Publication Details

Category Text Publication
Reference Category Journals
DOI 10.1098/rsos.202108
Licence creative commons licence
Title (Primary) Contours of citizen science: a vignette study
Author Haklay, M.; Fraisl, D.; Greshake Tzovaras, B.; Hecker, S.; Gold, M.; Hager, G.; Ceccaroni, L.; Kieslinger, B.; Wehn, U.; Woods, S.; Nold, C.; Balázs, B.; Mazzonetto, M.; Ruefenacht, S.; Shanley, L.A.; Wagenknecht, K.; Motion, A.; Sforzi, A.; Riemenschneider, D.; Dorler, D.; Heigl, F.; Schaefer, T.; Lindner, A.; Weißpflug, M.; Mačiulienė, M.; Vohland, K.
Source Titel Royal Society Open Science
Year 2021
Department iDiv; ESS
Volume 8
Issue 8
Page From art. 202108
Language englisch
Topic T5 Future Landscapes
Data and Software links https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.4266685
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.4281293
Keywords Citizen science; open science; vignette survey
Abstract Citizen science has expanded rapidly over the past decades. Yet, defining citizen science and its boundaries remained a challenge, and this is reflected in the literature—for example in the proliferation of typologies and definitions. There is a need for identifying areas of agreement and disagreement within the citizen science practitioners community on what should be considered as citizen science activity. This paper describes the development and results of a survey that examined this issue, through the use of vignettes—short case descriptions that describe an activity, while asking the respondents to rate the activity on a scale from ‘not citizen science’ (0%) to ‘citizen science’ (100%). The survey included 50 vignettes, of which five were developed as clear cases of not-citizen science activities, five as widely accepted citizen science activities and the others addressing 10 factors and 61 sub-factors that can lead to controversy about an activity. The survey has attracted 333 respondents, who provided over 5100 ratings. The analysis demonstrates the plurality of understanding of what citizen science is and calls for an open understanding of what activities are included in the field.
Persistent UFZ Identifier https://www.ufz.de/index.php?en=20939&ufzPublicationIdentifier=25119
Haklay, M., Fraisl, D., Greshake Tzovaras, B., Hecker, S., Gold, M., Hager, G., Ceccaroni, L., Kieslinger, B., Wehn, U., Woods, S., Nold, C., Balázs, B., Mazzonetto, M., Ruefenacht, S., Shanley, L.A., Wagenknecht, K., Motion, A., Sforzi, A., Riemenschneider, D., Dorler, D., Heigl, F., Schaefer, T., Lindner, A., Weißpflug, M., Mačiulienė, M., Vohland, K. (2021):
Contours of citizen science: a vignette study
R. Soc. Open Sci. 8 (8), art. 202108 10.1098/rsos.202108