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

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.

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

“…The results are similar to previous studies on environmental volunteer motivations with "helping the environment" as the strongest motivator and "advancing one's career" as the weakest motivator [Asah and Blahna, 2012;Bruyere and Rappe, 2007;Jacobson, Carlton and Monroe, 2012;King and Lynch, 1998;Roggenbuck et al, 2001;Ryan, Kaplan and Grese, 2001]. "To contribute to scientific knowledge" was the fourth strongest motivator in the present study, although this motivator was found explicitly in only one previous study on citizen science [Raddick et al, 2010] and only briefly mentioned in another [Rotman et al, 2014]. This motivator is examined more carefully below.…”

“…Volunteers felt more strongly about the results being shared with them than about the data being used for scientific publication. This reinforces claims made by other researchers that coordinators need to share results with their volunteers [Bell et al, 2008;Knoke, 1981;Nov, Arazy and Anderson, 2014;Roggenbuck et al, 2001;Rotman et al, 2014]. Further research could be done to explore the best or preferred methods for communicating results with volunteers.…”

“…Much of the research on voluntarism advises coordinators to recognize the efforts of their volunteers and show them appreciation in some form [Bell et al, 2008;Jacobson, Carlton and Monroe, 2012;Roggenbuck et al, 2001;Rotman et al, 2014]. However, few quantitative studies assess what types of recognition are most meaningful to volunteers.…”

Motivations, learning and creativity in online citizen science

“…Researchers have also investigated motivations across ecological projects [Rotman et al, 2012;Rotman et al, 2014] and Zooniverse projects [Reed et al, 2013].…”

“…-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)...…”