Send message to Author

Poster Short Abstract

A framework for the assessment of citizen science initiatives is proposed. It consists of a series of descriptive, analytical and explanatory questions along the axis of the social and epistemological studies of science.

Poster Abstract

Sociological and epistemological descriptions, analyses, and explanations of citizen science (CS) can focus on the innovative organizational and research practices that arise when producing knowledge at the intersection of institutional science and publics that may not be professionally dedicated to science but hold diverse forms of expertise on their locales. Recognizing the prevalence of demographic and impact metrics, and the relative scarcity of other sociological and epistemological evaluations in the field, a framework for assessing CS is proposed. Regarding the sociological dimension, the framework consists of descriptive questions for participants about the organization, objectives, and motivations for their project. It also includes analytical questions that evaluators ask themselves about the groups involved, the dynamic of consensus/controversy, and group interpretations of science and citizenship. It concludes with explanations regarding how socioeconomic situations shape the type of knowledge produced and how it, in turn, shapes the groups—that is, the coproduction between social and technoscientific order. On the other hand, the epistemological dimension describes the group's program and paradigm, what they consider to be their source of knowledge, and what epistemic operations they carry out during research. These inquiries allow for an analysis of the predominant epistemic culture and model and the type of investigation being conducted, thereby explaining how the group conceives and performs knowledge and, possibly, technology. These social and epistemic dimensions may encourage a normativity turn regarding the ethics of CS, for instance, in issues related to cognitive exploitation, quality of knowledge, and socioenvironmental justice for a better science.