A framework for design of public participation in scientific research
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The document outlines a framework for intentional design in public participation in scientific research, focusing on the degree and quality of public involvement in the research process. It discusses various methods and activities, including defining questions, data collection, and analyzing findings, while emphasizing the need to balance interests between scientific and public stakeholders. The work emphasizes community-based participatory research and highlights the importance of inclusivity and sustainability in scientific endeavors.
A framework for design of public participation in scientific research
- 1. Public Participation in Scientific Research: A Framework for Intentional DesignESA, August 2011Jennifer Shirk1, Heidi Ballard2, Andrea Wiggins3, Tina Phillips1, Rebecca Jordan4, Candie Wilderman5, Ellen McCallie6, Rick Bonney11Cornell Lab of Ornithology2University of California, Davis3Syracuse University School of Information Sciences4Rutgers University, 5Dickinson College6Carnegie Museum of Natural History
- 6. Participationdegree – who participates, and in what? depth of public involvement in the research process Participationdegree – who participates, and in what? (in our context, depth of public involvement in the research process) quality – whose interests are being served, and to what end? (in our context, how interests are balanced in a project’s design)degree – who participates, and in what? (in our context, depth of public involvement in the research process) quality – whose interests are being served, and to what end? (in our context, how interests are balanced in a project’s design)
- 7. Degree of participationContributoryCollaborativeCo-CreatedDefine a question/issueGather informationDevelop explanationsDesign data collection methodsCollect samplesAnalyze samplesAnalyze dataInterpret data/concludeDisseminate conclusionsDiscuss results/inquire furtherBonney et al. 2009. CAISE Inquiry Group Report.
- 8. Participationdegree – who participates, and in what? depth of public involvement in the research process quality – whose interests are being served, and to what end? how interests are balanced in a project’s designParticipationdegree – who participates, and in what? (in our context, depth of public involvement in the research process) quality – whose interests are being served, and to what end? (in our context, how interests are balanced in a project’s design)degree – who participates, and in what? (in our context, depth of public involvement in the research process) quality – whose interests are being served, and to what end? (in our context, how interests are balanced in a project’s design)
- 9. ActivitiesOutputsOutcomesImpactsInputsScientific interestsScience: Research findings, publicationsDevelop project infrastructure and manage project implementationObservations and experiencesSustainabilityResiliencyConservationIdentify question or issueSocial-Ecological Systems: Action, legislation, relationshipsIndividuals:Access to information, new skillsPublic interests
- 10. Degree of participationContributoryCollaborativeCo-CreatedDefine a question/issueGather informationDevelop explanationsDesign data collection methodsCollect samplesAnalyze samplesAnalyze dataInterpret data/concludeDisseminate conclusionsDiscuss results/inquire furtherBonney et al. 2009. CAISE Inquiry Group Report.
- 11. Community-based participatory researchCommunity Workers ICommunity Workers IIDegree of participationDefine a question/issueGather informationDevelop explanationsDesign data collection methodsCollect samplesAnalyze samplesAnalyze dataInterpret data/concludeDisseminate conclusionsDiscuss results/inquire furtherWilderman 2004
- 12. Collaborative monitoring with external data interpretationCollaborative monitoring with local data interpretationExternally driven with local data collectorsDegree of participationDefine a question/issueGather informationDevelop explanationsDesign data collection methodsCollect samplesAnalyze samplesAnalyze dataInterpret data/concludeDisseminate conclusionsDiscuss results/inquire furtherDanielsen et al. 2009
- 13. Danielsen et al. 2009
- 14. Shirk et al. submitted, Ecology and Society
- 16. Public Participation in Scientific Research
- 17. For more information:citizenscience.orgcscentral@cornell.eduWorks cited:Bonney, R., H. Ballard, R. Jordan, E. McCallie, T. Phillips, J. Shirk, and C. Wilderman. 2009. Public Participation in Scientific Research: Defining the Field and Assessing Its Potential for Informal Science Education. A CAISE Inquiry Group Report. Center for Advancement of Informal Science Education (CAISE), Washington, D.C.Danielsen, F., N.D. Burgess, A. Balford, P.F. Donald, M. Funder, J.P. Jones, P. Alviola, D.S. Balete, T. Blomley, and J. Brashares. 2009. Local Participation in Natural Resource Monitoring: a Characterization of Approaches. Conservation Biology 23:31-42.Wilderman, C.C., A. Barron, and L. Imgrund. 2004. From the Field: A service provider’s experience with two operational models for community science. Community Based Collaboratives Research Consortium Journal. Spring 2004.
Editor's Notes
- #3: We define public participation in scientific research (PPSR) as public involvement in one or more steps of the scientific research process: asking questions, collecting data, interpreting results.
- #4: What is citizen science and PPSR? Because I’m here from the Lab of Ornithology, I’ll give you this example to start. Watch the map [note: this animation of advancing and receding bird migration will not be visible in SlideShare]. This science, the science of landscape-scale migration patterns, could not happen without thousands of eBird contributors across the continent. The power of citizen science is in observations.
- #5: But the power of citizen science is also in experiences. This is Sherman’s Creek, outside of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, where residents in the 1990’s began collecting baseline water quality data in the watershed. They knew the resource intimately, now they also know it scientifically.
- #6: Looking across the field of PPSR, we set out to explore what kinds of outcomes these projects could achieve. There were scientific outcomes, such as peer reviewed publications. There were educational outcomes, including increased awareness about environmental issues. And there were outcomes for social-ecological systems, including action to improve surroundings. We propose that these outcomes are related to the degree, as well as to the quality, of participation opportunities.
- #7: Although the degree of participation could be described in any number of ways, we look at the depth of public involvement in the research process.
- #9: We define the quality of participation as the way in which the interests of different partners are balanced in the design of a project.
- #10: Although there may be many different partners involved, we specifically focus on the balance of scientific and public interests. This framework describes proposed relationships between how those interests are balanced at the outset, and the way that balance can affect project outcomes. Essentially, the quality of participation at the outset will likely determine the degree of public participation throughout the research process.
- #14: It is more challenging to test how these models relate to outcomes, as data on outcomes are limited. These are some summarized results from Danielsen et al.
- #15: By compiling outcomes data from Danielsen, the CAISE report, and a few papers offering case studies, we see a general trend in relationships between project approaches and outcomes.
- #16: To better determinerelationships between the degree and quality of participation and the outcomes projects achieve, we need more and better outcomes data. From the information already available, we believe that these models and framework offer opportunities to address unachieved outcomes, if project designers are reflexive and intentional about design.
- #17: We believe that articulating commonalities between project types can help explore meaningful differences. It is important to continue to build conversations across traditions, to better understand different approaches and to share insights about how approaches relate to outcomes. We suspect that integrated approaches and cross-tradition investigations can grow the larger field in new and compelling directions.
- #18: For more information, and updates about new developments in citizen science and other forms of public participation in scientific research, see www.citizenscience.org or contact cscentralat cornelldot edu