Citizen Science: What is in it for the Official Statistics Community?
Citizen science data are an example of a non-traditional data source that is starting to be used in the monitoring of the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and for national monitoring by National Statistical Systems (NSSs). However, little is known about how the official stati...
| Main Authors: | , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Ubiquity Press
2023-06-01
|
| Series: | Citizen Science: Theory and Practice |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://account.theoryandpractice.citizenscienceassociation.org/index.php/up-j-cstp/article/view/584 |
| _version_ | 1797777801180348416 |
|---|---|
| author | Elena Proden Dilek Fraisl Linda See |
| author_facet | Elena Proden Dilek Fraisl Linda See |
| author_sort | Elena Proden |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Citizen science data are an example of a non-traditional data source that is starting to be used in the monitoring of the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and for national monitoring by National Statistical Systems (NSSs). However, little is known about how the official statistics community views citizen science data, including the opportunities and the challenges, apart from some selected examples in the literature. To fill this gap, this paper presents the results from a survey of NSS representatives globally to understand the key factors in the readiness of national data ecosystems to leverage citizen science data for official monitoring and reporting, and assesses the current awareness and perceptions of NSSs regarding the potential use of these data. The results showed that less than 20% of respondents had direct experience with citizen science data, but almost 50% felt that citizen science data could provide data for SDG and national indicators where there are significant data gaps, listing SDGs 1, 5, and 6 as key areas where citizen science could contribute. The main perceived impediments to the use of citizen science data were lack of awareness, lack of human capacity, and lack of methodological guidance, and several different kinds of quality issues were raised by the respondents, including accuracy, reliability, and the need for appropriate statistical procedures, among many others. The survey was then used as a starting point to identify case studies of successful examples of the use of citizen science data, with follow-up interviews used to collect detailed information from different countries. Finally, the paper provides concrete recommendations targeted at NSSs on how they can use citizen science data for official monitoring. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T23:09:44Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-9044cca6b4844ac6864813fd0f09004a |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2057-4991 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T23:09:44Z |
| publishDate | 2023-06-01 |
| publisher | Ubiquity Press |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Citizen Science: Theory and Practice |
| spelling | doaj.art-9044cca6b4844ac6864813fd0f09004a2023-07-18T08:13:37ZengUbiquity PressCitizen Science: Theory and Practice2057-49912023-06-0181353510.5334/cstp.584372Citizen Science: What is in it for the Official Statistics Community?Elena Proden0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1239-7696Dilek Fraisl1https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7523-7967Linda See2https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2665-7065UN Institute for Training and ResearchInternational Institute for Applied Systems AnalysisInternational Institute for Applied Systems AnalysisCitizen science data are an example of a non-traditional data source that is starting to be used in the monitoring of the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and for national monitoring by National Statistical Systems (NSSs). However, little is known about how the official statistics community views citizen science data, including the opportunities and the challenges, apart from some selected examples in the literature. To fill this gap, this paper presents the results from a survey of NSS representatives globally to understand the key factors in the readiness of national data ecosystems to leverage citizen science data for official monitoring and reporting, and assesses the current awareness and perceptions of NSSs regarding the potential use of these data. The results showed that less than 20% of respondents had direct experience with citizen science data, but almost 50% felt that citizen science data could provide data for SDG and national indicators where there are significant data gaps, listing SDGs 1, 5, and 6 as key areas where citizen science could contribute. The main perceived impediments to the use of citizen science data were lack of awareness, lack of human capacity, and lack of methodological guidance, and several different kinds of quality issues were raised by the respondents, including accuracy, reliability, and the need for appropriate statistical procedures, among many others. The survey was then used as a starting point to identify case studies of successful examples of the use of citizen science data, with follow-up interviews used to collect detailed information from different countries. Finally, the paper provides concrete recommendations targeted at NSSs on how they can use citizen science data for official monitoring.https://account.theoryandpractice.citizenscienceassociation.org/index.php/up-j-cstp/article/view/584citizen science datanational statistical officesnational statistical systemssustainable development goalsquality assurance |
| spellingShingle | Elena Proden Dilek Fraisl Linda See Citizen Science: What is in it for the Official Statistics Community? Citizen Science: Theory and Practice citizen science data national statistical offices national statistical systems sustainable development goals quality assurance |
| title | Citizen Science: What is in it for the Official Statistics Community? |
| title_full | Citizen Science: What is in it for the Official Statistics Community? |
| title_fullStr | Citizen Science: What is in it for the Official Statistics Community? |
| title_full_unstemmed | Citizen Science: What is in it for the Official Statistics Community? |
| title_short | Citizen Science: What is in it for the Official Statistics Community? |
| title_sort | citizen science what is in it for the official statistics community |
| topic | citizen science data national statistical offices national statistical systems sustainable development goals quality assurance |
| url | https://account.theoryandpractice.citizenscienceassociation.org/index.php/up-j-cstp/article/view/584 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT elenaproden citizensciencewhatisinitfortheofficialstatisticscommunity AT dilekfraisl citizensciencewhatisinitfortheofficialstatisticscommunity AT lindasee citizensciencewhatisinitfortheofficialstatisticscommunity |