University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Motivations Affecting Initial and Long-Term Participation in Citizen Science Projects in Three Countries

Rotman, Dana; Hammock, Jen; Preece, Jenny; Hansen, Derek; Boston, Carol; Bowser, Anne; He, Yurong

Permalink

https://hdl.handle.net/2142/47301

Description

Title
Motivations Affecting Initial and Long-Term Participation in Citizen Science Projects in Three Countries
Author(s)
  • Rotman, Dana
  • Hammock, Jen
  • Preece, Jenny
  • Hansen, Derek
  • Boston, Carol
  • Bowser, Anne
  • He, Yurong
Issue Date
2014-03-01
Keyword(s)
  • citizen science
  • motivation
  • volunteers
  • case studies
Abstract
Reliance on volunteer participation for citizen science has become extremely popular. Cutting across disciplines, locations, and participation practices, hundreds of thousands of volunteers throughout the world are helping scientists accomplish tasks they could not otherwise perform. Although existing projects have demonstrated the value of involving volunteers in data collection, relatively few projects have been successful in maintaining volunteers' continued involvement over long periods of time. Therefore, it is important to understand the temporal nature of volunteers' motivations and their effect on participation practices, so that effective partnerships between volunteers and scientists can be established. This paper presents case studies of longitudinal participation practices in citizen science in three countries -- the United States, India, and Costa Rica. The findings reveal a temporal process of participation, in which initial participation stems in most cases from self-directed motivations, such as personal interest. In contrast, long-term participation is more complex and includes both self-directed motivations and collaborative motivations.
Publisher
iSchools
Series/Report Name or Number
iConference 2014 Proceedings
Type of Resource
text
Language
english
Permalink
http://hdl.handle.net/2142/47301
DOI
https://doi.org/10.9776/14054
Copyright and License Information
Copyright 2014 is held by the authors of individual items in the proceedings. Copyright permissions, when appropriate, must be obtained directly from the authors.

Owning Collections

iConference 2014 Papers PRIMARY
iConference 2014 papers