Can inclusion of different levels of participation effort improve volunteer diversity and retainment in a citizen science project?

Citizen science is becoming increasingly popular and important due to the benefits it provides scientists, society, and the environment. However, challenges still exist with the recruitment and retention of demographically diverse volunteers for the success and growth of environment-based citizen science programmes. This study used an avian monitoring citizen science project to investigate (1) the effectiveness of different recruitment methods in obtaining different demographics (gender, age, education), (2) how demographics affect the amount of “participation effort” volunteers were willing to contribute, and (3) whether the amount of “participation effort” influences the intent to undertake future volunteer work. Volunteer demographics did not vary amongst different recruitment methods (aim 1), nor did the level of participation effort influence the intent to volunteer in the future (aim 3). However, older volunteers and those having only completed secondary education were more likely to contribute higher levels of effort, in time spent and additional travel (aim 2). Findings suggest that providing multiple roles that differ in level of effort may be beneficial for future citizen science projects by facilitating the needs and restrictions of different demographics.

公众科学（Citizen Science）因其可为科研人员、社会与环境带来多重益处，正日益受到关注并愈发重要。然而，要保障环境类公众科学项目的成功与发展，招募并留存人口统计学特征多元的志愿者仍面临诸多挑战。本研究以某鸟类监测公众科学项目为载体，围绕三项内容展开探究：其一，不同招募方式在获取不同人口统计学特征（性别、年龄、受教育程度）志愿者方面的有效性；其二，人口统计学特征如何影响志愿者愿意付出的“参与投入”水平；其三，“参与投入”程度是否会影响志愿者未来参与志愿工作的意愿。研究结果显示，不同招募方式下的志愿者人口统计学特征无显著差异（对应研究目标1），且参与投入水平亦未对志愿者未来的志愿参与意愿产生影响（对应研究目标3）。但年龄较大的志愿者与仅完成中等教育的志愿者，更愿意付出更高水平的投入，包括更多的时间成本与额外的出行开销（对应研究目标2）。本研究结果表明，为不同人口统计学特征的群体提供参与难度各异的多类志愿角色，可兼顾其各自的需求与限制条件，这或将为未来的公众科学项目提供有益参考。