Workshop WG 6: Citizen Science in Social Sciences and Humanities
Thousands of people around the world are engaged in collecting, commenting, transcribing and analyzing data. These citizen science projects cover topics ranging from birds’ observation to public health or bible study (Eitzel et al, 2017). However, considering the disciplines of science, many of the projects come from the natural sciences. Although the importance of social science – especially sociology – has been emphasized decades ago (e.g. Irwin, 1995), the understanding of citizen science is still mostly related to natural, environmental and health sciences. However, citizen science also seeks to represent the diversity of human experiences, contexts, and perspectives. Citizen Science is framed very differently in the different disciplines, and in humanities and social science different to natural sciences. Not only the approaches but also the roles of the citizens differ. Thus, it is very important to understand what does citizen science mean in social sciences and humanities, how different or similar it is from/to other disciplines.
In this workshop we want to map the opportunities and challenges for Citizen Science in Social Sciences and Humanities. This workshop will focus on discussing the existing practices of citizen science in SSH, such as through action research methodology and the use of citizens as volunteers to track their behaviors and perceptions in everyday life. Ultimately, the workshop will identify new possibilities for creatively integrating citizens in scientific process and practice in order to improve our understanding of society and enhance overall individual and community well-being. The workshop will also examine relations between citizen science in SSH and open science.
References:
Eitzel, M V et al (2017) Citizen Science Terminology Matters: Exploring Key Terms. Citizen Science: Theory and Practice, 2(1): 1, pp. 1–20, DOI: https://doi.org/10.5334/cstp.96
Irwin, A. (1995). Citizen Science: a study of people, expertise and sustainable development. Routledge.
Call for Application
If interested: please, send one page motivation letter to Eglė Butkevičienė (egle [dot] butkeviciene [at] ktu [dot] lt) and (Katrin [dot] Vohland [at] mfn-berlin [dot] de) no later than by 18th January, 2018 that shall include the following:
- A short description of yourself (see additional priority criteria to address) and your motivation to participate.
As only a limited number of participants will be subject to COST full funding, two sets of criteria for participants’ selection are presented below.
General criteria for selection
- Interest in contributing to an interdisciplinary reflection on research approaches to citizen science
- Intention to work on the paper development
Additional priority criteria
- Geographical spread
- Career stage (particularly involving early career investigators)
- Gender balance
Workshop Report
Can be found here.