Explicit incentives increase citizen science recordings
Abstract From tracking land‐use change to biodiversity loss, citizen science data have become a cornerstone for conservation. However, policymakers must understand the “data‐generating process” to make good use of existing citizen science data and encourage the production of useful new data. We anal...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Wiley
2023-09-01
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| Series: | Conservation Letters |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1111/conl.12973 |
| _version_ | 1797661286199197696 |
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| author | Florian Diekert Stefan Munzinger Gaby Schulemann‐Maier Laura Städtler |
| author_facet | Florian Diekert Stefan Munzinger Gaby Schulemann‐Maier Laura Städtler |
| author_sort | Florian Diekert |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract From tracking land‐use change to biodiversity loss, citizen science data have become a cornerstone for conservation. However, policymakers must understand the “data‐generating process” to make good use of existing citizen science data and encourage the production of useful new data. We analyze data from the two largest German online platforms for ecological observations to explore and quantify the effect of explicit incentives on volunteer recordings, created by a large‐scale prize competition on one of the platforms. We find 10% more recordings during the prize competition. Moreover, the effects of weather and weekends are attenuated during the competition period. Finally, the diversity of recorded species decreases. Our study shows the first statistical evidence that using explicit incentives increases the quantity of citizen science data. It highlights the need to further study the effect of explicit incentives on data quality and the engagement of citizens for conservation. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-11T18:42:15Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-f21df4e53e3c461eabb44d5a1d91d9d4 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1755-263X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-11T18:42:15Z |
| publishDate | 2023-09-01 |
| publisher | Wiley |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Conservation Letters |
| spelling | doaj.art-f21df4e53e3c461eabb44d5a1d91d9d42023-10-12T11:41:41ZengWileyConservation Letters1755-263X2023-09-01165n/an/a10.1111/conl.12973Explicit incentives increase citizen science recordingsFlorian Diekert0Stefan Munzinger1Gaby Schulemann‐Maier2Laura Städtler3Alfred Weber Institute for Economics Heidelberg University Heidelberg Germanynaturgucker.de Northeim Germanynaturgucker.de Northeim GermanyAlfred Weber Institute for Economics Heidelberg University Heidelberg GermanyAbstract From tracking land‐use change to biodiversity loss, citizen science data have become a cornerstone for conservation. However, policymakers must understand the “data‐generating process” to make good use of existing citizen science data and encourage the production of useful new data. We analyze data from the two largest German online platforms for ecological observations to explore and quantify the effect of explicit incentives on volunteer recordings, created by a large‐scale prize competition on one of the platforms. We find 10% more recordings during the prize competition. Moreover, the effects of weather and weekends are attenuated during the competition period. Finally, the diversity of recorded species decreases. Our study shows the first statistical evidence that using explicit incentives increases the quantity of citizen science data. It highlights the need to further study the effect of explicit incentives on data quality and the engagement of citizens for conservation.https://doi.org/10.1111/conl.12973citizen sciencebiodiversityrecording biasextrinsic and intrinsic motivationdifference in differences |
| spellingShingle | Florian Diekert Stefan Munzinger Gaby Schulemann‐Maier Laura Städtler Explicit incentives increase citizen science recordings Conservation Letters citizen science biodiversity recording bias extrinsic and intrinsic motivation difference in differences |
| title | Explicit incentives increase citizen science recordings |
| title_full | Explicit incentives increase citizen science recordings |
| title_fullStr | Explicit incentives increase citizen science recordings |
| title_full_unstemmed | Explicit incentives increase citizen science recordings |
| title_short | Explicit incentives increase citizen science recordings |
| title_sort | explicit incentives increase citizen science recordings |
| topic | citizen science biodiversity recording bias extrinsic and intrinsic motivation difference in differences |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1111/conl.12973 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT floriandiekert explicitincentivesincreasecitizensciencerecordings AT stefanmunzinger explicitincentivesincreasecitizensciencerecordings AT gabyschulemannmaier explicitincentivesincreasecitizensciencerecordings AT laurastadtler explicitincentivesincreasecitizensciencerecordings |