Motivations and Benefits of Citizen Scientists Engaged in Purple Martin Migration Research

Abstract

Citizen science projects involve non-professionals (e.g., community members) actively contributing to authentic scientific research (Dickinson et al., 2012). Participation in these projects can benefit participants, researchers, and local communities (Dickinson & Bonney, 2012). Participants can increase knowledge, develop interest in related environmental issues, connect to the location of research, understand the scientific process better, develop ecological literacy, and engage in environmentally conscious behavior (Jordan, Gray, Howe, Brooks, & Ehrenfeld, 2011). Conrad and Hilchey (2011) called for more case studies examining the variety of benefits associated with citizen science projects. To help attract and retain participants (Dickinson et al., 2012), this study sought to understand the motivations and perceived benefits of citizens involved in a scientific research project examining the migration dynamics of Purple Martins (Progne subis; Fraser et al., 2012). Purple Martins, the largest swallow species nesting in North America, migrate to Brazil each year. In November 2013, semi-structured interviews (M = 12 minutes in length) with both open- and close-ended questions were conducted with 16 of the 30 citizens who participated (i.e., locating, trapping, handling birds) in Purple Martin migration research in or near Camrose and Lacombe, Alberta. Respondents rated the importance of various motivations and perceived benefits (Table 1) on 5-point scales of 1 = strongly disagree to 5 = strongly agree, and the Wilcoxon signed-rank test was used for testing differences between these motivations and perceived benefits. The Cohen’s D effect size statistic was used for testing the strength of these differences. Respondents also answered closed-ended questions about the impacts of their participation on awareness and engagement, and open-ended questions about examples of those impacts. All open-ended responses were recorded verbatim and transcribed for analysis. Respondent mean age was 48 years and 12 of the 16 respondents (75%) held a bachelor’s degree or higher. No respondents had received specialized training for the project, and eight of the 16 respondents (50%) had been involved in the project for one year and the other eight respondents (50%) for two years. Most of the initial motivations closely matched the perceived benefits of participation (Table 1). Similar to Bruyere and Rappe (2007), helping a species in need and learning about Purple Martins were rated highest, whereas spending time with family and friends was rated lowest. Meeting like-minded people was the only variable with a significant increase between motivations and perceived benefits, but the effect size suggested that this increase was “small” (Cohen, 1988) or “minimal”