Social signals as design interventions for enhancing citizen science contributions^*

ABSTRACT

Despite the scientific potential and increasing popularity of web-based citizen science, low contribution from volunteers is often a major hurdle. Studies have shown that individual behavior could be altered through targeted design interventions, but little is known about the specific factors that modulate volunteers’ contributions. A particularly elusive question entails the role of social feedback, in the form of targeted notifications about the contribution of other volunteers. Based on social comparison theory, we hypothesized that (1) volunteers increase contribution when presented with information about a high-performing peer or group, and (2) volunteers conform more strongly to a group rather than to a single peer. To test whether volunteers’ contributions change due to the exposure to the contribution of a peer or group norm, we systematically varied the information presented to participants in an environmental monitoring citizen science project. Volunteers increased their contributions when they were presented with the contribution of a high-performing peer and norm, but they were not influenced by a low-performing peer or norm. Further, we found that volunteers were more likely to match the contributions of a group than that of a peer. However, when volunteers were simultaneously exposed to information about a peer and a group, the effect depended on the respective performance of the peer and group. A theoretical model was developed to explain volunteers’ response and dissect the specific role of social comparison. Our findings offer the possibility of increasing volunteers’ contributions through design interventions.

KEYWORDS:

• Citizen science
• design intervention
• motivation
• performance
• social comparison
• social signal

Acknowledgements

The authors gratefully acknowledge Ms S. Rao and Mr S. Manjunath for the software implementation.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

David Diner is a Ph.D. candidate working under the supervision of Dr Maurizio Porfiri in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, New York University Tandon School of Engineering. He earned his M.Eng. degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering from Cornell University in 2013. His interests include dynamical systems, human computer interaction, and rehabilitation engineering [email: [email protected]].

Shinnosuke Nakayama is a post-doctoral researcher in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, New York University Tandon School of Engineering. He earned his Ph.D. from University of Texas at Austin. His research interests focus on collective behavior and social interactions in animals and humans [email: [email protected]].

Oded Nov is an associate professor in the Department of Technology Management and Innovation, New York University Tandon School of Engineering. His research interests include motivations and technology-mediated social participation, computer-supported cooperative work, citizen science, HCI and decision-making, social media, and technology management [email: [email protected]].

Maurizio Porfiri is a professor in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, New York University Tandon School of Engineering. He is the director of the Dynamical Systems Laboratory, which conducts fundamental research in the field of modeling and control complex dynamical systems [email: [email protected]].

Notes

* Conceived and designed the experiments: D. D., O. N. and M. P. Performed the experiments: D. D. Analyzed the data: D. D., S. N. and M. P. Wrote the paper: D. D., S. N. and M. P. Reviewed the paper: D. D., S. N., O. N. and M. P.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the National Science Foundation [grant numbers BCS-1124795 (Division of Behavioral and Cognitive Sciences), IIS-1149745 (Division of Information and Intelligent Systems), and CBET-1547864 (Division of Chemical, Bioengineering, Environmental, and Transport Systems)], and through a scholarship to D. D. from the New York University Central Brooklyn Robotics Initiative and the Mitsui USA Foundation.