Birdwatching, eBird and citizen science in India: qualitative interviews with participants, practitioners and ecologists

Abstract

This study consists of qualitative interviews about birdwatching, citizen science, and the use of the birdwatching data platform eBird in India. Interview partners are birdwatchers, citizen science practitioners, and ecologists who have used eBird data. Some of the main topics covered include: the nature of the birdwatching community and styles of birdwatching in India; the history of the adoption of eBird in India; the value of birdwatching and citizen science; challenges involved in conducting or participating in citizen science; opportunities and limitations of using data from eBird and citizen science; processes of data collection and quality control in eBird; and ecological research, conservation priorities, and environmental activism in India. This study is part of the project A Philosophy of Open Science for Diverse Research Environments (PHIL_OS).

Methods

The data in this study was collected using semi-structured qualitative interviews.

Interview partners were recruited by snowball sampling through their engagement with eBird India and related organisations. There were 17 interview partners, interviewed either once or several times. 19 interviews were conducted in total.

Interview guides/questionnaires were designed for each interviewee depending on their status as birdwatchers, citizen science coordinators, and eBird data users.

Interviews were conducted between April 2022 and June 2023. The interviews took place online using Zoom videoconferencing software. Interviews lasted 35-70 minutes. When participants provided their written consent, interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed smart verbatim using otter.ai and manual proofreading. Sensitive information was removed before publishing transcripts.

Transcripts were analysed using semi-grounded coding. Codes were organised into parent codes using an inductive approach based on emergent categories.

Description of the data and file structure

Documentation files include interview guides, the information sheet and consent form, ethics approval, and the data narrative. Documentation files are named according to the structure: authorname_filename_DOCUMENTATION.

Data files consist of a summary of participants, 17 of the interview transcripts, and a code list. Interview transcript files are named according to the structure: authorname_interviewnumber_date.

A full list of files is provided in the README file.

Notes

This study was conducted as part of the project A Philosophy of Open Science for Diverse Research Environments (PHIL_OS). More information can be found at https://opensciencestudies.eu

This project has received funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (grant agreement No. 101001145).