Citizen Science Phenotypes

Citizen Science Phenotypes

Typologies & Implications of Project Design

Andrea WigginsPostdoctoral Fellow

DataONE & Cornell Lab of Ornithology

28 September, 2012

iDigBio Workshop on Public Participation in Digitization

US NSF Grant #OCI-0830944

http://nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward.do?AwardNumber=0830944

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What is citizen science?

Members of the public engaging in real-world scientific research•Crowdsourcing•Collaboration•Community

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By any other name...

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What’s in a name?

Label Research Domain Key Features

Civic science Science communication Public participation in decisions about science

People’s science Political science Social movements for people-centered science

Citizen science Ecology Public participation in scientific research

Volunteer/community-based monitoring

Natural resource management Long-term monitoring and intervention

Participatory action research Behavioral science Researcher & community participation & action

Action science Behavioral science Participatory, emphasizes tacit theories-in-use

Community science Psychology Participatory community-centered social science

Living Labs Management Public-private partnership for innovation

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A few typologies

Consultative, functional & collaborative • Lawrence, 2006

Contributory, collaborative, & co-created • CAISE report, 2009

Action, conservation, investigation, virtual, & education•Wiggins & Crowston, 2011

Typologies based on goals & tasks•Wiggins & Crowston, 2012

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Participation in scientific tasks

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Types of participation tasks

Data collection•Most common•Observations & measurements

Data processing•On the rise• Entirely virtual• Image recognition & puzzle solving

Data transcription•On the rise•Mostly virtual

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Framing participation tasks

Sharing my data/experiences• Fits into daily life• People like to share their passions

Working on their/our tasks•New, often unfamiliar tasks• Can reinforce us/them divisions

Playing games & solving puzzles• Fits into daily life• Explicit symbolic rewards, entertaining

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Other important factors

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(Relative) pros & cons

Contributory Collaborative Co-Created

Scalability High Varies Low

Technology dependency

High Varies Low

Volunteer management

Low Varies High

Task complexity Low Varies High

Data quality Varies Varies Varies

Sustainability Varies Varies Varies

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Implications for design

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Honestly evaluate project resources & goals, work backwards

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Recognize tradeoffs and make choices accordingly

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Design to address resource constraints

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Design to address resource constraints

There’s more than one right answer

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Thanks!

[email protected]@AndreaWiggins

dataone.orgcitizenscience.organdreawiggins.com

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Typologies•Lawrence, A. (2006). “No Personal Motive?” Volunteers, Biodiversity, and the False

Dichotomies of Participation. Ethics, Place & Environment, 9(3), 279-298.•Bonney, R., Ballard, H., Jordan, R., McCallie, E., Phillips, T., Shirk, J., et al. (2009). Public

Participation in Scientific Research: Defining the Field and Assessing Its Potential for Informal Science Education. A CAISE Inquiry Group Report (Tech. Rep.).

•Danielsen, F., Burgess, N., Balmford, A., Donald, P., Funder, M., Jones, J., et al. (2009). Local participation in natural resource monitoring: a characterization of approaches. Conservation Biology, 23(1), 31–42.

•Cooper, C. B., Dickinson, J., Phillips, T., & Bonney, R. (2007). Citizen Science as a Tool for Conservation in Residential Ecosystems. Ecology and Society, 12(2).

•Wilderman, C. C. (2007). Models of community science: design lessons from the field. Proceedings of Citizen Science Toolkit Conference.

•Wiggins, A. & Crowston, K. (2011). From Conservation to Crowdsourcing: A Typology of Citizen Science. Proceedings of the 44th Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences.

•Wiggins, A. & Crowston, K. (2012). Goals and Tasks: Two Typologies of Citizen Science Projects. Proceedings of the 45th Annual Hawaii International Conference on Systems Sciences.