motivation in citizen science

This note last modified August 16, 2022

Tags: citizen science

From Survey Of Citizen Science Gaming Experiences-Miller

Players are motivated by the:

  • scientific topic
  • previous interests in science
  • research topic
  • curiosity
  • desire to contribute to research

continued engagement requires:

  • recognizing player contributions
  • task enjoyment
  • pacing
  • teamwork
  • learning
  • challenge

designing for dabblers:

  • continuous rekindling of motivation via science communication
  • accessible design for casual contribution
  • narrative and gamification have been studied but saw mixed results on efficacy

citizen science motivation

  • https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1075547015609322
    • Online citizen science projects have the potential to engage thousands of participants with scientific research. A small number of projects such as Foldit use an online computer game format. Motivation to participate in Foldit was investigated in a group of 37 players using an online survey, semistructured interviews, and participant observation. Results suggest that contributing to scientific research and an interest in science were among the most important motivations for participation. Interaction with others within the community of participants and the intellectual challenge of the game were also key for the continuing involvement of this group of regular contributors.
  • https://www.proquest.com/docview/2437839155?pq-origsite=gscholar&fromopenview=true
    • Read the abstract using the link
  • https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/2908131.2908151
    • In this paper, we examine the motivations for participation in Eye-Wire, a Web-based gamified citizen science platform. Our study is based on a large-scale survey to which we conducted a qualitative analysis of survey responses in order to understand what drives individuals to participate. Based on our analysis, we derive 18 motivations related to participation, and group them into 4 motivational themes related to engagement. We contextualize our findings against the broader literature on online communities, and compare our findings with other citizen science platforms, in order to understand the implications of gamification within the context of citizen science.
  • https://hcjournal.org/index.php/jhc/article/view/88
    • Some citizen science projects use “games with a purpose” (GWAPs) to integrate what humans and computers, respectively, can do well. One of these projects is Foldit, which invites talented players to predict three-dimensional (3D) models of proteins from their amino acid composition. This study investigated players’ professional vision and interpret their use of recipes, small scripts of computer code that automate some protein folding processes, to carry out their strategies more easily when solving game puzzles. Specifically, this study examined when, how and why the players ran recipes when solving the puzzles, and what actions those recipes performed in the gameplay.Autoethnographic accounts of players at different levels of experience (beginner, intermediate, and expert) with playing the game were analyzed using a grounded theory approach. The analysis of what these players observed and did visualized the professional vision necessary to use recipes sensibly and effectively. The findings highlight three key abilities: (a) seeing beauty; (b) repairing errors made by recipes, and (c) monitoring a large quantity of information to perform actions effectively. This study indicates that players indeed have to develop a professional vision independent of what the game itself can highlight. This is related to the nature of the game where it seems impossible for the game developers to show the affordances, because they are unknown. Players must learn to see the affordances and develop a professional vision, which means that they have to learn these skills through gaming.
  • https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s41233-019-0030-8
    • We present the results of an exploratory player experience study on the game Quantum Moves, a citizen science game where players move quantum particles to help create a quantum computer. Eight-hundred-and-seventeen players responded to a 13-question exploratory survey constructed to understand how players relate to the game, what are their motivations, and how could the game be improved. We analyzed the data using descriptive statistics and thematic analysis. Specifically, the thematic analysis helped identifying two cross-cutting themes amongst the players: (a) learning and (b) the opportunity to contribute to science. Results indicate that the opportunity to help science, along with game design, game elements, involvement of players with the scientific community, and players’ strategies influence experience. Implications of the particular findings for the research on player experience on citizen science games and development of evaluation methods are discussed.
  • https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/2468356.2468553
    • Increasingly, games are being incorporated into online citizen science (CS) projects as a way of crowdsourcing data; yet the influence of gamification on volunteer motivations and engagement in CS projects is still unknown. In an interview study with 8 CS volunteers (4 from Foldit, 4 from Eyewire), we found that game elements and communication tools are not necessary for attracting new volunteers to a project; however they may help to sustain engagement over time, by allowing volunteers to participate in a range of social interactions and through enabling meaningful recognition of achievements.
  • http://oro.open.ac.uk/42239/
    • The number of online citizen science projects has increased significantly over the past decade, yet some aspects of participation are poorly understood as is the motivation behind the involvement of the scientists who set up these projects, and the citizen scientists who take part.
    • This thesis explores three different online citizen science projects (Foldit, Folding@home and Planet Hunters) using a case study approach and data collected through online surveys, interviews and participant observation. It explores the motivations that initiate and sustain participation, and it examines the various ways individuals can contribute to these projects. It also investigates how participants (both professional scientists and citizen scientists) interact online. A number of theoretical models of motivation and participation are considered.
    • While many individuals register to take part in these projects, only a small proportion become active participants. These active citizen scientist volunteers are motivated to participate because they want to make a contribution to science or have a background interest in science. Scientists set up these projects in order to get help analysing large volumes of data, particularly those that require human pattern recognition or problem-solving skills. The complexity of the project task and the presence of certain technological features can affect how participants interact with each other, and how they contribute. Tasks that are complex are more likely to present opportunities for cooperation and collaboration, and may foster the development of online communities of practice.
    • The findings of this research suggest that online citizen science projects have been important in making scientific research more open for a number of distributed volunteers. These individuals have responded to the challenges presented by these projects, increasing their scientific and technical understanding, and self-organising into various roles and teams in order to produce new knowledge.
  • https://theoryandpractice.citizenscienceassociation.org/articles/10.5334/cstp.101/print/
    • The use of games in citizen science is growing, but can create tension as gaming and science can be seen as incompatible areas of activity. For example, the motivations for winning a game and scientific pursuit of knowledge may be seen as contrary. Over a one-year period, we conducted a virtual ethnographic study of the public forums of two online citizen science projects, Foldit and Galazy Zoo, the first a project in which gaming is an explicit design feature and the second in which it is not. The aim was to provide a nuanced view of how participants topicalize and respond to tensions between gaming and science. Thematic analysis of discussion forum posts suggests that participants in the two projects respond differently to the tension. By unpacking participant responses to the tension between games and science, our study highlights that citizen science projects using games are not just about fun. To enroll and retain volunteers, these projects also must recognize and manage the implicit normative scientific ideals that participants bring with them to a project. We further conclude that ideals of science embraced by citizen scientists appear to influence the reasons why they participate, either emphasizing equality, like in Galazy Zoo, or meritocracy, like in Foldit.
  • http://oro.open.ac.uk/47008/
    • Online citizen science projects have demonstrated their usefulness for research, however little is known about the potential benefits for volunteers. We conducted 39 interviews (28 volunteers, 11 researchers) to gain a greater understanding of volunteers’ motivations, learning and creativity (MLC). In our MLC model we explain that participating and progressing in a project community provides volunteers with many indirect opportunities for learning and creativity. The more aspects that volunteers are involved in, the more likely they are to sustain their participation in the project. These results have implications for the design and management of online citizen science projects. It is important to provide users with tools to communicate in order to supporting social learning, community building and sharing.
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