far higher than previous projects were able to realize.

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Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Who wants to be a citizen scientist? Identifying the potential of citizen science and target segments in Switzerland

Füchslin¹,

Schäfer

Metag

2019

Public Underst Sci

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“…Being a member of a training group whose members went on to be more active in the FWW project also predicted higher retention. This association may have emerged if training with engaged peers leads to others becoming more engaged (Alender 2016, Laut et al 2017. Alternatively, people predisposed to engage with the project because of their personal motivations may have been more likely to attend training events with like-minded people.…”

Section: Discussion Volunteer Retentionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Since then, more studies have explored motivations of participants, usually through questionnaires. These studies have found that some of the important motivators are a desire to contribute to science, to help the environment (e.g., Hobbs and White 2012, Raddick et al 2013, Alender 2016, Domroese and Johnson 2017, or to learn (e.g., Domroese and Johnson 2017). In addition, some studies (such as Domroese and Johnson 2017) have found that social factors, such as a desire to participate with family or friends, are much less important motivators for most participants.…”

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confidence: 99%

Citizen meets social science: predicting volunteer involvement in a global freshwater monitoring experiment

et al. 2019

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FreshWater Watch is a global citizen science project that seeks to advance the understanding and stewardship of freshwater ecosystems across the globe through analysis of their physical and chemical properties by volunteers. To date, literature concerning citizen science has mainly focused on its potential to generate unprecedented volumes of data. In this paper, we focus instead on the data relating to the volunteer experience and ask key questions about volunteer engagement with the project. For example, we ask what factors influence: a) volunteer data submission following a training event and b) the number of water quality samples volunteers subsequently submit. We used a binomial model to identify the factors that influence the retention of volunteers after training. In addition, we used a generalized linear model (GLM) to examine the factors that affected the number of samples each citizen scientist submitted. In line with other citizen science projects, most people trained did not submit any data, and 1% of participants contributed 47% of the data. We found that the statistically significant factors associated with submission of data after training were: whether training was given on how to upload data, the number of volunteers that attended the training, whether the volunteer was assigned to a research team, the outside temperature, and the average engagement of others in the training group. The statistically significant factors associated with the quantity of data submitted were: the length of time volunteers were active in the project, whether training took place as part of a paid work day, the difficulty of the sampling procedure, how socially involved volunteers were in the project, average sampling group size, and engagement with online learning modules. Based on our results, we suggest that intrinsic motivation may be important for predicting volunteer retention after training and the number of samples collected subsequently. We suggest that, to maximize the contribution of citizen science to our understanding of the world around us, there is an urgent need to better understand the factors that drive volunteer retention and engagement.

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“…For example, recent graduates have published their work on environmental education in prisons (Weber et al 2015), pollinators in prairie restoration (Buckingham et al 2016, Husby et al 2015, and volunteer motivations in environmental organizations (Alender 2016).…”

Section: Supporting Thesis Research Within An Interdisciplinary Framementioning

confidence: 99%

Collaborative teaching and interdisciplinary learning in graduate environmental studies

et al. 2018

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Many graduate programs in environmental studies attempt to foster specialized knowledge and technical skills alongside interdisciplinary collaboration and integration. We discuss strategies for addressing these distinct-sometimes competing-goals in Evergreen State College's Graduate Program on the Environment. Key strategies include (1) designing an academic program that balances specialization and integration; (2) approaching course planning with a "backward design model" that focuses on teaching outcomes rather than "covering" disciplinary content; (3) designing group assignments that require collaborative and multidisciplinary research and networking among students; (4) approaching thesis projects using place-based issues or research problems/questions developed in conjunction with local or regional organizations and a clear identification of relevant communities of practice to inform the scholarly work and analysis. Finally, we address the challenge of creating equitable social dynamics in teaching teams and offer reflections based on our 30-year tradition of collaborative team-teaching at the graduate level.

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Understanding volunteer motivations to participate in citizen science projects: a deeper look at water quality monitoring

Cited by 112 publications

References 17 publications

Who wants to be a citizen scientist? Identifying the potential of citizen science and target segments in Switzerland

Who wants to be a citizen scientist? Identifying the potential of citizen science and target segments in Switzerland

Citizen meets social science: predicting volunteer involvement in a global freshwater monitoring experiment

Collaborative teaching and interdisciplinary learning in graduate environmental studies

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