Exploring scientists’ perceptions of citizen science for public engagement with science

Authors

Stephanie A. Collins
Miriam Sullivan, Edith Cowan UniversityFollow
Heather J. Bray

Document Type

Journal Article

Publication Title

Journal of Science Communication

Volume

21

Issue

7

Publisher

SISSA Medialab

School

Centre for Learning and Teaching

RAS ID

53006

Comments

Collins, S. A., Sullivan, M., & Bray, H. J. (2022). Exploring scientists’ perceptions of citizen science for public engagement with science. Journal of Science Communication, 21(7). https://doi.org/10.22323/2.21070201

Abstract

It is often assumed that citizen science is inherently participatory in nature. However, citizen science projects exist along a continuum from data contribution to full co-creation. We invited 19 biologists to explore their conceptions of citizen science. Almost all participants defined citizen science as involving non-scientists in data collection. This definition acted as a barrier for scientists who did not see how citizen science could suit their research objectives. While interviewees perceived many societal and experiential benefits of contributory citizen science, deliberate design is needed to realise the full potential of citizen science for public engagement

DOI

10.22323/2.21070201

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.