Diversifying Large-Scale Participatory Science: The Efficacy of Engagement through Facilitator Organizations
Large-scale, scientist-led, participatory science (citizen science) projects often engage participants who are primarily white, wealthy, and well-educated. Calls to diversify contributory projects are increasingly common, but little research has evaluated the efficacy of suggested strategies for div...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Ubiquity Press
2023-10-01
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| Series: | Citizen Science: Theory and Practice |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://account.theoryandpractice.citizenscienceassociation.org/index.php/up-j-cstp/article/view/627 |
| _version_ | 1797504384223936512 |
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| author | Danielle Lin Hunter Valerie Johnson Caren Cooper |
| author_facet | Danielle Lin Hunter Valerie Johnson Caren Cooper |
| author_sort | Danielle Lin Hunter |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Large-scale, scientist-led, participatory science (citizen science) projects often engage participants who are primarily white, wealthy, and well-educated. Calls to diversify contributory projects are increasingly common, but little research has evaluated the efficacy of suggested strategies for diversification. We engaged participants in Crowd the Tap through facilitator organizations like historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs), predominantly white institutions, high school science classrooms, and corporate volunteer programs. Crowd the Tap is a contributory project focused on identifying and addressing lead (Pb) contamination in household drinking water in the United States. We investigated how participant diversity with respects to race, ethnicity, and homeownership (a proxy for income) differed between participation facilitated through a partner organization and unfacilitated participation in which participants came to the project independently. We were also interested in which facilitators were most effective at increasing participant diversity. White and wealthy participants were overrepresented in unfacilitated participation. Facilitation helped increase engagement of people of color, especially Black and lower-income households. High schools were particularly effective at engaging Hispanic or Latinx participants, and HBCUs were important for engaging Black households. Ultimately, our results suggest that engagement through facilitator organizations may be an effective means of engaging diverse participants in large-scale projects. Our results have important implications for the field of participatory science as we seek to identify evidence-based strategies for diversifying project participants. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T04:03:51Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-f56bb1995520492dbabd2655381db1fc |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2057-4991 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T04:03:51Z |
| publishDate | 2023-10-01 |
| publisher | Ubiquity Press |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Citizen Science: Theory and Practice |
| spelling | doaj.art-f56bb1995520492dbabd2655381db1fc2023-11-23T08:28:38ZengUbiquity PressCitizen Science: Theory and Practice2057-49912023-10-0181585810.5334/cstp.627549Diversifying Large-Scale Participatory Science: The Efficacy of Engagement through Facilitator OrganizationsDanielle Lin Hunter0https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5328-595XValerie Johnson1Caren Cooper2https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6263-8892North Carolina State UniversityShaw UniversityNorth Carolina State UniversityLarge-scale, scientist-led, participatory science (citizen science) projects often engage participants who are primarily white, wealthy, and well-educated. Calls to diversify contributory projects are increasingly common, but little research has evaluated the efficacy of suggested strategies for diversification. We engaged participants in Crowd the Tap through facilitator organizations like historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs), predominantly white institutions, high school science classrooms, and corporate volunteer programs. Crowd the Tap is a contributory project focused on identifying and addressing lead (Pb) contamination in household drinking water in the United States. We investigated how participant diversity with respects to race, ethnicity, and homeownership (a proxy for income) differed between participation facilitated through a partner organization and unfacilitated participation in which participants came to the project independently. We were also interested in which facilitators were most effective at increasing participant diversity. White and wealthy participants were overrepresented in unfacilitated participation. Facilitation helped increase engagement of people of color, especially Black and lower-income households. High schools were particularly effective at engaging Hispanic or Latinx participants, and HBCUs were important for engaging Black households. Ultimately, our results suggest that engagement through facilitator organizations may be an effective means of engaging diverse participants in large-scale projects. Our results have important implications for the field of participatory science as we seek to identify evidence-based strategies for diversifying project participants.https://account.theoryandpractice.citizenscienceassociation.org/index.php/up-j-cstp/article/view/627recruitmentparticipant diversityfacilitator organizationsreciprocitydrinking waterhistorically black colleges and universities |
| spellingShingle | Danielle Lin Hunter Valerie Johnson Caren Cooper Diversifying Large-Scale Participatory Science: The Efficacy of Engagement through Facilitator Organizations Citizen Science: Theory and Practice recruitment participant diversity facilitator organizations reciprocity drinking water historically black colleges and universities |
| title | Diversifying Large-Scale Participatory Science: The Efficacy of Engagement through Facilitator Organizations |
| title_full | Diversifying Large-Scale Participatory Science: The Efficacy of Engagement through Facilitator Organizations |
| title_fullStr | Diversifying Large-Scale Participatory Science: The Efficacy of Engagement through Facilitator Organizations |
| title_full_unstemmed | Diversifying Large-Scale Participatory Science: The Efficacy of Engagement through Facilitator Organizations |
| title_short | Diversifying Large-Scale Participatory Science: The Efficacy of Engagement through Facilitator Organizations |
| title_sort | diversifying large scale participatory science the efficacy of engagement through facilitator organizations |
| topic | recruitment participant diversity facilitator organizations reciprocity drinking water historically black colleges and universities |
| url | https://account.theoryandpractice.citizenscienceassociation.org/index.php/up-j-cstp/article/view/627 |
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